When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

Paul Kalanithi has to be one of the smartest, bravest men I have ever had the opportunity to learn about. While studying and becoming a neurosurgeon/neuroscientist, he learns of becoming afflicted with lung cancer.
 Paul had entered college studying literature, and was going to become a writer. He decided that his curiosity about death and science prompted him to become a neurosurgeon.
This man had such a deep longing to understand the pain, the depth of anguish experienced by someone given a diagnosis of death, that he found he needed to write about his own experience.
Unfortunately, he had not finished the book before he was taken. His wife fills in the gap and kudos to her for letting us know her love for him.

http://paulkalanithi.com/