We've ranked the best grief books using expert recommendations, sales data, and millions of reader ratings. At Shortform, we know books. Our book guides are the best in the world. Learn why.
1
2
Recommended by Catalina Penciu.I can't forget The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion. [source]
3
Founder/SpaceX
Must admit to liking this book. Sad, romantic and beautifully named. [source]
@johngreen You should not be. It is a great book. Was recently in Amsterdam and walked some of the scenes with your huge fan, my youngest daughter. Loved hearing from you and meeting you at Kenyon. [source]
4
CEO/Microsoft
I don’t know how Kalanithi found the physical strength to write this book while he was so debilitated by the disease and then potent chemotherapy. But I’m so glad he did. He spent his whole brief life searching for meaning in one way or another -- through books, writing, medicine, surgery, and science. I’m grateful that, by reading this book, I got to witness a small part of that journey. I just wish the journey hadn’t been cut so short [source]
Author
Despite its popularity, When Breath Becomes Air is actually underrated. It’s make-you-cry good. [source]
More Shabbat reading recommendations: This book was breathtaking and such a powerful advertisement for the joy of parenthood. https://t.co/V8BH97eiL9 [source]
5
I found the narrative honest and riveting. The author used the journey through the hiking trail to work out her problems. [source]
6
7
Recommended by Natalie Weaver.@noahssmomma I'm so sorry for your loss. I'm sending you so much love. I have this book, and It's a great reminder to start reading it finally💜 [source]
Recommended by Bianca Belair.For #BlackHistoryMonth I will be sharing some of my favorite books by Black Authors 7th Book: The Hate U Give By: Angie Thomas @angiecthomas The movie was really great, but it just hits different when you read the book! https://t.co/rxMH5Uu6JN [source]
9
Recommended by Abid Zaidi.Day 6 : #30Days of posting cover of books I love (1 book a day for 30 days). No expectations, no reviews, just the covers. Inspired by @rekha_bhardwaj #MyFavouriteBooks https://t.co/rl0foOp6hK [source]
10
Former USA President
Just like us, the president enjoys a good beach read while relaxing in the sun. In 2016, he released his list of summer vacation books: Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life, William Finnegan H Is for Hawk, Helen Macdonald The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins Seveneves, Neal Stephenson The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead [source]
H is for Hawk feels like the definitive statement on hawks for the modern times, and I think its success has a lot to do with how well Macdonald tied her inquiry into the life of a hawk with her own personal experience and journey. [source]
12Former USA President
President Obama is spending his Hawaiian vacation playing golf, getting together with high school friends and reading a handful of dark novels set in foreign lands, according to a book list released by the White House Wednesday. The presidential reading list includes … two works of non-fiction for the trip: … "Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End" by Dr. Atul Gawande. [source]
Writer & Journalist
American medicine, Being Mortal reminds us, has prepared itself for life but not for death. This is Atul Gawande's most powerful--and moving--book. [source]
Board of Directors/Amazon
Just finished "Being Mortal" by Atul Gawande. A beautifully written book. Captivating. [source]
Recommended by Julie Plec.I love this book!! https://t.co/BHE07IxdJN [source]
Alice Sebold's haunting and heartbreaking debut novel, The Lovely Bones, unfolds from heaven, where "life is a perpetual yesterday" and where Susie narrates and keeps watch over her grieving family and friends, as well as her brazen killer and the sad detective working on her case. As Sebold fashions it, everyone has his or her own version of heaven. Susie's resembles the athletic fields and landscape of a suburban high school: a heaven of her "simplest dreams," where "there were no teachers.... We never had to go inside except for art class.... The boys did not pinch our backsides or tell us we smelled; our textbooks were Seventeen and Glamour and Vogue."
