The Most Beautiful Thing I’ve Seen: Opening Your Eyes to Wonder

Gungor, cocreator (with her husband) of the Grammy-nominated music collective Gungor, directs this moving, extremely personal memoir to her mother. “We see things differently because our histories or circumstances give us differing view points,” she writes, before detailing her young marriage at age 19 and how her divorced parents were both wary and skeptical of her decision to marry. Over the course of three years, the Gungors’ music collective found a global audience and Gungor found herself estranged from her mother after a falling out over her faith. Years later, when the Gungors’ second daughter was born with Down syndrome, Gungor began to reflect on her past and deeply consider the importance of perspective in a way she hadn’t since she quarreled with her mother about getting married: “her first few moments... she was purely perfect. Then in minutes she was given a definition. We were given a lens for viewing her.” Gungor’s story fluctuates between an address to her mother and an open exploration of her past, and she also writes about her struggle to find peace after her husband tells her he is an atheist. Music fans will be enthralled by Gungor’s generous spirit as she confronts her life’s most trying moments. (June)