weaving loss into life
The Library
“Books permit us to voyage through time, to tap the wisdom of our ancestors.”
– Carl Sagan
Reading can be a powerful resource for processing and integrating grief.
Here is a list of books that have helped us along the way. We hope you'll find it helpful.
Have a book recommendation?
We are always looking to expand our library of books useful for grievers.
Send us a message and we'd be happy to add it!
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Wilding; Returning Nature to our Farm, Isabella Tree.
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Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour, An Introduction, and Franny and Zooey, J.D. Salinger.
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Rumi especially translated by Coleman Barks
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Hafiz especially translated by Daniel Ladinsky
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Everything Pema Chodron has written
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The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (translation by Sri Swami Satchidananda)
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The Sonnets to Orpheus by Ranier Maria Rilke (translated by Stephen Mitchell)
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Tao te Ching by Lao Tzu - (translation by Stephen Mitchell)
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Incarnadine by Mary Szybist
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When Sadness is At Your Door by Eva Eland
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The Rabbit Listened by Corru Doerrfield
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Sad Book by Michael Rosen
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Dog Heaven by Cynthia Rylant
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Big Boys Cry by Jonty Howley
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My Happy Life by Rose Lagercrantz
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The Goodbye Book by Todd Parr
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The Invisible String By Patrice Karst
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Not My Idea; A Book About Whiteness by Anastasia Higginbotham
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The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson and Rafael López
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All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold and Suzanne Kaufma
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The Body Keeps The Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk
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Waking the Tiger by Peter Levine
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Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach
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When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron
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The Power, by Naomi Alderman
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The Nickel Boys, by Colso Whitehead
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The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas
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The Library at Mt. Char, by Scott Hawkins
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Magical Negro, by Morgan Parker
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I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, by Erika L. Sánchez
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Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, by Olga Tkarczu
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Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen María Machado
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My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
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On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
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Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
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There There by Tommy Orange
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Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay
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Pachinko by Min Jin-Lee
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Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enriquez
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The Vegetarian by Han Kang
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The Water Museum by Luís Alberto Urrea
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Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell
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The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
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A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius By Dave Eggers
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Living Beautifully with Uncertainty & Change by Pema Chodron
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When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron
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The Book of Joy; Lasting Hapiness in a Changing World by The Dalai Lama Desmond Tutu and Carlton Abrams
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Your Illustrated Guide to Becoming One with The Universe by Yumi Sakugawa
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How to Breathe By Ashley Neese
More Reading and Writing
Artist Chelsea Granger (who made the gorgeous header and cover art for our website) has a long and beautiful list of helpful books on her website. Click here to see her recommendations.
Anti-Racist Reading List for Children
Offered by EmbraceRace - an organization working to raise a generation of children who are thoughtful, informed and brave about race.
Anti-Racist Reading List for Adults
Offered by The Stacks - a podcast about books that support independent bookstores.
Novelist Jesmyn Ward's Vanity Fair article: "Even in a pandemic, even in grief, I found myself commanded to amplify the voices of the dead that sing to me, from their boat to my boat, on the sea of time."