Need more information on a certain topic that you haven't found on the Internet? The right guidebook or reference is often an inspiration and always a help.

I'm excited to announce this website has joined a special program offered by Amazon.com. Through this association, you can select your favorite books and order them online. I have personally used the services of Amazon books and because I found their service so remarkable, I am making it available to the visitors to this website. This approach allows me to easily list books submitted by authors or website visitors. I receive a small percentage of each book sold from orders received through these direct links to the Amazon site. I plan to use any proceeds to help support this site. Do not feel obligated to purchase any books here unless they are of benefit to you. This is intended as a helpful service, and I do not depend on book sales for my livelihood.

You can identify books available through my association with Amazon.com by this logo.

I've compiled a list of books that I think you'll enjoy and find useful or were recommended to me. All ordering is done through Amazon.com. If you find a book you like, click the the title, which will take you to Amazon's order form for that book. You can read any reviews available there, and you won't be committed to your purchases until you enter your credit card information. You can change your mind at any time and use your browser's BACK button to return here.

Gift purchasing is available at AMAZON BOOKS including wrapping and a personalized message, along with alternative ordering options if you prefer not to use your credit card to order.

If there is more than one title on this list that you would like to purchase, please return to this page using your browsers BACK BUTTON after you've added your selection to your Amazon.com shopping basket.

General Resources

Companion to Grief: Finding Consolation When Someone You Love Has Died
by Patricia Kelley
COMMENT: Written by a hospice nurse and grief counselor, based on a series of letters to her widowed brother-in-law. Practical advice for those coping and adjusting to the death of a loved one.

Doors Close, Doors Open: Widows, Grieving and Growing
by Morton A. Lieberman
COMMENT: This distinguished psychologist explains how the widowed adult works through grief toward recovery while discovering new strengths within themselves.

Dying 101 : A Short Course for the Terminally Ill
Gail Cason-Reiser, G.R. Reiser, Michael J. Demoratz
COMMENT: Subtitled "A short course on living for the terminally ill". Not just for patients but for their caregivers and families too.

For Those Who Grieve
by Kay Soder-Alderfer
COMMENT: Subtitled: Twenty Grief Survivors Share Their Stories of Loss, Pain, and Hope. An inexpensive yet valuable book highly rated by readers.

If I Should Wake Before I Die
by Lamont R. Satterly
AUTHORS COMMENTS: I am a hospice chaplain and family therapist This is a book which focuses on inner healing for patients during the dying process. I have chosen 28 different issues that dying people face, written a brief spiritual thought for each one, and then concluded each chapter with scriptures, prose, and poetry from many of the great universal religions. Written for dying patients and their families.

Swallowed by a Snake - The Gift of the Masculine Side of Healing
COMMENTS: This is a wonderful book by Tom Golden who has 20 years of clinical experience helping people heal their grief. The webmaster highly recommends this book as both thought provoking and helpful to men and women as they explore their grief and move toward healing the pain.

The Loss That Is Forever
Subtitled: The Lifelong Impact of the Early Death of a Mother or Father
by Maxine Harris PhD
READERS COMMENTS: "This is an outstanding book and the only book that I've seen that deals with the the topic. I give it a 10 out of 10." -- recommended by Rick Frank who lost both parents before age 11
Also available in paperback

TLC Group - Publications for Transition, Loss and Change
Organization specializing in books, seminars and and workshops related to grief, transition, loss and change.

When Bad Things Happen to Good People
By Harold S. Kusher
COMMENT: Written by a Jewish rabbi facing his own child's fatal illness. Appeals to readers of all religious creeds. Helpful to people troubled by the question "Why me?". Another abstract.

When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times
by Pema Chodron
COMMENT: Written by a Buddhist nun, author of several inspirational books on compassionate topics.

1998-99 National Directory of Bereavement Support Groups and Services
by Mary M. Wong (Editor)
COMMENT: To help bereaved individuals and professionals find resources in their own communities and across the US. Created as a result of her own frustration in locating local resources after the 1984 murder of her 11 year-old stepdaughter, Angela. Includes articles, support groups, hotlines and conferences.