The Lovely Bones works as an odd yet affecting coming-of-age story. Susie struggles to accept her death while still clinging to the lost world of the living, following her family's dramas over the years like an episode of My So-Called Afterlife. Her family disintegrates in their grief: her father becomes determined to find her killer, her mother withdraws, her little brother Buckley attempts to make sense of the new hole in his family, and her younger sister Lindsey moves through the milestone events of her teenage and young adult years with Susie riding spiritual shotgun. Random acts and missed opportunities run throughout the book--Susie recalls her sole kiss with a boy on Earth as "like an accident--a beautiful gasoline rainbow." Though sentimental at times, The Lovely Bones is a moving exploration of loss and mourning that ultimately puts its faith in the living and that is made even more powerful by a cast of convincing characters. Sebold orchestrates a big finish, and though things tend to wrap up a little too well for everyone in the end, one can only imagine (or hope) that heaven is indeed a place filled with such happy endings. --Brad Thomas Parsons
20
Recommended by Sophie Ratcliffe.What struck me about this book is the way in which grief is embodied. In Max Porter’s novel (or novel-poem), grief becomes ‘Crow’, who descends upon this family. He’s variously a babysitter, a friend, a ghost, a terrorizer. He impersonates a mother; he’s a joker; he’s twisted. He causes chaos. That’s what it captures: the absolute unpredictability, and nastiness, and then sudden benevolence of grief. [source]
21
Recommended by Angel Dei.My favorite John Green book 😭😭 https://t.co/Aqkvmuu9Q5 [source]
24
Recommended by Katie Couric and Ee Ling Lim.I felt it was really brave of Sheryl Sandberg to write. [source]
This book is about resilience, and I only wish there was such a book when I was younger. I was 18 when my dad passed away and it was something that I didn't talk about because I was so afraid of opening the floodgates. It hit me hard, the day my daughter commented that I didn't seem to miss my dad - because I never talked about him. [source]
25
Recommended by Arianna Huffington, Andrea Barber, Chris Abraham, and 2 others.Founder/The Huffington Post
This is a daring, delightful, and transformative book. Lori Gottlieb takes us inside the most intimate of encounters as both clinician and patient and leaves us with a surprisingly fresh understanding of ourselves, one another, and the human condition. Her willingness to expose her own blind spots along with her patients’ shows us firsthand that we aren’t alone in our struggles and that maybe we should talk more about them! Maybe You Should Talk to Someone is funny, hopeful, wise, and engrossing—all at the same time. [source]
My new favorite book 😍😍 @LoriGottlieb1 https://t.co/7iQsEH7sDa [source]
I would like to introduce Zandria and Lori because Zan just read Lori's amazing new book this month, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone; and, since I adore you both, you should be friends. https://t.co/lwQJSJHQxb [source]
Recommended by Sherrilyn Ifill.@BronxRiverBooks @pronounced_ing I love this book. [source]
28
Recommended by Bianca Schulze.What I loved about Coyote Sunrise was, first of all, just her as a character. She’s so confident and outgoing and sassy and smart and she loves to read….In the book, you learn as you go along that her mother and two sisters have died in a car accident. That’s not in the story, but happens before. Since then, her and her dad have been living on a big, bright, yellow school bus, just driving around the United States from one campground to another. The dad is running from facing his fears. [source]
30
31
Recommended by Twinkle Khanna.Eleanor is awkward, funny, an alcoholic and clearly not fine. A great book for someone who wants to get over a reading slump. Loved it! #mustread #eleanoroliphantiscompletelyfine #TweakIt https://t.co/fVQu4sYhSi [source]
Now living on opposite coasts, Mia is Juilliard's rising star and Adam is LA tabloid fodder, thanks to his new rock star status and celebrity girlfriend. When Adam gets stuck in New York by himself, chance brings the couple together again, for one last night. As they explore the city that has become Mia's home, Adam and Mia revisit the past and open their hearts to the future - and each other.
Told from Adam's point of view in the spare, lyrical prose that defined If I Stay, Where She Went explores the devastation of grief, the promise of new hope, and the flame of rekindled romance.
