Books

Most books listed are available to purchase at ThriftBooks.comBookshop.org, or a bookstore of your choice. You can also search for them in the Hennepin County Library or St. Paul Public Library system.

Books marked with an asterisk (*) are available in the church library.

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

An examination of ambiguous loss—loss that brings no closure, as when a loved one may still be alive but is lost to us nonetheless.

Delaney, Rob. A Heart That Works.

Actor and writer Rob Delaney’s memoir about the illness and death of his young son.

Didion, Joan. The Year of Magical Thinking.

Writer Joan Didion’s memoir about her husband’s sudden death and her daughter’s life-threatening illness.

Gawande, Atul. Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End.

Gawande’s book is not specifically about grief, but rather about making the end of life meaningful. A must-read.

*Handler, Chelsea. Life Will Be the Death of Me.

Comedian Handler’s account of her own journey of self-discovery after the death of her brother.

*Hickman, Martha Whitmore. Healing After Loss: Daily Meditations for Working Through Grief.

A year’s worth of meditations for people dealing with loss.

Kessler, David. Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief.

Kessler adds a sixth stage to the five stages of grief most of us are familiar with—finding meaning in the loss of a loved one.

*Lewis, C.S. A Grief Observed.

Lewis’s reflections following the death of his wife.

*Noel, Brook and Pamela D. Blair, Ph.D. I Wasn’t Ready to Say Goodbye: Surviving, Coping, and Healing After the Sudden Death of a Loved One.

A guide through the grieving process, from the first few weeks through the longer-term effects.

O’Connor, Mary-Frances. The Grieving Brain: The Surprising Science of How We Learn from Love and Loss.

Neuroscientist and psychologist Mary-Frances O’Connor discusses what happens when we grieve and how to navigate loss with more ease and grace.

Price, Ann Back and T.J. Wray. Grief Dreams: How They Help Us Heal After the Death of a Loved One.

A program for using dreams as a tool for healing loss. 

*Rando, Therese A., Ph.D. How to Go on Living When Someone You Love Dies.

A guide through the mourning process.

Riley, Lehman. Losing Lizzy: A Story of Grief.

A middle-grade story by a Minneapolis writer about a young girl coping with the loss of her sister. Available directly from the author.

Wilde, Caleb. All the Ways Our Dead Still Speak: A Funeral Director on Life, Death, and the Hereafter.

Funeral director Wilde looks into “all the ways our dead remain with us.”