Expecting Adam is a slyly ironic, frequently hilarious memoir about angels, academics, and a boy named Adam. This national bestseller serves as an important reminder that life is what happens when you're making other plans.

Put aside your expectations. This rueful, riveting, piercingly funny book is written by a Harvard graduate, but it tells a story where hearts trump brains every time. It's a tale about mothering a child with Down syndrome that opts for sass over sap, and it's a book of heavenly visions and inexplicable phenomena that's as down-to-earth as anyone could ask for.

This small masterpiece is Martha Beck's own story—of leaving behind the life of a stressed-out superachiever, opening herself to things she'd never dared consider, meeting her son for (maybe) the first time, and unlearning virtually everything Harvard taught her about what is precious and what is garbage.