13 Books on Grief

A curated list of books on grief.

It's OK That You're Not OK: Meeting Grief and Loss in a Culture That Doesn't Understand by Megan Devine

Devine is a therapist who also writes about her personal experiences losing her partner. Devine writes, "Grief is simply love in its most wild and painful form. It is a natural and sane response to loss." She invites readers to a middle path of grief, one that builds a life alongside grief.

The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Rituals of Renewal and the Sacred Work of Grief by Francis Weller

This book explores the communal nature of grief and the comfort of rituals for grief. Unique and poetic.

No Death, No Fear: Comforting Wisdom for Life by Thich Nhat Hanh

In No Death, No Fear, the acclaimed teacher and poet examines our concepts of death, fear, and the very nature of existence. Through Zen parables, guided meditations, and personal stories, he expands beyond traditional myths of how we live and die.

How to Live When a Loved One Dies: Healing Meditations for Grief and Loss by Thich Nhat Hanh

In this book that offers relief to anyone moving though intense grief and loss, Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh shares accessible, comforting words of wisdom on how to transform our suffering in the face of death.

The Five Invitations: Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully by Frank Ostaseski

As a renowned teacher of compassionate caregiving and the cofounder of the Zen Hospice Project, Frank Ostaseski has sat on the precipice of death with more than a thousand people. In The Five Invitations, he distills the lessons gleaned over the course of his career, offering an evocative and stirring guide that points to a radical path to transformation.

Finding Meaning by David Kessler

Kessler shares the insights, collective wisdom, and powerful tools that will help those experiencing loss.

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

Levine addresses the grief from fresh loss but also attends to the pain and troubles caused by the unresolved anguish, sadness and delayed stress than can accumulate over a lifetime. He notes that we may never entirely overcome sorrows but we can confront them with mercy and self-acceptance that smooths the path to healing the heart.

Finding Refuge: Heart Work for Healing Collective Grief by Michelle Cassandra Johnson

In Finding Refuge, social justice activist, social worker, and yoga teacher Michelle Cassandra Johnson offers those who feel brokenhearted, helpless, confused, powerless, and desperate the tools they need to be present with their grief while also remaining openhearted.

Tending Grief: Embodied Rituals for Holding Our Sorrow and Growing Cultures of Care in Community by Camille Sapara Barton

Here, Camille Sapara Barton’s take on grief speaks directly to the ways that BIPOC and queer readers disproportionately experience unique constellations of loss. Deeply practical and easy to use in times of confusion, trauma, and pain, Tending Grief includes rituals, reflection prompts, and exercises that help us process and metabolize our grief—without bypassing or pushing aside what comes to the fore.

Conscious Grieving: A Transformative Approach to Healing from Loss by Claire Bidwell Smith

What does it mean to grieve consciously? Most of the time, when we lose someone we love, it feels like grief is just happening to us. When we can consciously engage with our grief, rather than avoiding it, we can access profound pathways to healing.

The Grieving Brain by Mary-Frances O'Connor

O’Connor has devoted decades to researching the effects of grief on the brain, and in this book, she makes cutting-edge neuroscience accessible through her contagious enthusiasm, and guides us through how we encode love and grief. With love, our neurons help us form attachments to others; but, with loss, our brain must come to terms with where our loved ones went, or how to imagine a future without them.

The Grieving Body: How the Stress of Loss Can Be an Opportunity for Healing by Mary-Frances O'Connor

Coping with death and grief is one of the most painful human experiences. While we can speak to the psychological and emotional ramifications of loss and sorrow, we often overlook its impact on our physical bodies. The Grieving Body provides vital scientific research, revealing imperative new insights on its profound physiological impact.

Renegade Grief: A Guide to the Wild Ride of Life after Loss by Carla Fernandez

Shaped by her own experience with the death of her father and her time cofounding The Dinner Party, a leading peer-support organization for people who’ve experienced a major loss, Carla Fernandez pushes back on the death-denying culture we live in. Through inspiring stories of real grievers, patterns from across history, and fresh science, Renegade Grief enlivens you with the permission and possibility to explore your grief in your own unique way and reminds you that you’re not alone in doing it.