The Best Books on Living With Grief
There’s no human experience on earth as harrowing or difficult to navigate as grief. Losing a loved one is truly the most painful misfortune that can befall anybody. At St. Charles Monuments, we’ve made our mission something much more significant than merely providing headstones. We make it our highest priority to deliver exceptional service to our Long Island community that makes a difficult time a little bit easier.
Dealing with grief is confusing, disorienting and overwhelming. In fact, it often feels like temporary insanity. Many of us can use all the help we can get, whether we’ve lost a spouse, a sibling, a parent or a child. The right book, at the right moment, can provide indispensable guidance and the reassurance that someone else has walked this road before you. Below, we’ve gathered the books on living with grief that readers and grief professionals return to again and again, organized by what you might need most right now.
Where to Start
It’s OK That You’re Not OK by Megan Devine
Perhaps the most widely recommended grief book of the past decade. Devine, a psychotherapist who lost her partner suddenly, pushes back against the pressure to “get over it” and offers a compassionate case for carrying grief rather than curing it. If you read one book on this list, or give one to someone grieving, this is the safest choice.
Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief by David Kessler
Kessler co-wrote the classic works on the five stages of grief, and after losing his own son he added a sixth: meaning. This book is especially helpful for readers further along in their grief who are asking what comes next.
The Grieving Brain by Mary-Frances O’Connor
A neuroscientist explains what grief actually does inside the brain, and why loss is so disorienting. For readers who find comfort in understanding, this book makes the fog, the forgetfulness and the waves of pain make sense.
Memoirs of Loss
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
Didion’s account of the year after her husband’s sudden death is the modern classic of grief memoirs. Her precise, unsparing observation of her own “magical thinking” has helped millions of readers feel less alone in theirs.
Widowish: A Memoir by Melissa Gould
Many readers cite this memoir as an extraordinary guiding light in very dark times. Gould’s husband was suddenly hospitalized and his condition gradually worsened until he passed away, leaving her to care for their daughter alone. She describes her total confusion and uncertainty in the aftermath, and ultimately discovers that their love for each other endures even beyond death. A natural companion to our guide on surviving the death of a spouse.
A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis
Written after the death of his wife, Lewis’s short, raw journal wrestles honestly with faith, doubt and sorrow. Sixty years on, it remains one of the most quoted books ever written about mourning, particularly for readers of faith.
The Night Lake by Liz Tichenor
Admittedly, many call this a sad, tough story. The same readers also praise it for being life-affirming and uplifting. The Night Lake tells the story of a child’s untimely passing and, in considerable depth, a mother’s journey towards healing and self-discovery. Losing a child is possibly the worst pain anyone can endure, and finding strength in courageous stories like Tichenor’s can help anybody coping with this nearly unbearable loss.
Good Grief I’m Healed by Suzanne Rene Grimaud
Grimaud tackles trauma, grief, anxiety and panic in the wake of painful losses. Losing her mother in a car wreck at fifteen, she navigated grief and all its perplexities as a teenager. This book is her firsthand account, told with razor-sharp honesty, of newfound healing and stability after years of turbulence.
Practical Guides for the Road Ahead
Loving & Living Your Way Through Grief by Emily Thiroux Threatt
A comprehensive manual for grief survival, arranged so you can turn straight to the topic having the most severe effect on you at that moment. Even when your pain reaches its peak, this book can help you reclaim dormant joyful memories as you learn to adjust to life without your loved one.
Option B by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant
Written after the sudden death of Sandberg’s husband, with psychologist Adam Grant, this book blends memoir with research on building resilience, helping children grieve, and returning to work and life when “option A” is gone.
Bearing the Unbearable by Joanne Cacciatore
A grief counselor and bereaved mother offers short, meditative chapters on living with profound loss. Frequently recommended by hospice workers and grief groups for the heaviest seasons of mourning.
Conclusion: St. Charles Monuments
At St. Charles Monuments, we want our clients to have every possible resource to help guide them through their grief, from books to support systems and grief groups. We understand better than most what a trying time bereavement is, and we’ll do all we can to make the headstone process significantly easier and stress-free.