33
Recommended by Ashton Kutcher.Sensational read. Forces you to find the God like features in everyone and every thing. [source]
34
36
Recommended by Lydia Ruffles.The [source]
Recommended by Rand Fishkin.Empathy is at the core of my beliefs, and this is one of the best books I’ve ever read that fosters empathetic thinking. It’s also a great reminder of how hard it is to accomplish anything when your life circumstances and surroundings negatively contribute to progress and a great reminder to stay humble. [source]
Recommended by Bryan Callen.So here are my three must read books. I've been reading a lot of great books like: Outsmart Your Instincts, The Culture Code, and Antonio Damasio’s The Strange Order, and sometimes when you read a lot of nonfiction it’s very enriching, sometimes you need a novel. I really believe you should take a minute and read something beautiful. Listen, listen to Lolita by Nabokov. But also listen to Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy and listen to Richard Poe narrate that. Those are two of the greatest feats of the english language that I can think of. Then there’s Fortress of Solitude, an amazing book, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, these are great novels. Cold Mountain is a beautiful novel, Snow Falling On Cedars, I mean they’ve been around for a while. But goddamnit, get those under your belt. Those are the novels I think you should read. You know Love In The Time Of Cholera it just makes you ache. Kind of like a Hemingway thing, where Hemingway “ahh!”, it’s the same thing, you know. So I don’t know, I’m a fan of all those books. Those are my 3 slash 20 books. [source]
39
Holy shit there’s no way this book is that old because that really ages me but I COMPLETELY agree. This book is a masterpiece and a must-read. Lessons about being human are in there and those are important right now. https://t.co/fF1spEFrUH [source]
It is a tremendously powerful study of PTSD, a mental health issue that isn’t talked about enough [source]
A pal for 30 years, @StephenChbosky ‘s first book #ThePerksofBeingaWallflower had a MASSIVE impact on me & countless others. Then came his great movies. Now..THE NEXT BOOK! Be like me & buy it THE DAY it comes out. (Then harass him until he agrees to put me in the movie! 🎥 🤠) https://t.co/02bMKPgF9A [source]
43
44
Recommended by Chude Jideonwo.I haven’t read a book this compassionate and loving and warm before. I could feel Louise Hay reaching out to me and to all her readers, with a love that is easy to touch, and easy to embrace. https://t.co/znmOT744iX #ChudesBookClub #YouCanHealYourLife #MostHighlyRecommended https://t.co/OafIU4Vd0P [source]
45 Recommended by AnneMarie Schindler, Craig Pearce, Fabrice Grinda, and 2 others.Most of the books I read are business related (I'm sure that says something about me) but my favorite non-business book is The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. I never had a pet growing up. Then, I decided to make a cross-country move and get my first dog. Someone recommended the book to me in my early days of pet parenthood and it gave me a perspective I was really lacking. Years later, I still reflect on its creativity, perspective, and how it captures the arch of life. [source]
Prior to getting into books about business and startups, I read mostly fictional books, and mostly about dogs (think Marley and Me or The Art of Racing In The Rain). [source]
I have lots of books to recommend, but they are not related to my career path. The only one that is remotely related is Peter Thiel’s Zero to One. That said here are books I would recommend. [source]
46
Recommended by Jonathan Glover and Tanya Byron.Kay Redfield Jamison is a psychologist who has co-authored the major psychiatric textbook on manic depression. It authoritatively covers every aspect of the science, from genetics to pharmacology, and also has chapters on the links with creativity and on what the illness feels like. The chapters on the subjective experience are enriched with vivid quotations from patients. In her autobiography, An Unquiet Mind, Kay Jamison came out as not only an expert on the illness but also someone who has it. The power of her book comes from her understanding it both scientifically and from the inside. [source]
This is a divine book. A patient of mine who suffers with a bipolar illness, an absolutely inspiring young genius, recommended it to me. So I read it, and then we discussed it in a lot of our sessions together. [source]
47 Recommended by Bill Gates.CEO/Microsoft
My family loved reading this book together. [source]
49
50 Recommended by Gabriel Coarna.I read "The Last Lecture" because I had seen Randy Pausch give this talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo [source]
51Newly updated and expanded to commemorate its 20th anniversary—this classic resource helps people complete the grieving process and move toward recovery and happiness
Incomplete recovery from grief can have a lifelong negative effect on the capacity for happiness. Drawing from their own histories as well as from others’, the authors illustrate how it is possible to recover from grief and regain energy and spontaneity. Based on a proven program, The Grief Recovery Handbook offers grievers the specific actions needed to move beyond loss.
New material in this edition includes:
How to choose which loss you should work on first How to deal with growing up in an alcoholic or otherwise dysfunctional home Loss of faith Loss of career Loss of health And much, much more.
