30 Books Like Braving the Storm, Volume 1

Future-facing at the time of its publication in 1957, On the Beach isn’t really war fiction in the literal sense, because the fictional war around which it is built is already over.

Set in 1963 Australia, it details the life-affirming but grim experiences of a cast of characters including the crew of a US Navy submarine who are all facing inevitable and impending death from the aftereffects of massive nuclear war that has extinguished all life in the northern hemisphere.

The LA Times described it as "timely and ironic... an indelibly sad ending that leaves you tearful and disturbed," and The Economist called it "still incredibly moving after nearly half a century.” I’d call it a compelling and thought-provoking cautionary tale, and a ride you only want to go on via your imagination.

This isn’t a typical murder story, but it has it all: personal dilemmas, paranormal lines, and killings wrapped around a dystopian world where good and evil are on a collision course. This is, perhaps my favorite book.

It was King’s gold standard for decades. The traveling east to west, the sages met, the people killed. Those turned against their friends. Twists galore. It is a long read, a bit over 1,100 pages. Don’t let that scare you, it is a page turner from start to finish. 

This book, the story of a Syrian refugee beekeeper, speaks volumes about what I believe in: the resiliency of human beings and the power of the mind.

The beekeeper’s journey reminds me of why I love working with people as a psychologist after 30+ years. I witnessed many times that hopes and dreams can carry people through the most difficult, dire situations. The title of the book also attracted me.

Being an amateur beekeeper, I have some understanding of beekeeper mentality. One has to be observant, patient, and persistent in order to befriend bees. This includes a willingness to learn, follow instinct, and trust what life can bring. These characteristics are reflected in the protagonist of this book.

His emotional journey is about surrendering to the unknown, working with what is in front of him, and trusting what the universe will bring him in the end. Warmth, kindness, and torments… show more.

I have read this novel many times and will read it again. I admit to bias being set in my homeland. Derek weaves a story of three disillusioned, struggling survivors on a desolate island off the coast of the North Island. They are an hour away from New Zealand’s largest city, yet far away from the lives that brought them here.

Rosie, a doctor fleeing lost opportunities, rejection; Red, a former World War II POW who when asked to write down his objectives to aid recovery from PTSD, writes one word ‘Survive’; Angus, a cantankerous retired police inspector Scotsman.

I was held captive reading this story of friendship, adventure, and love as these three unlikely neighbours learn to work together, survive together.

I remember taking a charter fishing boat out from Beaufort Inlet when they found the Queen Anne's Revenge back in 1996, the flagship of the legendary Blackbeard, who was killed off Ocracoke Island in 1718. I also remember visiting Springer's Point and paddling “Teach's Hole” on the island, not to mention searching for his alleged treasure both there and at the site of his former home in Bath, N.C.

I have also visited White Point Gardens in Charleston, where Stede Bonnett and crew were hanged, and kayaked along the many sounds and inlets where these buccaneers used to plunder and pillage. From the time that I was a child, I have been enchanted with pirate culture, and this book offers historical accuracy that you can't find by watching Johnny Depp in the theater.

I love reading about characters and relationships, and Sue is a master at writing about relatable characters that have depth and a back story.

The story is centred around a bunch of long-lost love letters that Raff brings to Maddy’s Great Aunt Ruthie, who has poor eyesight. As Maddy reads the letters to her bit by bit, Maddy discovers a big secret. Maddy has her own heartbreak, a husband who disappeared years ago when she was pregnant leaving her to bring up their daughter alone.

It’s a heartwarming story with lots of love and laughter that I really connected to.

Whether it’s the short story, the novella, or the novel, Burke never fails to go for the throat in wonderfully unexpected ways. This book falls into that niche sub-genre of horror often referred to as “Arctic horror,” although that often just means cold, with lots of snow. 

The staff at a seaside hotel take in a group from a nearby retirement community just as a massive snowstorm strands them all in a hotel that feels like an East Coast version of the Overlook. A combination of John Carpenter’s The Thing and The Shining, Burke finds the terror in small moments that string together into something much larger and horrifying than I anticipated.

I read this book at night just as snowflakes started falling outside the office window. One of those stories (like several of Burke’s themed collections that might be best read at a certain time of year, in… show more.

I enjoyed the way Elizabeth Rush ventured out into some diverse and remote places where sea level rise has had a profound impact on long-term residents.

She writes eloquently about people and their lives and homes and avoids the climate change politics and debates. This is not a future problem—it’s real, it’s now, and it’s everywhere, as her conversations so clearly and soberly illustrate.

I loved delving into history in this meticulously researched, well-written novel about the young woman who was the Lindbergh baby’s nanny.

Although I started reading the novel looking for clues as to the kidnappers, the protagonist’s story was so engaging that when the kidnapping actually happened, I was shocked! I had become so wrapped up in the story I forgot I knew how it ended.

If you want a novel to transport you to another time and place, make you forget you have to get up the next day, and keep you up until 2 in the morning reading, this is the one!

This delightful chronicle of the infamous Blizzard of 1888 and its impact upon the population of New York City was published on the storm’s 100th anniversary. Prior to penning this book, Ms. Cable authored nine others over nearly two decades—including several on American social history—and served as editor/writer for The New Yorker and Harper’s Bazaar (among other publications). In my view, this prior experience was key to her uncommon ability to consistently evoke the vivid images of the trials and tribulations experienced by numerous real-life figures (some famous), and to create a broader social context throughout the book. For these reasons, hers was among the most enjoyable accounts of the Great Blizzard I’ve had the pleasure of reading.