Animal and Pet Death

Cat Heaven
by Cynthia Rylant
COMMENT: Book for kids with folk art illustrations. Helps children deal with the death of their favorite cat.

The Old Dog
by Charlotte Zalotow
COMMENT: For children, an old dog dies during the night and a young boy must deal with the grief. Nicely illustrated.

Children and Family Resources

A Child Dies: A Portrait of Family Grief
by Joan Hagan Arnold, Penelope Buschman Gemma
COMMENT: Topics from the meaning of loss, the death of a child at all ages, dealing with siblings and other survivors are covered in this 127 page paperback.

After the Death of a Child: Living With Loss Through The Years
by Anne K. Finkbeiner
COMMENT: The authors only child died in 1987, and she relates her own experience along with information to help other parents. The experience of real people and parents is the heart of her book, along with a focus of preserving a special bond of love and honor with child who has died.

Breaking the Silence: A Guide to Help Children With Complicated Grief
by Linda Goldman
COMMENT: A practical manual for professionals and caregivers working with children who are going through complicated grief, that is associated with suicide, homicide, AIDS, violence and abuse. Linda is a grief therapist and educator who shares therapeutic techniques that can help lead these children into healing discussions. Also includes national support resources.

Children and Grief: When a Parent Dies
by J. William Worden
COMMENT: The authors uses assessments of 125 school-age children over 2 years for information on how children feel when a parent dies. Also covered are intervention models and suggested activities to help with the mourning process.

Children Are Images of Grace: A Pediatrician's Trilogy of Faith, Hope and Love
by Diane M.Komp MD
COMMENT: Collection of stories and reflections by a physician working with children with serious illnesses. Contains Dr. Komp's three popular books, A Window to Heaven, A Child Shall Lead Them, and Hope Springs from Mended Places.

Children Coping With Grief and Dying
Granny G Reviews of Canadian Children's Books. This special section on children and grief by Lee Anne Phillips.

Children Die Too [videotape]
Part of the The Doctor Is In series, a nationally syndicated television series on health. Offered via the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center Department of Visual Media.

Empty Arms
by Pam W. Vredevelt
COMMENT: Emotional support book for those who have suffered a miscarriage or stillbirth.

Give Sorrow Words: A Father's Passage Through Grief
by Tom Crider, Thomas S Crider
A father loses his only daughter, a senior in college -- and searches for the answers for this death through a search of world religions, nature and poetry. A spiritual and emotional journey toward release from pain and resentment.

The Cat Next Door
by Betty Wen Wright
COMMENT: A children's book about a grandmothers death and how the cat next door helps in a little girls healing.

Society, Cultural, Philosphy, Religious

Death and Dying, Life and Living
by Charles A Corr, et al
COMMENT: A best selling book with a detailed look on how human life and culture shape our view of death, dying and bereavement. Includes color photos, graphs, tables of information.

Death, Mourning and Caring
by Robert Marrone
COMMENT: Described as multidisciplinary, multicultural and multifaceted, this book will appeal to students and professionals in a variety of disciplines. Academically rich with diverse topics from pets to rock and roll.

Jewish Views of the Afterlife
by Simcha Paull Raphael
COMMENT: Readers are guided by the author through 4,000 years of Jewish thought on the afterlife.

The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying
by Sogyal Rinpoche, Patrick Gaffney, Andrew Harvey (Editor)
COMMENT: The webmaster's favorite on the topic of death and dying. Written by a Tibetan lama, the traditions and beliefs of tibetan buddists is shared with clarity, simplicity, and compassion.
Also available in a paperback version.

Nursing and Health Professional Resources

Counseling For Grief and Bereavement
by Geraldine Humphrey
COMMENT: A guide for bereavement counselors. Chapters include assessment, family and group counseling, and community outreach programs.

