Bereavement
Losing a loved one, whether sudden or from an illness is one of the hardest things we have to deal with. Without guidance and support, the grief process can be long and punishable but thankfully, based on years of research and study, we have guides that can help us deal with the bereavement process after the loss of an important person in our lives.
Below we have compiled the top 5 books in the genre of grief and bereavement, which have been well researched and reviewed by people who have suffered a loss, and found that these books helped them greatly. We hope you do too.
5 Books for Dealing with Loss and Grief
1. Healing After Loss (Daily Meditations) – Martha W. Hickman
This book has incredible insight, hope, understanding and some new ideas delivered in small doses. Since concentration levels are so affected during grieving, the one page entries are easy to read or skip, if you need a one that will more fit your moment. The writings of 365 different people and days describes so effectively the feelings and reality of what grief is. For those who have suffered the loss of a loved one, here are strength and thoughtful words to inspire and comfort.
2. Tear Soup: A Recipe for Healing After Loss –
This book tells of ‘Grandy’, who loses someone close. Especially helpful is that it doesn’t specify who the ‘someone’ is, so it can fit into any situation. Grandy and Grampy are making tear soup. The book tells how people are afraid to approach someone who’s grieving, and how people who try to be helpful, sometimes are not. It follows the stages of grief, and how you have to allow yourself all the time you need. In the end, the hardest day comes, and Grandy puts the tear soup away in the freezer to taste now and then. Her grandson says, “What will I do when you die, Grandy?” And she replies, “I’ll leave you my recipe for tear soup.”
3. I Wasn’t Ready to Say Goodbye: Surviving, Coping and Healing After the Sudden Death of a Loved One – Pamela D. Blair, Brook Noel
This book will touch, comfort, uplift and console those who have suffered a sudden loss of a loved one. Authors Brook Noel and Pamela D. Blair, Ph.D. explore sudden death and offers a comforting hand to hold for those who are grieving.
4. How to Survive the Loss of a Love –
“How to Survive the Loss of a Love” is a nice, little, easy-to-read book consisting of 200 pages of tidbits that attempt to quell, numb, or assuage pain. Each page is only half-full of double-spaced text providing a self-contained message, and the facing page contains tidbits of poetry or anonymous biting comments, making the book a quick read and easy to pick up and start at any page.
5. The Grief Recovery Handbook, 20th Anniversary Expanded Edition: The Action Program for Moving Beyond Death, Divorce, and Other Losses including Health, Career, and Faith –
The majority of our society does not know how or even want to deal with the negative feelings which are the natural response to loss.
This book helps the reader to understand these concepts clearly and simply. Then it gives you tools to finally heal. If you have lost a loved one, rest assured that the goal is NOT for you to bury them again, by trying to make you let go of your relationship with that person. It IS about expressing the pain caused by the loss and letting go of only that pain so that you can remember your loved one with a smile instead of a knife in the heart.
