Top 10 Books About (Processing) Grief [2024 Update]

What are the best books on grieving? For example for (the death of) children, partners or parents? Read on for a list of the best books on grief and loss…

The top 10 best books about grieving

1.Heartbroken: Healing from the Loss of a Spouse (2nd Edition)

The loss of a husband or wife is traumatic. What do you do with all the pain, confusion, and anger? What will life be like? Who are you now? You will never be the same, but you can heal and grow. We chose this one in our top 10 because it joins you on your grief journey.

2.Healing After Loss: Daily Meditations For Working Through Grief

This book might be just what you’re looking for if you are going through loss and grief because of the loss of a loved one. The author describes in much detail about her own experiences with grief and loss. In our opinion, the book offers you words that are able to strengthen you.

3.It’s OK That You’re Not OK (Meeting Grief and Loss in a Culture That Doesn’t Understand)

We think that this book offers a profound new approach to both the experience of grief and the way we try to help others. Having experienced grief from both sides―as both a therapist and as a woman who witnessed the accidental drowning of her beloved partner―Megan Devine writes about the unspoken truths of loss, love, and healing.

4.I Wasn’t Ready to Say Goodbye: Surviving, Coping and Healing After the Sudden Death of a Loved One (A Compassionate Grief Recovery Book) 

The grief book that just “gets it.”  Whether you’re grieving the sudden loss of a loved one or helping someone else through their grief, according to us I Wasn’t Ready to Say Goodbye offers a comforting hand to help guide you through the grieving process, from the first few weeks to the longer-term emotional and physical effects.

5.Grief Day By Day: Simple Practices and Daily Guidance for Living with Loss

Grief is complex; it may present itself differently on any given day. In our opinion this grief recovery handbook offers daily reflections and practices that address the day-to-day emotions and experiences that accompany the grieving process so you can create a life in which peace―and even gratitude―can coexist with your grief.

6.Chicken Soup for the Grieving Soul: Stories About Life, Death and Overcoming the Loss of a Loved One (Chicken Soup for the Soul)

When you’re grieving, we think it helps to read stories from other people who have been through the same thing. Losing a family member or dear friend is a shared human experience. You’ll find comfort, inspiration and comradery in these revealing personal stories from other people who have lost loved ones. 

7.The Night Lake: A Young Priest Maps the Topography of Grief

As an Episcopal priest, Tichenor has to “preach the Good News,” finding faith where there is no hope. However, she realizes terrible parts of her own life will join her in the pulpit. This book is our pick because it is the story of finding a way forward through tragedies that seem like they might be beyond surviving.

8.Where Are You? A Child’s Book About Loss

We think that this is a kind and supportive book with beautiful illustrations designed to help children of all ages cope with the loss of a loved one. It is created with love and care so that even the youngest readers will find comfort during this stressful and difficult time.

9.Comfort for the Grieving Spouse’s Heart: Hope and Healing After Losing Your Partner 

It doesn’t matter how you read this book. It gives you comfort when you are grieving over the loss of a spouse. We think that this book is about hope and that it gives you the opportunity to heal after you have lost your partner. It gives you encouragement to move on.

10.The Beauty of What Remains: How Our Greatest Fear Becomes Our Greatest Gift

Many people think about life after death all over the world. The same goes for the rabbi of a synagogue. In this particular case, the author is a senior rabbi who knows there is much to learn from death. He sets out how we actually gain more once we die.

This was the list of books on bereavement.