Books about grief

General chat
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Hi,
I’m going through a particularly emotional time, having 2 bereavement birthdays this month, & now I’m out of the “autopilot” phase, it all really started to hit me last year, but now it’s like my mood is hitting a downward spiral, feeling very alone with my grief, trying to help with my grief issues, I have started reading a book, “overcoming grief” by Sue Morris, it seems therapy based, but too soon to tell whether it’ll be any help or not. I was wandering if anyone else has read any books on grief, that they have found particularly helpful?

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Hello @Pandaprincess,

I’m so sorry for the loss of your mum. Thank you for sharing this with us. I’m just giving your thread a gentle, “bump” for you - hopefully someone will have some thoughts to share.

Take good care,
Alex

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The book I have found hugely beneficial is Good Grief by Theresa Caputo. I feel it relates to what I’ve been through and currently going through.
I would definitely recommend it.

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Hello @Pandaprincess

I found ‘What’s Your Grief?’ by Eleanor Haley & Litsa Williams helpful. It’s practical and sensible advice. They have a website too.

Sending hugs x

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I read ‘the maddness of grief’ by Rev Richard Coles about losing his partner. Its helped me to know I wasn’t going mad.

‘Loss’ or ‘Wild Hope’ by Donna Ashworth provides comforting words.

‘The boy, the mole, the fox, and the horse’ was gifted to me and is soothing for the soul.

I tried the ‘Grieving Brain’ on audio book. This voice makes it unreadable.

Maybe a podcast could help - ‘Good grief’ or ‘Grief Cast’

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Hello @Pandaprincess,

There’s been some great recommendations already. You might also want to read our Grief Guide page, “Six books to help you through your grief”.

Take care,
Seaneen

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Thanks everyone for your suggestions :+1:t2:, I’ll look them up.

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In the book I’ve been reading, it has therapy based exercises, to help you work through your own grief.
I wanted to share one of the things at the beginning, it asks you to write your name & address using your non-dominant hand, (so if you’re used to writing with your right, then write with your left,) then goes on to explain that writing with your other hand, though writing in itself is a familiar task, write with the non-dominant hand can feel strange & unfamiliar, & may take more consecration, the change can feel a bit out of sync with what we’re used to. From a psychological perspective, grief is made up of loss & change, any change in a person’s life results in a transition involving new learning, & a time of adjustment.

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Thank you for sharing @Pandaprincess … that’s a good analogy. x

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Hi could you let me know the title of the book please and would you recommend it?
Thanks for sharing xx

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Hi @Pixiecat
The book is overcoming grief by Sue Morris, I’m still working through it, but yes I would totally recommend it :+1:t2:.

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Just finished the book I was reading on grief, it’s a great book, I totally recommend it.
In one of the later chapters it suggested writing your loved ones story, :thinking:… It’s an interesting, & thought provoking idea, thought it would be emotional to write, I have emailed family to ask about special memories of my mom. One of my special memories of her was playing charades at Christmas, we used to play every year, but my mom had the mistaken theory that words that are spelt the same probably sound the same, :woman_facepalming:t2: this particularly because a problem when she did “sounds like”, so we ended up with things like"booty & the beast", “George of the joogle”, “Holly-fur Twist”, & the song “Doughnut you forget about me”, :joy::blush: it was always so funny, this will always be special memories to me.

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