Grief Bibliography

This list was last reviewed and modified on January 25, 2012.  You'll find the original list, with links to comments from some of our members, here: Grief Bibliography. 

It has been said that every grief needs a thousand tellings.  When we are stricken with grief over the loss of someone we dearly love, whether that is a special person in our lives or even a treasured companion animal, we each will have our own stories to tell, as well as a need to know the stories of others.

Whether written by experts in grief intervention, or by ordinary people who have found their own way through grief, today there are literally dozens of excellent books on bereavement and loss, shelved in the bereavement section of your local library or neighborhood bookstore.  You can also browse through some of the hundreds of titles available on the Internet.

To see a list of books I've read and personally recommend, go to the Articles ~ Columns ~ Books page of my Grief Healing Web site, then scroll down until you come to the section entitled Suggestions for Further Reading.  Alternatively, you are welcome to browse the Grief Healing Bookstore

I'd also like to share with you an ever-growing list of books specifically recommended by the bereaved themselves to their fellow mourners, all of whom are members of our online Grief Healing Discussion Groups. (For your convenience, you can click on any of the book titles listed below, and you'll be taken directly to Amazon's description and reviews of each book on the list. You are under no obligation to purchase any of these books; this simply gives you a quick and easy way to learn a little more about each one. You will find many of these titles in your local public library, or you can ask if your librarian will order them for you.)

If you have a book that has spoken to you in a special way or that you found to be particularly helpful, please let me know, so I can add it to the list!

1. Surviving the Death of Your Spouse: A Step-by-Step Workbook, by Deborah S. Levinson

2. Caregiving, by Beth Witrogen McLeod

3. Grief's Courageous Journey: A Workbook, by Sandi Caplan and Gordon Lang

4. Life after Loss: A Practical Guide, by Bob Deits

5. Chicken Soup for the Grieving Soul, by Jack Canfield and Mark Hanson

6. Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life, by Jon Kabat-Zinn

7. Unattended Sorrow: Recovering from Loss and Reviving the Heart, by Stephen Levine

8. Surviving Grief and Learning to Live Again, by Catherine M. Saunders

9. The Mourning Handbook, by Helen Fitzgerald

10. Healing Your Grieving Heart: 100 Practical Ideas, by Alan D. Wolfelt

11. Life Lessons, by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and David Kessler

12. How to Go On Living When Someone You Love Dies, by Therese A. Rando

13. A Year to Live: How to Live This Year As If It Were Your Last, by Stephen Levine

14. Letting Go With Love: The Grieving Process, by Nancy O'Connor

15. The Dying Time: Practical Wisdom for the Dying and Their Caregivers, by Joan Furman and David McNabb

16. Companion Through the Darkness: Inner Dialogues on Grief, by Stephanie Ericsson

17. Don't Let Death Ruin Your Life: A Practical Guide, by Jill Brooke

18. A Time to Grieve: Meditations for Healing, by Carol Staudacher

19. Too Soon Old Too Late Smart: Thirty True Things You Need to Know Now, by Gordon Livingston

20. The Art of Forgiveness, Loving Kindness, and Peace, by Jack Kornfield

21. Grieving Mindfully: A Compassionate and Spiritual Guide to Coping with Loss, by Sameet M. Kumar

22. When your Spouse Dies, by Cathleen L. Curry

23. Five Good Minutes: 100 Morning Practices to Help You Stay Calm and Focused All Day Long, by Jeffrey Brantley and Wendy Millstine

