The summer vacation season is upon us, and the weather here in East Tennessee is already getting hot and humid. Whether you’ll be lounging on the beach with a book or staying in your air-conditioned home avoiding the heat, the lazy days of summer are a great time to do a little reading. Most of the “Best Beach Reads” lists out there tend to focus on novels, but as someone who reads a lot of nonfiction, I thought it would be fun to round up some of my favorite memoirs and inspirational books that I’ve read over the past few years. Here they are, in no particular order:

• When Breath Becomes Air, Paul Kalanithi, with Lucy Kalanithi (be prepared to cry)
• Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl 
• Thrive, Arianna Huffington
• Wild, Cheryl Strayed
• Self Made, Nely Galan
• Your Brain at Work, David Rock
• 10% Happier, Dan Harris
• I Know How She Does It, Laura Vanderkam
• You Are a Badass, Jen Sincero
• No Sweat, Michelle Segar
• On Writing Well, William Zinsser
• Diet Cults, Matt Fitzgerald
• The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg
• We Are What We Wear, Lucy Siegle
• Year of Yes, Shonda Rhimes
• Dimestore, Lee Smith
• Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert
• Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson
• Fight Back and Win, Gloria Allred
• Hourglass, Dani Shapiro
• 29 Gifts, Cami Walker
• The Righteous Mind, Jonathan Haight
• Deep Work, Cal Newport
• The More of Less, Joshua Becker
• The Year of Less, Cait Flanders
• Bored and Brilliant, Manoush Zomorodi
• On Writing, Stephen King

What are some of your favorite memoirs and inspirational nonfiction books? Tell us in the comments.

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