Easily my favorite book on grief, Kelly writes through the pain of losing her father and best friend. Her words are beautiful, accessible, and relatable, and tell the truth. In the back section of the book is an interview with Jen Hatmaker that should not be missed.

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.

Lemonade Liberty Witt’s mama always told her: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. But Lem can’t possibly make lemonade out of her new life in Willow Creek, California—the Bigfoot Capital of the World—where she’s forced to live with a grandfather she’s never met after her mother passes away.

Even after she left home for Hollywood, Emmy-nominated TV writer Bess Kalb saved every voicemail her grandmother Bobby Bell ever left her. Bobby was a force—irrepressible, glamorous, unapologetically opinionated. Bobby doted on Bess; Bess adored Bobby. Then, at ninety, Bobby died. But in this debut memoir, Bobby is speaking to Bess once more, in a voice as passionate as it ever was in life.

What if you learned to love the very thing you're scared of? conversation with grief is part of a series of three collections of poetry and prose taking the reader into the realization that learning about the 'big moments' in life means having raw and vulnerable conversations with yourself, with others, with memories, music, words, loss, and healing.

Jessica DuLong reveals the dramatic story of how the New York Harbor maritime community heroically delivered stranded commuters, residents, and visitors out of harm's way. Even before the US Coast Guard called for "all available boats," tugs, ferries, dinner boats, and other vessels had sped to the rescue from points all across New York Harbor. In less than nine hours, captains and crews transported nearly half a million people from Manhattan.

On the day of his sister’s funeral, while standing alone at her grave, Matt Bays tells the truth for the very first time; that he is gay. At forty-six years old, and with a highly religious worldview, Matt sets out on a powerful journey to grapple with this new reality and find the part of himself that was buried in his youth.

When you're in the midst of terrible depression, the days and weeks can feel like an eternity. From the author of The Long Night comes a beautiful collection of poems and meditations for those experiencing the long night of depression. In Blessings for the Long Night, Jessica Kantrowitz's moving poetry acknowledges the pain and relentlessness of depression and offers gentle presence and hope.

Leslie Gray Streeter is not cut out for widowhood. She's not ready for hushed rooms and pitying looks. She is not ready to stand graveside, dabbing her eyes in a classy black hat. If she had her way she'd wear her favorite curve-hugging leopard print dress to Scott's funeral; he loved her in that dress! But, here she is, having lost her soulmate to a sudden heart attack, totally unsure of how to navigate her new widow lifestyle.

In The Grieving Brain, neuroscientist and psychologist Mary-Frances O’Connor, PhD, gives us a fascinating new window into one of the hallmark experiences of being human. 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.

In Grief is Love, author Marisa Renee Lee reveals that healing does not mean moving on after losing a loved one—healing means learning to acknowledge and create space for your grief. It is about learning to love the one you lost with the same depth, passion, joy, and commitment you did when they were alive, perhaps even more. She guides you through the pain of grief—whether you’ve lost the person recently or long ago—and shows you what it looks like to honor your loss on your unique terms, and debunks the idea of a grief stages or timelines.

Many people who have suffered a loss feel judged, dismissed, and misunderstood by a culture that wants to “solve” grief. Megan writes, “Grief no more needs a solution than love needs a solution.” Through stories, research, life tips, and creative and mindfulness-based practices, she offers a unique guide through an experience we all must face—in our personal lives, in the lives of those we love, and in the wider world. She debunks the culturally prescribed goal of returning to a normal, “happy” life, replacing it with a far healthier middle path, one that invites us to build a life alongside grief rather than seeking to overcome it.

Grief Works is a compassionate guide that will support, inform and engage anyone who is grieving, from the ‘expected’ death of a parent to the sudden and unexpected death of a small child. It also provides clear advice for those seeking to comfort the bereaved.

Liz Tichenor has taken her newborn son, five weeks old, to the doctor, from a cabin on the shores of Lake Tahoe. She is sent home to her husband and two-year-old daughter with the baby, who is pronounced “fine” by an urgent care physician. Six hours later, the baby dies in their bed. Less than a year and a half before, Tichenor’s mother jumped from a building and killed herself after a long struggle with alcoholism. As a very young Episcopal priest, Tichenor has to “preach the Good News,” to find faith where there is no hope, but she realizes these terrible parts of her own life will join her in the pulpit.

Have you ever been forced to consider the fact of your mortality? If confronted with cancer, how would you feel? What would you say to the people you love? What would they say to you? No two people have the same answers to these questions, a lesson I learned well during a solo six-week, 5,000-mile cross-country bike ride I called Cycle of Lives.

Dr. Kathryn Mannix has studied and practiced palliative care for thirty years. In With the End in Mind , she shares beautifully crafted stories from a lifetime of caring for the dying, and makes a compelling case for the therapeutic power of approaching death not with trepidation, but with openness, clarity, and understanding.

When Melissa Gould became a widow, she found that she didn’t fit the typical idea of widowhood or meet the expectations of mourning. She didn’t look like a widow or act like a widow, but she felt like one. Melissa was widowish. Her personal journey through grief and beyond includes unlikely inspiration from an evangelical preacher, the calming presence of some Real Housewives, and the unexpected attention of a charismatic musician.

Everything Happens for a Reason is by Kate Bowler. Kate is a professor at Duke Divinity School with a modest Christian upbringing, but she specializes in the study of the prosperity gospel, a creed that sees fortune as a blessing from God and misfortune as a mark of God’s disapproval.

The Rules of Inheritance by Claire Bidwell Smith. Claire’s book on the early loss on both her mother and her father is raw and beautiful. The author of several books on grief including a more clinical tome focusing on Anxiety, Claire has a powerful web presence, offers workshops on grief and loss, as well as individual work. Claire and Hope Edelman offer workshops that can be joined for a fee.

After Grief is a beautiful book written by Hope Edelman, author of “Motherless Daughters.” After Grief is one of the best books I have read on grief period, but perhaps the only that really reflects on grief over time. Hope uses her own experience and those she interviewed years ago for her first book to show how feelings change and integrate. Hope’s website keeps you updated on small groups and discussions she runs, often for free.