Today I finished reading my first ever novel in Portuguese: Veronika decide morrer [Veronika Decides to Die], por Paulo Coelho (the guy who wrote the Alchemist). i read this because it was in 1,001 Books You Must Read Before You Day. I’m afraid the authors were mistaken. I’d have been quite happy to die without having read this.
I’ll save you a few hours: Don’t be bound by social conventions. Follow your dreams. Be unconventional. Don’t worry be happy. I hope you dance. Carpe diem. (Maybe not the last 3, but more or less.) Add in some very unethical medical practice, and you have an inspiring book.
Other readers have apparently found it more compelling. An American movie comes out this year starring Sarah Michelle Gellar; here is the trailer. And a Japanese movie came out a couple of years ago; here is the trailer (no subtitles, but you don’t really need them).
David Evans' personal blog 
See, I do read your blog! Thanks for the heads up, though that wasn’t next on my list anyway. People seem to go crazy for him.