24. Healing After Loss: Daily Meditations for Working through Grief, by Martha W. Hickman

25. The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment, by Eckhart Tolle

26. Gay Widowers: Life After the Death of a Partner, by Michael Shernoff (Editor)

27. A Journey Through Grief: Gentle, Specific Help, by Alla Renee Bozarth

28. When Bad Things Happen to Good People, by Harold S. Kushner

29. The Grief Recovery Handbook, by John W. James and Russell Friedman

30. Ambiguous Loss: Learning to Live with Unresolved Grief, by Pauline Boss

31. The Precious Present, by Spencer Johnson

32. Life After Loss: Conquering Grief and Finding Hope, by Raymond A. Moody, Jr. & Dianne Arcangel

33. Writing to Heal the Soul: Transforming Grief and Loss Through Writing, by Susan Zimmerman

34. Stillness Speaks, by Eckhart Tolle

35. In Lieu of Flowers: A Conversation for the Living, by Nancy Cobb

36. The Other Side and Back: A Psychic's Guide to Our World and Beyond, by Sylvia Browne

37. Blessings from the Other Side: Wisdom and Comfort from the Afterlife for This Life, by Sylvia Browne

38. Change Your Mind and Your Life Will Follow, by Karen Casey

39. The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, by Sogyal Rinpoche

40. Seven Choices: Finding Hope after Loss Shatters Your World, by Elizabeth Harper Neeld

41. Grieving the Death of a Mother, by Harold Ivan Smith

42. I'm Grieving As Fast As I Can, by Linda Sones Feinberg

43. Sibling Grief: Healing after the Death of a Sister or Brother, by P. Gill White

44. Hello from Heaven, by Bill and Judy Guggenheim

45. Good Grief: Healing Through the Shadow of Loss, by Deborah Morris Coryell

46. Grace for Grief: Daily Comfort for Those Who Mourn, by Michael and Brenda Pink

47. Angel Catcher,by Kathy Eldon and Amy Eldon Turteltaub

48. The Year of Magical Thinking, by Joan Didion

49. When Parents Die by Rebecca Abrams

50. The Healing Power of Love: Transcending the Loss of a Spouse to a New Love, by Gloria Lintermans & Marilyn Stoltzman

51. Loss and Found: How We Survived the Loss of a Young Spouse, by Gary and Kathy Young

52. Books by John Edward

53. Talking to Heaven: A Medium's Message of Life After Death, by James Van Praagh

54. Ghosts Among Us: Uncovering the Truth About the Other Side, by James Van Praagh

55. Motherless Daughters: The Legacy of Loss, by Hope Edelman

56. Water Bugs and Dragonflies: Explaining Death to Young Children, by Doris Stickney

57. A Grace Disguised: How the Soul Grows through Loss, by Jerry Sittser

58. No Time For Goodbyes: Coping with Sorrow, Anger, and Injustice After a Tragic Death, by Janice Harris Lord

59. Life after Death: The Burden of Proof, by Deepak Chopra

60. Grace for Grief by Michael and Brenda Pink

61. Resilience: Reflections on the Burdens and Gifts of Accepting Life's Adversities by Elizabeth Edwards

62. Life After Death: The Burden of Proof by Deepak Chopra

63. Getting to the Other Side of Grief by Susan Zonnebelt-Smeenge and Robert C. DeVries

64. I Wasn't Ready To Say Goodbye: Surviving, Coping and Healing after the Sudden Death of a Loved One by Brook Noel and Pamela D. Blair, PhD

65. Widow to Widow by Genevieve Davis Ginsburg

66. The Grief Club by Melody Beattie

67. Finding Your Way through Grief: A Guide for the First Year by Marty Tousley 

68. When GOD Winks: How the Power of Coincidence Guides Your Life by Squire Rushnell

69. Now: Overcoming Crushing Grief by Living in the Present by Jack Cain

70. Healing the Adult Child's Grieving Heart: 100 Practical Ideas After Your Parent Dies, by Alan D. Wolfelt, PhD

71. Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames by Thich Nhat Hahn )

72. 90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper )

73. Evidence of the Afterlife: The Science of Near Death Experiences by Jeffrey Long, MD

74. My Glimpse of Eternity by Betty Malz

75. Conversations with the Other Side by Sylvia Browne

76. Healing the Adult Child's Grieving Heart by Alan D. Wolfelt

77. How to Survive Your Grief When Someone You Love Has Died by Susan Fuller

78. Seven Choices: Finding Daylight After Loss Shatters Your World by Elizabeth Harper Neeld

79. Passages in Caregiving: Turning Chaos into Confidence by Gail Sheehy

80. Sacred Grief by Leslee Tessmann

81. The Shack by Wm. Paul Young

82. Facing the Ultimate Loss: Confronting the Death of a Child by Robert J. Marx and Susan Wengerhoff Davidson

83. The Ultimate Loss: Coping with the Death of a Child by Joan Bordow

84. Two Kisses for Maddy: A Memoir of Loss and Love by Matthew Logelin

85. A Widow's Story: A Memoir by Joyce Carol Oates

86. Night Falls Fast: Understanding Suicide by Kay Redfield Jamieson

87. Love Never Ends by Connie Martin and Barry Dundas

88. A Tearful Celebration by Dr. James Means

89. Healing Through the Dark Emotions: The Wisdom of Grief, Fear and Despair by Miriam Greenspan

90. The Color of Rain by Michael and Gina Spehn

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