Want to break out of the “predictable and boring gift” rut? Give the gift of inspirational and reflective reading this year! I have recently been able to read two wonderful, eye-opening, and unique books that are real-life stories full of courage and strength. Though both are expressly different in subject matter, their overall themes unite.

The first is the true story behind the events that occurred on January 15, 2009, when US Airways Flight 1549 was forced into an emergency “landing” into the Hudson River. Captain Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger instantly became a nationally revered hero for his quick thinking and experienced know-how, skills that saved the lives of all 155 passengers on board.

Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters is truly that. This book recounts the childhood moments, aviation history, family dynamics, and personal struggles within the life of Capt. Sullenberger, events and situations which he passionately believes prepared him over the years for that one fateful moment over New York’s Hudson River.

The book is deeply personal, telling of his first efforts at flying lessons, the legacy his parents left, the relationship he has with his wife, Lorrie, and their love for their two teenage daughters. It shares with us the struggle that many people know all too well…the battle between work and time with family…the loss over moments missed, the search for, yes, “what really matters.” This book, co-authored by Jeffrey Zaslow (the coauthor of the famed The Last Lecture), is much, much more than a historical recount of the near-tragic events of that January day. It is a heartfelt autobiography, an insight into the pilot’s innermost thoughts, fears, struggles, and devotions. It’s a story not to be overlooked.

(Watch the video recount of that day’s events on the book’s webpage.)

The second title is vastly different in that its beginning hails from a different part of history (and of the world): The rise of Nazi Germany and the effects on a Jewish family forced to leave their home in Poland…namely, a five-year-old little girl named Rita.

Bending Toward the Sun: A Mother and Daughter Memoir is a joint effort. It was written by Rita’s daughter, Leslie Gilbert-Lurie, with aid of her mother Rita Lurie’s explicit and detailed memories and recounts of her jumbled childhood. The first part of the book is told from Rita’s young eyes and perspective, giving lurid details into what it was like hiding away in a neighbor’s attic for over two years, afraid of being caught, eating scraps, and not seeing daylight. The loss and grief she encountered is unfathomable, especially when it comes to the fact that she and her siblings experienced it at such a young age.

The book goes on to tell of Rita’s subsequent moving to America, getting married, and starting a family of her own….all the while dealing with the ghosts and painful pangs from her past, pining for the childhood that was, essentially, stolen away from her.

This book explores the possibility that those who lived through traumatic events (namely Holocaust victims) may genetically AND/OR behaviorally pass down fears, depression, and other setbacks onto their children. This book tells about Leslie’s frustration with not understanding her mother’s psyche, and her passionate pursuit to know more about her mother and her mother’s past via trips back to Poland, talking with relatives, and pointed interviews.

Though this book is filled with sad moments and punctuated with sharp edges, the overwhelming love and devotion between mother and daughter, grandmother and granddaughter, and all lines in between, is highly visible and unchanging. Despite hardship, persecution, and emotional famine, a family clings tightly to one another and seeks to make peace with the past and make amends for a better future, all the while weaving their hearts together more closely.

You can purchase Highest Duty by Capt. Sullenberger for $25.99 and Bending Toward the Sun by Leslie Gilbert-Lurie for $25.99, both from HarperCollins.com or wherever your favorite books are sold.

Win it! To help make your gift buying a little easier, HarperCollins has offered to give away a few copies of each book to my readers! THREE of you will win Capt. Sullenberger’s Highest Duty, and TWO of you will win Bending Toward the Sun by Leslie Gilbert-Lurie! (That’s five winners total!) Just tell me, in a comment below, which book you’d like to win and why. I’ll close the contest next Tuesday, December 1st, 2009 at 11pm EST. US and Canadian addresses only. Good luck!

CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED.

Congrats to the winners of Highest Duty:
#1, Debra Muccio
#8, Winning Readings
#9, Shelia

….and the winners of Bending Toward the Sun:
#4, Annette W
#14, Wehaf