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Recommended Reading

Books About Death & Dying

Listed here are some of many books that can provide support and information to those seeking to clarify what is important to them at end of life. Books available in the Montgomery-Floyd Regional Library System are indicated by the letters MFRL, following the title. This is a link that connects directly to that resource.

  • Abraham, John • How To Get The Death You Want: A Practical and Moral Guide for Those Reaching the End of Life.

  • Agee, James • A Death in the Family. MFRL

  • Baranick, A., Sheeler, J. & Miller, S. • Life on the Death Beat: A Handbook for Obituary Writers

  • Beisser, Arnold R. • A Graceful Passage: Notes on the Freedom To Live or Die.

  • Brock, Ira. • The Best Care Possible : A Physician’s Quest to Transform Care through the End of Life. MFRL

  • Brock, Ira. • Dying Well: The Prospect for Growth at the End of Life.

  • Brody, Jane. • Jane Brody's Guide to the Great Beyond: A Practical Primer to Help You and Your Loved Ones Prepare Medically, Legally, and Emotionally for the End of Life.

  • Butler, Katy. • Knocking on Heaven's Door: The Path to a Better Way of Death. MFRL

  • Butler, Katy. • The Art of Dying Well : A Practical Guide to a Good End of Life. MFRL

  • Callanan, Maggie. • Final Gifts: Understanding the Special Awareness, Needs, and Communications of the Dying. MFRL

  • Callanan, Maggie. • Final Journeys: A Practical Guide for Bringing Care and Comfort at the End of Life. MFRL

  • Carlson, Lisa. • Caring for the Dead. MFRL

  • Carlson, Lisa. • I Died Laughing: Funeral Education with a Light Touch.

  • Colby, William H. • Long Goodbye: The Deaths of Nancy Cruzan

  • Cummings, Tam.   Untangling Alzheimer's: The Guide for Families & Professionals, A Conversation in Care Giving. MFRL

  • Davidson, Sara. • The December Project: An Extraordinary Rabbi and a Skeptical Seeker Confront Life's Greatest Mystery. MFRL

  • Dolan, S. & Vizzard, J. D. & Vizzard, A. • The End of Life Advisor: Personal, Legal, and Medical Considerations for a Peaceful, Dignified Death.

  • Doughty, Caitlin. • From Here to Eternity : Traveling the World to Find the Good Death. MFRL

  • Doughty, Caitlin. • Smoke Gets In Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory. MFRL

  • Doughty, Caitlin. • Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? Big Questions from Tiny Mortals About Death. MFRL

  • Ehrenreich, Barbara. • Natural Causes: An Epidemic of Wellness, the Certainty of Dying, and Killing Ourselves to Live Longer. MFRL

  • Gawande, Atul. • Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End. MFRL

  • Halifax, Joan. • Being with Dying: Cultivating Compassion and Fearlessness in the Presence of Death.

  • Hamilton-Holway, Barbara. • Who Will Remember Me? - A Daughter's Memoir of Grief and Recovery.

  • Harris, Mark. • Grave Matters: A Journey Through the Modern Funeral Industry to a Natural Way of Burial.

  • Herring, Lucinda. • Reimagining Death: Stories and Practical Wisdom for Home Funerals and Green Burials. MFRL

  • Humphry, Derek • Final Exit: The Practicalities of Self-Deliverance and Assisted Suicide for the Dying. MFRL

  • Humphry, Derek • Good Life, Good Death: The Memoir of a Right to Die Pioneer.

  • Kalanithi, Paul, MD • When Breath Becomes Air. MFRL

  • Kastenbaum, Robert • Death, Society, and Human Experience.

  • Kozol, Jonathan • The Theft of Memory: Losing My Father, One Day at a Time. MFRL

  • Lofland, Lynn • The Craft of Dying.

  • Long, Thomas • Accompany Them with Singing: the Christian Funeral. MFRL

  • Long, Thomas & Lynch, Thomas • The Good Funeral: Death, Grief, and the Community of Care.

  • Meredith, Joy • My Last Wishes: A Journal: Life, Love, Laughs, and a Few Final Notes. MFRL

  • Miller, B.J. • A Beginners Guide to the End

  • Mitford, Jessica • The American Way of Death: Revisited. MFRL

  • Noel, Brook and Blair, Pamela • I Wasn't Ready to Say Goodbye: Surviving, Coping and Healing After the Sudden Death of a Loved One. MFRL

  • Puckle, Bertram S. • Funeral Customs: From Ancient to Modern. MFRL

  • Rehm, Diane • On My Own. MFRL

  • Roach, Mary • Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. MFRL

  • Schwartz, Margaret • Dead Matter: The Meaning of Iconic Corpses.

  • Searl, Edward • Beyond Absence: A Treasury of Poems, Quotations and Readings on Death and Remembrance.

  • Shaffer, Nancy • While Still There is Light: Writings from a Unitarian Universalist Minister Facing Death.

  • Slocum, Joshua • Final Rights: Reclaiming the American Way of Death. MFRL

  • Volandes, Angelo E. • The Conversation: A Revolutionary Plan for End-of-Life Care.

  • Wehr, Janet • The Peaceful Passages. MFRL

  • Willis, Claire • Lasting Words- a guide to finding meaning toward the close of life MFRL

Books for Children

  • Erlbruch, Wolf • Duck, Death and the Tulip. MFRL

  • Mellonie, Bryan • Lifetimes: The Beautiful Way to Explain Death to Children.

  • Putnam, James • Mummy. MFRL

  • Viorst, Judith • The Tenth Good Thing About Barney. MFRL

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