At 22, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother's death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life. With no experience or training, driven only by blind will, she would hike more than 1,000 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail, from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington state — and she would do it alone.

A Harvard-trained neurosurgeon shares a minute-by-minute account of his religiously transformative near-death experience and revealing weeklong coma. He describes his scientific study of near-death phenomena while explaining what he learned about the nature of human consciousness.

Susan Cain demonstrates how introverted people are misunderstood and undervalued in modern culture, charting the rise of extrovert ideology while sharing anecdotal examples of how to use introvert talents to adapt to various situations.

A candid and whimsical memoir that explores what matters to middle-aged women.

A psychologist draws on years of research to introduce his "machinery of the mind" model on human decision-making, revealing the faults and capabilities of intuitive versus logical thinking.

A collection of essays in which daughters remember their relationships with their mothers and the complicated bonds they shared with them, symbolized by gifts or memories of emotional encounters.

In an illustrated memoir, Jenny Lawson shares humorous stories from her life, including her awkward upbringing in Texas and her relationship with her husband.

The search for the origins of the universe extends beyond God and the Big Bang theory; a philosopher explores the bizarre possibilities inspired by physicists, theologians, mathematicians and even novelists.

After her mother's death, Terry Tempest Williams was shocked to find that, of all the journals her mother had left her, three shelves' worth were blank. Williams meditates on the meaning of that strange legacy in When Women Were Birds.

Until his early 20s, the only life Shin Dong-hyuk had ever known was one of constant beatings, near starvation and snitching on others to survive. Born into one of the worst of North Korea's system of prison camps, Shin was doomed to a life of hard labor and an early death. But when he was 23, he managed to elude the guards and escape. Reporter Blaine Harden tells the tale of Shin's imprisonment and astounding getaway.

The writer and actor best known for her role on The Office shares observations on everything from favorite male archetypes and her hatred of dieting to her relationship with her mother and the haphazard creative process of The Office's writers' room.

In January 1937, the mutilated body of Pamela Werner, a British schoolgirl, was found at the base of the Fox Tower in Peking, China. According to local superstition, the tower was home to malicious fox spirits. This true-crime thriller, based on years of research, chronicles an unsolved murder wrapped in rumor and superstition.

The breakout star of Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock gives a humorous account of her life, as well as behind-the-scenes stories from her hit shows.

Neurosurgeon and humanitarian Ben Carson delivers a sobering manifesto on America's greatness and failings, and the values and changes it will take to carry the country into a prosperous future.

A collection of cat comics, facts and instructional guides from TheOatmeal.com.