52
58
61
Recommended by Hillary Chute.Alison has a strip that’s been running for a long time called Dykes to Watch Out For, but this is an autobiographical book. ‘Fun Home’ is short for the funeral home Alison’s dad ran when she was a child. It’s a book that blew me away and continues to blow me away every time I read it – and I must have read it five or six times by now: probably the best book I’ve read in the past ten years in any genre or form. It’s an incredibly crafted book in which the chapters are not chronological but thematic, and each chapter is keyed to a book that her father loved. So it’s not a book about what happened to her father, a closeted gay man who committed suicide a few months after Alison herself came out when she was 19. It’s about looking through a family archive to try and get a sense of her father’s particularity. [source]
62
It’s a great book if you’ve never meditated, and if you’ve been meditating for 50 years. [source]
I promote range and diversity. Thus, I recommend readers to expose themselves to as many different topics as possible. I usually have 2-4 books I refer back to at any given time. They range in topics from management, art, spirituality and philosophy. Trying to get the engineering thing going but don't much of a mind for science. [source]
63
65 Recommended by Kaci Lambe Kai.More modern, I recently read The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt and I love the way it was written. A great story brought to life with long, descriptive, sometimes frenetic sentences. She paints some scenes and some ideas that are unlike anything I've ever read. It's like watching magic on the page. [source]
Recommended by Emma Watson.
67
70
71
73
Recommended by Ella Botting, Jane Mcgonigal, and Soman Chainani.This may be the best book I’ve ever read. It’s a long old book and I bloody love a long book. I don’t possess the vocabulary to describe this book - it was so good, but I’d say it was an intricate analysis of the character’s daily lives and their daily lives are hella intense at times. This booked reminded me that while success in the workplace is very important to me, so is the time spent with loved ones. All three of those books have both drastically changed the way I see things and helped me in my career and personal journey. They also taught me in varying ways that I really can accomplish the things I want to accomplish as well as the importance of recognising my own privilege. [source]
@rhondakap @kellymcgonigal If you haven't read this only read it if you want to be emotionally brutalized. Virtuoso portrayal of compassion but Jesus you could not make worse things happen to your characters. Almost sadistic. Amazing book but traumatic read [source]
The greatest work of fiction I’ve ever read, with the simplest theme: All of us come with baggage and wounds and pain; all of us. [source]
Recommended by Bill Gates.CEO/Microsoft
I thought I knew everything I needed to know about Abraham Lincoln, but this novel made me rethink parts of his life. It blends historical facts from the Civil War with fantastical elements—it’s basically a long conversation among 166 ghosts, including Lincoln’s deceased son. I got new insight into the way Lincoln must have been crushed by the weight of both grief and responsibility. This is one of those fascinating, ambiguous books you’ll want to discuss with a friend when you’re done. [source]
77 Recommended by Theresa Evanoff.I’ve been an avid reader all my life, but one book that stands out on a very personal level is “Heaven is Real”, by Lynn Vincent and Todd Burpo. While the story and writing style might not be Pulitzer material, I read this right after my mother passed away and it really moved me. It gave me a strange sense of comfort that she is in a better place, and that she would be looking down on me and my children in the future (I had also just learned I was pregnant not long before that). [source]
A novel about holding on, letting go, and learning to love again.
Now in paperback, the endearing novel that captured readers' hearts and introduced a fresh new voice in women's fiction Cecelia Ahern.
Holly couldn't live without her husband Gerry, until the day she had to. They were the kind of young couple who could finish each other's sentences. When Gerry succumbs to a terminal illness and dies, 30-year-old Holly is set adrift, unable to pick up the pieces. But with the help of a series of letters her husband left her before he died and a little nudging from an eccentric assortment of family and friends, she learns to laugh, overcome her fears, and discover a world she never knew existed.
The kind of enchanting novel with cross-generational appeal that comes along once in a great while, PS, I Love You is a captivating love letter to the world!
83
Loss and grief is intimately different for everyone, and the lasting beauty of @Jayson_Greene’s stunning book is that it lays bare the constant presence of grief and how it manifests as despair, anger, joy, and love. It helped me through a tough time, and I’m grateful he wrote it https://t.co/zYwrZl9bQp [source]
I've read Jayson's book. I am unable to say much more than I would be grateful to anyone who read it. Love to his family. https://t.co/gGvWBLJeoG [source]
91
92 Recommended by Carl Bass.CEO/Autodesk
Winner of the 2014 Edgar Award for the best novel, William Kent Krueger's "Ordinary Grace" is the story of a young teenager, Frank Drum. Set in the summer of 1961, the novel recounts, from the perspective of Frank looking back 40 years later, how he was suddenly and rudely ushered into an adult world filled with a labyrinth of secrets, betrayal and murder. Krueger unfolds a classically poignant coming-of-age story whose themes are the high price of wisdom and the continuing grace of God. Bass has revealed in interviews that he is a man who reflects on spiritual matters and who recalls moments in his own life when he was called upon to grow up and accept responsibilities that he hadn't foreseen. [source]
96