Death and Identity
by Robert Fulton PhD
COMMENT: Collection of papers related to the sociological issues of death. Looks at the cultural variation in the grieving process, the growth of hospice and issues related to prolonging life vs natural death.

Handbook of Childhood Death and Bereavement
by Charles A. Corr, Donna M. Corr (Editors)
COMMENT: Comprehensive handbook geared toward counselors, therapists, nurses, and mental health practioners. Covers infancy to middle childhood. Many chapter contributors.

Healing The Dying: Nurse As Healer Series
by Melodie Olson
COMMENT: Gives nurses objectives and goals for care of the dying patient. Covers topics from pain management to spirituality and national resources.

How We Die : Reflections on Life's Final Chapter
by Sherwin B. Nuland
COMMENT: Written by a physician, this is a frank and graphic discussion of death. Dr. Nuland shares both his clinical and personal perspectives on the last moments of our lives. I read this book while traveling and caught people reading it over my shoulder. Not for the meek or those in a fragile state of mind. Great book for health care professionals.
Also available in a paperback version.

Mortally Wounded: Stories of Soul Pain, Death, and Healing
by Michael Kearney
COMMENT: A hospice physician in Ireland helps to share information on "dying well" with personal growth. Not light reading.

Near Death Experience and Related

Light at the End of the Tunnel
by Harry Hone
COMMENT: An author shares the experience of "dying" for two minutes along with "near death" revelations and a detailed Near Death Experience (NDE).

Eulogies, Epitaphs and Obituaries

Obits - The Way We Say Goodbye
By MaryEllen Gillan
COMMENT: A book about obituaries, glimpses into the lives of ordinary people through their death notices. Documents the evolution of the obituary and their value in spiritual healing.

The Art of Condolence: What to Write, What to Say, What to Do At A Time of Loss
By Leonard and Hilary Zunin
COMMENT: Paperback book helpful to any of us who feel uncomfortable with sharing our condolences with families and friends with a loss. Good reading and perspective for professionals and the public alike.

The Book of Eulogies: A Collection of Memorial Tributes, Poetry, Essays, and Letters of Condolence
by Phyllis Theroux (Editor)
COMMENT: A large collectin of eulogies or funeral praises, some penned by notable writers. Tributes to the famous, infamous and unknowns, but all worth reading. The anthology of eulogies.

Other Resources

Aquarius Productions
A woman-owned business that produces and distributes internationally recognized films/videos on major health & education issues including death, dying and grief.

HeartSong Books
For all ages and all times, simple words to waken the mind and nourish the soul

Hope for the Bereaved National Training Center
Offer the skilled caregiver an oppotunity to continue to expand those skills and to offer the novice caregiver new tools and supervision for growth in their ability to provide care and support to those who mourn.

Meditations on Grief [audio tapes]
From a broadcast on CBC Radio's IDEAS, March and Sept. 1996. People interviewed in "Meditations on Grief" series: Harry Van Bommel, author and adult educator, Scarborough Ont.; Stephen Levine, author, New Mexico, U.S.A.; Dr. Judy Turner, registered psychologist, Toronto; Mary Vachon (Phd), consultant in psycho- social oncology and co-ordinator of palliative care, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto; Robert Lo; Pauline Kingston; Peter Dyson; and Peter Wood.

Together We Can Heal [audio recording]
Sponsored by the Pikes Peak Hospice, a record focused on difficult issues surrounding the death of a loved one.

Special note to book authors, publishers and distributors:

Due to the increasing requests for links and my personal time investment in maintaining a section for book resources, ALL direct links to related book websites other than Amazon.com will require a reciprocal link to this website. Authors or publishers who wish to have a book added here and have ALREADY provided a link to http://www.katsden.com/death can contact me at: webster@katsden.com.

Return to Death/Dying/Grief Guide index

Email to Kathi Webster RN at webster@katsden.com

Copyright © Kathi Webster, 1996, 1997. All rights reserved.