By accident or design, these authors have written about a year spent pursuing – or enduring – an unfamiliar lifestyle. Their stories are available to borrow from the Lititz Public Library.
The Year of Small Things: Radical Faith for the Rest of Us by Sarah Arthur
Appointed to a new church, the author joins her family and fellow church members in embarking on a yearlong experiment to implement twelve small but radical practices such as simplicity, hospitality, accountability, sustainability and social justice.
Happiness is a Choice You Make: Lessons from a Year Among the Oldest Old by John Leland
When a journalist set out to meet members of America’s fastest-growing age group, he anticipated learning of loneliness and deterioration of the body, mind and quality of life, but the elders he met took him in an entirely different direction.
Post Grad: Five Women and Their First Year Out of College by Caroline Kitchener
Weaving together her own experiences as a writer with those of four of her female classmates, the author delves into the personal and professional challenges of post-collegiate life, such as parental estrangement, financial anxiety and fledgling careers.
Endurance: A Year in Space, a Lifetime of Discovery by Scott Kelly
Modern-day hero spent a record-breaking year aboard the International Space Station, experiencing life-threatening as well as mundane challenges of long-term spaceflight, including the destructive effects on the body, isolation from friends and family and the catastrophic risks of colliding with space junk.
The Real Doctor Will See You Shortly: A Physician’s First Year by Matt McCarthy
When a new admission to the critical care unit almost dies on his first night on call, an idealistic intern scrambles to meet the reality of hospital life.
The Year Without a Purchase: One Family’s Quest to Stop Shopping and Start Connecting by Scott Dannemiller
Former missionaries, who found themselves removed from their vow of simple living and on a treadmill of consumption, decided to take drastic action and eliminate nonessential purchases for a whole year.
Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes
When her sister laid down a challenge to say yes to unexpected invitations, the author, a successful television producer and mother of three, reluctantly agreed and discovered the powerful impact of saying yes had on every aspect of her life.
The Battle for Room 314: My Year of Hope and Despair in a New York City High School by Ed Boland
After a twenty-year career as a non-profit executive, the author decided to teach in a tough public high school, colliding headlong with the reality of his students’ lives and a hobbled education system unable to help them.
Lassoing the Sun: A Year in America’s National Parks by Mark Woods
On the eve of turning fifty, the author decided to reconnect with the great outdoors by spending a year visiting national parks and recreating childhood trips with his family, but things didn’t work out quite as planned.
The World Between Two Covers: Reading the Globe by Ann Morgan
Following an impulse to read more internationally, a journalist chose a story from each of 196 nations, discovering how geography and history shape the way books are written and read.
The Nurses: A Year of Secrets, Drama and Miracles with the Heroes of the Hospital by Alexandra Robbins
Journalist chronicles a year in the lives of four hospital nurses, the frontline responders who battle traumas, illness and aggression from many sources.
The Gratitude Diaries: How a Year Looking on the Bright Side Can Transform Your Life by Janice Kaplan
On New Year’s Eve, a journalist makes a promise to be grateful and look on the bright side of whatever happens, the beginning of her journey to discover value in appreciating what she has.
Gap Year Girl: A Baby Boomer Adventure Across 21 Countries by Marianne C. Bohr
When they were both fifty-five, the author and her husband decide to quit their jobs, sell their house and travel Europe for a “senior year abroad,” retracing the trip she took during her gap year of college in 1978.
April 27, 2018