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Explore the emotional, cultural, and practical aspects of life with stories filled with wonder, compassion and wisdom.
Book Review
Love Notes to Grievers by Angela E. Morris provides comfort and wisdom through grief. This heartfelt collection of love notes, memories, and essays offers a companion for those navigating loss.
Book Review
In This Party’s Dead, Erica Buist explores death festivals around the world, blending humor, cultural insight, and personal grief. Her irreverent tone challenges how we fear death and invites celebration instead.
Book Review
In To Bless the Space Between Us, John O’Donohue offers blessings as a way to connect with grace and divine love. His poetry brings comfort through life’s transitions, especially grief and loss.
Book Review
In All About Love: New Visions, bell hooks explores love as an action, blending care, respect, and commitment to foster spiritual growth. Through diverse lenses, she redefines love, offering deep insights on grief.
Book Review
In My Father's Wake, Kevin Toolis reflects on his father's wake and explores the cultural significance of the Irish funeral ritual, offering insights on how embracing this tradition can improve our approach to mortality.
Book Review
The Invisible Hour by Alice Hoffman blends time travel, mother-daughter love, and magical realism. Set in New England, it follows Mia’s escape from a cult and her transformative connection to The Scarlet Letter.
Book Review
In Last Rites, Todd Harra explores the evolution of American funeral practices, tracing them from home-based care in early colonies to modern, elaborate rituals. The book offers a historical look at death care.
Book Review
Holy the Firm by Annie Dillard is a metaphysical exploration of suffering, God, and existence. Written during 14 months of solitude, this poetic work offers comfort and reflection for those witnessing grief.
Book Review
The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Tolstoy explores the complexities of dying, highlighting the suffering and isolation Ivan faces. The character Gerasim embodies the ideal death worker, offering compassionate presence.
Book Review
Marisa Renee Lee's Grief is Love explores grief as a form of love, addressing the complexities of witnessing loss and the weight of multiple griefs. Lee encourages embracing love’s enduring strength despite death.
Book Review
The Measure by Nikki Erlick explores a world where everyone knows the exact length of their life, prompting profound questions about love, mortality, and society. It challenges readers to rethink how we live.
Book Review
Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin is a powerful love story set in 1950s Paris, exploring grief, identity, and passion. The tale of Paul, torn between two loves, is a profound journey of emotional turmoil.
Book Review
Amy Bloom's memoir, "In Love," recounts her husband's journey through early-onset Alzheimer's and his choice to end his life at Dignitas in Switzerland. Bloom reflects on caregiving, terminal illness, and the emotional process.
How To Die
Seneca's How to Die offers five precepts for facing death: Prepare, Fear not, Regret not, Free yourself, and Embrace the whole. Edited by James Romm, it encourages rehearsing death to live better.
Book Review
In Dava Shastri’s Last Day, Kirthana Ramisetti offers a thought-provoking exploration of grief, legacy, and the impact of Medical Aid in Dying on family dynamics. The story follows Dava Shastri, a billionaire Indian-American icon, who invites her family to her bedside before choosing to end her life with the assistance of her doctor. As her last days unfold, Shastri reflects on her past, her legacy, and the secrets that emerge within her family. Ramisetti's debut novel raises complex social issues like philanthropy, feminism, and multiculturalism, making it a compelling, if occasionally lengthy, read that leaves readers reflecting on difficult moral questions.
Book Review
Delia Ephron’s Left on Tenth blends grief, illness, love, and recovery with her signature wit. A heartfelt memoir that offers insight into caregiving, the healthcare system, and second chances at life.
Book Review
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward, set in a Mississippi town, tells the complex story of a family grappling with addiction, trauma, and grief. Filled with magical realism, it explores death’s haunting presence and healing.
Book Review
In The Cancer Journals, Audre Lorde recounts her breast cancer journey with candidness and insight, highlighting the intersection of race, gender, and health. She critiques societal norms and the patriarchy's treatment of women’s bodies, offering powerful reflections on fear, survival, and death.
Book Review
Time is a Mother by Ocean Vuong is a collection of poignant poetry born from grief, exploring loss, trauma, and the fragility of life. Through delicate, raw imagery, Vuong invites readers to navigate the complexities of grief.
Book Review
In Memorial Drive: A Daughter's Memoir, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Natasha Trethewey reflects on the harrowing murder of her mother by her ex-stepfather, while also examining the broader themes of racial injustice and personal loss. With eloquent prose, Trethewey crafts a powerful narrative of grief and healing, honoring her mother's legacy. Her poignant recollections of childhood in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast offer a unique yet relatable perspective. The memoir serves as a testament to resilience, holding space for stories of violence and the importance of bearing witness to such brutality.
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