My all time favorite book is An Unknown Woman by Alice Koller. It is a memoir, originally written in 1962/63. Koller is 37, single, has a PhD but no job and no home (she crashes at friends' homes). She decides to live for three months in the middle of winter in Nantucket. Her only companion is a German shepherd puppy (and she doesn't know anything about dogs). She goes to Nantucket to find out the truth about her life and what she wants to do with it.

I've reread this book several times. It was one that truly showed me that you can live your life the way you want to, as unconventional as it may seem to others. You can be true to yourself. You don't need the white picket fence and two car garage and 2.5 kids and the golden retriever in order to be happy.