The Buzz...About Books

Some of the most thrilling stories are in books about survival, offering insight into the will to live. However, survival stories aren’t always about life and death — stories can also involve characters attempting to remove themselves from obstacles toward a better life away from trauma. Although some stories may be tragic, readers can appreciate the perseverance. In this list, you will find stories of survival in fiction and non-fiction.

The North Water by Ian McGuire

Haunted by his past, disgraced former British army surgeon Patrick Sumner joins a whaling expedition in the Arctic. Of course, Patrick doesn’t know the captain has conspired to sink the ship, and a fellow crewmate Henry Drax has evil intentions. The book was adapted into a fantastic 5-episode miniseries starring Collin Farrell and Jack O’Connell. I recommend this for fans of Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy or The Terror by Dan Simmons (both of which are also great books for this category).

Staff recommendations 

Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer

A harrowing, devastating and oxygen-deprived account of climbers on Mt. Everest during its deadliest season. The book makes you feel like you're one of the climbers – trudging through snow, ice and storms, fighting dizziness, blacking out and suffocating. If you never get the chance to climb Everest, this book will do.

—Tim, Librarian

The Invincible by Stanislaw Lem

A retro science fiction book (think mechanical computers, astronauts bringing books along to outer space and a male-only crew). But in terms of the plot, Lem's imagination was ahead of his time (he even got the reverse thrust rocket landing seven decades before SpaceX). The eponymous spaceship lands on a planet to discover what happened with the previous mission that landed there years earlier and was never heard from again. As exploration unfolds, the astronauts discover more perplexing clues that force them to consider a seemingly impossible scenario to survive. I hope the term "necroevolution," coined by the story's characters to describe their formidable enemy, won't ever have to be used in real life.

Other categories:

• A book you've read many times (I can't remember how many times I've read it)
• A book about a land you would like to explore (for those who are into exoplanets)

—Anna, Librarian

Bluebird by Genevieve Graham

Graham tells a story of a Windsor-area nurse (the nurses during WWI were called "Bluebirds" because of their blue uniforms) and a Canadian soldier, fighting to survive the Great War. When they return to Canada, they fight to survive their scars, memories, prohibition and the underground dangerous bootlegging business. Author Genevieve Graham is a Canadian historical fiction writer, and I enjoy her stories as they focus on Canadian historical events that many of us don't know about.

Other categories:

• A book about a historical event you are unfamiliar with

—Despina, Branch Head 

The Wild Robot by Peter Brown

Roz the robot discovers that she is alone on a remote, wild island with no memory of where she is from or why she is there. Her only hope of survival is to try to learn about her new environment from the island's hostile inhabitants. This is a children's fiction book, but I enjoyed it as an adult.

The Big Tree by Brian Selznick

This book follows the story of Sycamore seed siblings Merwin and Louise and their journey of survival following a devastating forest fire. This children's fiction book combines amazing illustrations and powerful text into a story about how the smallest can help save the planet.

—Jo-Ann, Library Assistant

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

I read this book during the pandemic, and it was, in some ways, eerily similar to the reality we were all facing navigating a global pandemic. Mandel wrote this in 2014 about a fictional swine flu called the Georgia Flu sweeping through the world and killing most of its population. There are scenes set in Toronto and around the Great Lakes that really make the book hit close to home. We meet different characters navigating this new world order, and Mandel's writing makes this book an absolute page-turner.

Other categories:

• A book that makes me happy (Mandel is an expert at her craft, and her writing and the way she intersected the characters lives was so artfully done. I was in complete admiration of her writing after I read this book.)

—Suzanne, Senior Services Specialist

The Overstory by Richard Power

Such a beautiful, despairing and emotional book that shows how important forests are to our survival.

Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why by Laurence Gonzales

I heard about this book when a CEO who was being interviewed by the Globe and Mail said that he required all of his senior managers to read this book as part of their leadership training. Though not a management book, it contains many messages and ideas that can be applied to business, the most compelling of which is how to confront, manage and adapt to change – in the case of this book, catastrophic change. All this is done through the telling of different stories of how people survive (or don’t survive) different life or death situations. A fascinating study of human capacity and behaviour. I love this book. 

