Highly-Rated and Readable 9/11 Books

Book Summary

While this book takes place on September 11, 2001 and the following days, it’s not the constantly devastating story you would expect. Instead, this heartwarming book recounts the experiences of countless passengers from some of the 38 planes that were unexpectedly diverted to Newfoundland – an island in Canada’s easternmost province – when US airspace was closed on 9/11. On that day, the small town of Gander, with a population of just 10,000, received more than 6,600 passengers from 92 countries. Ganderites, along with residents of the surrounding towns, opened the doors to the local churches, schools, and even their own homes.

Throughout this book, you’ll not only learn the personal stories of the passengers, but you’ll also learn a lot about life on this tiny, remote island and about the unexpected hosts who welcomed strangers from around the world with open arms and generous hearts.

Book Summary

Compiled by an award-winning journalist and best-selling historian, The Only Plane in the Sky paints a human portrait of 9/11, telling the story of the day as it was lived and in the words of those who lived it.

This oral history brings together never-before-published transcripts, recently declassified documents, original interviews, and oral histories from nearly 500 people – including government officials, first responders, witnesses, survivors, family members, and friends.

Book Summary

Weaving together the narratives of the events in New York, Washington D.C., and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, this book provides a minute-by-minute account of September 11, 2001.

Mitchell Zuckoff was a reporter for the Boston Globe when 9/11 occurred, and in the following days and weeks, he wrote about the attacks, the victims, and their families.

In Fall and Rise he gives voice to these intimate stories to ensure they are never forgotten. From an out-of-work actor trapped in an elevator in the North Tower of the World Trade Center to a veteran trapped in the inferno in the Pentagon to the fire chief who was among the first on the scene in Shanksville, this book provides new insights and avenues for for understanding one of the worst days in American history.

Book Summary

On the morning that the Twin Towers collapsed, Gigi fled her office building and escaped from Manhattan via the Staten Island Ferry. Among the crying, ash-covered-shoeless passengers, Gigi spots a man she recognizes. Harry Harrison is a Brit who frequents her favorite coffee shop. Gigi takes Harry home to her parents’ house, where they spend hours watching the media coverage of the planes crashing. All the while, Gigi waits for a phone call from her younger brother that will never come.

A decade later, Gigi is now an overwhelmed single mother. After another chance meeting with Harry, the two fall in love. They have a baby and move to London, but rather than providing Gigi with a fresh start, she feels lonely and isolated. In order to find the light at the end of the tunnel, Gigi will first have to face the rage and grief she feels about her brother’s death and the challenges of motherhood.

Book Summary

September 1911. On Ellis Island in New York Harbor, nurse Clara Wood cannot face returning to Manhattan, where the man she loved fell to his death in the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. Then, while caring for a fevered immigrant whose own loss mirrors hers, she becomes intrigued by a name embroidered onto the scarf he carries…and finds herself caught in a dilemma that compels her to confront the truth about the assumptions she’s made.

September 2011. On Manhattan’s Upper West Side, widow Taryn Michaels has convinced herself that she is living fully, working in a charming specialty fabric store and raising her daughter alone. Then a long-lost photograph appears in a national magazine, and she is forced to relive the terrible day her husband died in the collapse of the World Trade Center Towers, which was the same day a stranger reached out and saved her. But a chance reconnection and a century-old scarf may open Taryn’s eyes to the larger forces at work in her life.

Book Summary

Joan’s father was a world-class artist who died on 9/11. Following in her dad’s artistic footsteps, Joan became an art historian. When her husband confesses that he’s fathered twins with another woman, Joan impulsively decides to take a last-minute job as an art courier on a trip to Paris. With some very valuable drawings tucked discreetly in her carry-on luggage, it’s her job to carry them safely to some potential clients in Paris.

On the flight, Joan enjoys sipping champagne while flirting with her seatmate, a handsome tech nerd named Nate. When they land in the City of Lights, Nate invites her to dinner. After a romantic night out (and a romantic night in), Joan wakes the next morning to discover that the drawings are missing from her suitcase.

Even more shocking is that the art has been replaced with a sketch from her father’s journal that she believed was lost on 9/11. Along with the sketch is a poem that reads like a treasure hunt. With Nate as her sidekick, Joan follows the clues through the streets of Paris – from grand cathedrals to small bistros.