Ahhh, Shark Week. That beloved childhood institution of fascination, fear and edu-tainment. I have vivid memories of sitting inches from the television, oscillating between amazement and terror as my sister and I watched and learned.

The people who put together the programming for shark week are doing their best to erase the mindless, man-eating-monster rap that sharks have gotten over the years (thanks, Jaws) by making sharks seem intelligent, and generally peaceful towards humans (unless provoked, or confused). However, this goal is complicated by the fact that they are showing hours upon hours of gruesome, bloody shark attacks.

Now that the Shark Week’s halfway over, you might be feeling a bit faint of heart. Steel yourself and stiffen that upper lip with these amazing true stories of courage and survival.

Not Without Hope by Nick Schuyler and Jere Longman

Sometimes you’re not fighting what’s in the ocean, but the ocean itself.  This is the story of four inexperienced boaters who got in way over their heads during a deep-sea fishing trip. Shipwrecked and totally alone, the four men worked as a team to survive against hypothermia, dehydration, and the constant danger of drowning amid huge ocean waves. Courage and strength in friendship abound.

127 Hours: Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Ralston

It’s difficult to forget hearing Ralston’s story on the news for the first time: a young man who spent five nights with his arm trapped underneath a boulder in a Utah canyon finally made the decision to cut off his own arm in order to survive. From the book description: “If he could use the rock’s vise-like hold to break his arm bones, his blunted pocketknife could serve as a surgeon’s blade.” He possesses bravery and resolve in a rare quantity.

Adrift by Steven Callahan

Another story of surviving against the elements, Steven Callahan was shipwrecked and floated on a raft, alone, for over a month. He came face-to-face with our creature of the week many times, and watched as nine ships sailed past him. You read that right: Nine. Ships.

The Worst-Case Scenario: Survival Handbook by Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht

This classic survival guide is full of practical, hands-on advice for not only how to deal with a shark attack, but pretty much any anxiety-inducing emergency you might reasonably encounter in this lifetime: an emergency baby delivery, quicksand, or alligator attacks. To top it all off, it’s narrated by man’s man and super-stud Burt Reynolds.

 If that mustache isn’t enough to fill you with courage, well…I don’t have any advice left to give.

 “I feel strongly that, no matter who you are, reading opens doors and provides, in your own personal sanctuary, an opportunity to explore and feel things, the way other forms of media cannot.” –Oprah Winfrey, from “Reading with Oprah: The Book Club that Changed America” by Kathleen Rooney

One of the most notable audiobooks released this week was The Butler: A Witness to History, a story narrated in part by Oprah Winfrey. Listening to her narration, it’s at once impossible to forget that the deep, rich voice you’re listening to is Oprah’s, and yet so easy to fall, deeply and completely, into the story she’s telling you.  In addition to The Butler, Winfrey has also narrated Janet Fitch’s White Oleander: an intense, heart-twisting story, read with great emotion by a powerful voice. (Also a great movie. Just saying.)

Her contribution to the culture of reading in America reaches way beyond narration, though. In 1996, Oprah leveraged the popularity of her TV show to get millions of people back into reading, and slowly, gradually, pulled them towards trying ever more challenging and controversial material. Books chosen by Oprah have, without fail, experienced a huge boost in sales and attention (see: The Oprah Effect), giving her a strong influence over what America is reading—and she has largely used that influence for good. Here are my top three favorites from over 15 years of Oprah’s Book Club selections.

Middlesex—I love Jeffrey Eugenides, and this story crosses continents and generations to offer a very human look at truth, secrets and gender.

The Road—Cormac McCarthy is a master of holding back from his reader exactly the right information, and in precisely the right amount. He leaves you suspended in just enough uncertainty to amplify every emotion the story stirs in you. The Road is dark, disturbing, and fascinating.

The Poisonwood Bible—This is a classic book club novel because not only is it expertly written, but it opens the door for conversations about topics like faith, religious outreach, culture shock, and “the other”.

You can see the entire book club list here. What’s your favorite pick?

Imagine waking up not knowing who you are. You feel like a twenty-something, but when you look in the mirror, there’s a mature woman staring back–twenty years of your life gone in the blink of an eye.

This month’s ABC book club selection was S.J. Watson’s debut novel Before I Go to Sleep. For main character Christine, a traumatic experience has taken away her ability to form new memories and left her with only the knowledge of life before her mid-twenties. Each day she wakes up next to a stranger–in actuality, her husband–and has to trust this man to tell her who she is and piece her identity together bit by bit. It isn’t until a phone call from a man claiming to be her doctor brings what small structure she has into question that she begins to unravel her own story.

This is Watson’s first novel, minimally cast with a few core characters and a heavy emphasis on building psychological tension for the reader using slow, deliberate pacing. The strategic use of repetition was deftly applied to help submerge the reader in the daily reality of living of a memory disorder. While the small character count and limited settings helped to convey to the reader exactly how small Christine’s world had become, it began to feel slightly claustrophobic at times to be stuck with the same cast of three for the majority of the book. The narration was compelling, though our group felt certain scenes could have been shortened or even omitted without affecting the overall plot.

The main talking point our club took from this story was, “how far does love really go?” What would you do if your wife was technically still the woman you married, but in reality wasn’t her anymore? The book itself is full of points to discuss, but also opens up the conversation for debate about mental health and family.

The book has all the makings of a great thriller film, and is going to be making the jump from page to screen next year with a movie adaptation featuring Nicole Kidman.

It’s not surprising that those obsessed with productivity are also obsessed with audiobooks. Our business section is jam-packed with great titles, like Good to Great.

This book is a classic for a reason. Collins and his team rigorously researched Good to Great and offer frequent sidebars explaining the background details that inform their conclusions. Somehow they manage to make the data sexy and, even better, they make it tell a story.

Collins himself tells the story (or should I say, stories) in the audiobook version. His passion for the subject matter is unmistakeable. He doesn’t just read the book, he reminisces about the experience of researching and writing. Sinking my teeth into this book felt like listening to a great non-fiction book. It helps that the principles are universally applicable – in talking about the qualities that make for the kind of leader who can take a team from Good to Great, Collins talks about how prevalent these people are in non-CEO roles: Scout leaders, elementary school teachers and others who naturally end up in leadership positions because they love building teams that are greater than the sum of their parts.

And at the end of the day, that’s what Collins and his team say is the big difference that can propel a company from Good to Great: they call it “getting the right people on the bus” – and say that where the bus is headed is secondary. There are a million and one theories of how to build a successful business, but Collins makes a very compelling case for getting the right people on the bus, and the right person in the driver’s seat, as job number one.