—Linda, Director (Communication, Programming & Customer Engagement)                                                                                               

The Last White Man by Mohsin Hamid

An interesting premise by the twice-nominated Booker Prize author, where men and women find that their skins have turned dark. The first line of the book “One morning Anders, a white man, woke up to find he had turned a deep and undeniable brown” grabs our attention and pulls us into this mysterious happening against the backdrop of a sweet love story. A short but very thought-provoking book.

Such Big Dreams by Reema Patel

This is a survival story of a street girl who, through interesting circumstances, lands a job in a law office that deals with human rights abuses. The journey, as expected, is not a smooth one. Along the way, the reader gleans much about India, its people, culture and traditions. There’s plenty of local colour, including the city of Mumbai, descriptions of street foods, rich and poor neighbourhoods, Bollywood stars and more. The book makes an exciting read as twenty-three-year-old former street child Rakhi shows her fierce independence at unexpected times and manages to stay true to herself while fighting for her aspirations.

Other categories:

• A book with multiple timelines
• A book about friendship

—Radha, Senior Branch Head

Butterfly: From Refugee to Olympian, My Story of Rescue, Hope, and Triumph by Yusra Mardini

This is the story of sisters Sara and Yusra Mardini, professional swimmers from Syria who had to flee their war-torn country. As young teen girls, they watched Michael Phelps win gold at the Olympics and wished for the same opportunity. When a bomb falls into the pool Yusra is in, they come to the hard decision to escape Syria and travel to Germany, where a friend of Sara’s will take them in. This book tells the story of their journey and how it feels to be a refugee.

The most harrowing experience is when they are on an overcrowded raft on the way to Greece when the engine cuts out. Sara and Yusra jumped into the freezing water, where they stayed in for three hours until the engine restarted. They surely saved the lives of the 20+ people on board. Once on land, they had to pay exorbitant fees to smugglers to get them where they needed to go. As Yusra reflects, they were fortunate that their family could afford this, as it was impossible for most refugees to do.

Other categories:

• A book about sports
• A book about a historical event you are unfamiliar with
• A book about friendship

—Debra, Librarian

Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing

This gripping true story is about the first and only voyage of the Endurance, led by polar explorer Ernest Shackleton. The Endurance set sail from England in August 1914, bound for Antarctica. By January, the ship was hopelessly trapped in ice and spent months drifting in its grip. Ultimately, the ship was crushed, and Shackleton and his crew of twenty-seven men became castaways in one of the harshest environments on the planet. An incredible true tale of grit and the will to survive in the face of grim odds.

—Maureen, Librarian

438 Days: An Extraordinary True Story of Survival at Sea by Jonathan Franklin

This is the true story of a man who survived fourteen months in a small boat drifting seven thousand miles across the Pacific Ocean.

Daughters of the Flower Fragrant Garden: The Two Sisters Separated by China's Civil War by Zhuqing Li  

The author of the book tells the story of her two aunts who were separated on opposite sides of the Chinese Civil War. The book was awarded the Brown Book Award 2023.

Facebook Group Recommendations 

These are just some of the suggested titles from our Facebook TPL Reading Challenge 2023 discussion group. You can read all of the responses in the original post. You do not need a Facebook account to read the suggestions.

• And the Birds Rained Down by Jocelyn Saucier
• Between Two Kingdoms by Suleika Jaouad
• A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
• Five Little Indians by Michelle Good
• Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
• The Body Keeps Score by Bessel A. Van der Kolk
• The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
• Rebel: My Escape from Saudi Arabia to Freedom by Rahaf Mohammed
• A Child Called It by David J. Pelzer
• Dancing after TEN: A Graphic Memoir by Vivian Chong and Georgia Webber
• Night by Elie Wiesel

French Recommendations

If you like to read in French, check out the list of recommended books for La survie, which includes a mix of books, ebooks, and digital audiobooks to try. 

What did you read for "a book about survival”? Do you have other recommendations? Share in the comments below!