Onto week three! I'm so behind. I notice that my nonfiction reading throughout the year is pretty much all over the map. I figured I would look back and see what books I have focused on over a longer period of time. I am drawn to books about grief and death, whether that's a memoir or a true-crime, I've thrown it all into the same category on my Goodreads list. Anything that helps me face down the inevitable with aplomb and humor and insight is a must for me.
So here are a few I've read over the years and ones that are on my list. And I'd love any suggestions you have that I can add to my ever-growing list!
I Am the Expert:
- All that Remains: A Life in Death by Sue Black-- I loved her candid nature about her work as a forensic anthropologist. Her compassion and empathy was exhilarating.
- The Fact of a Body: A Murder and a Memoir by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich-- This was a tough and brutal read that left so many feels. I still think about it.
- Ghosts of the Tsunami: Death and Life in Japan's Disaster Zone by Richard Lloyd-Perry-- I loved this haunting piece about Japan and culturally how they handled this horrible tragedy. Beautiful.
- From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death by Caitlin Doughty-- She's a mortician who wants us all to talk about death and have a good one! So she travels around to let us see how other people can and do talk about death!
- Fun Home: A FamilyTragicomic by Alison Bechdel-- I can't say enough about how moving this graphic novel is of Bechdel's grief and acceptance is.
Become the Expert:
- The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade by Thomas Lynch
- The Work of the Dead: A Cultural History of Mortal Remains by Thomas Lacqueur
- Half a Life: A Memoir by Darin Strauss
Ask the Expert:
Any books about grief and death you recommend that really moved you or made you see death a little differently?
More of an illness memoir, but I cannot recommend this one high enough - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8303977-the-sound-of-a-wild-snail-eating
ReplyDeleteAlso loved Being Mortal - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20696006-being-mortal?from_search=true&qid=Jn2IvqOsLN&rank=1
Yes! One of my friends read that a few years ago and recommended it! On my list. And I read Being Mortal as well. Great one. I try to reread every other year or so, actually.
DeleteWhat about When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi? Excellent!
ReplyDeleteYes, I read this one a couple of years ago! It is excellent.
DeleteYou must read On Death and Dying by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross and The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion. Two wonderful nonfiction books about death. Thank you for your suggestions.
ReplyDeleteOn Death and Dying is on my list. I do need to get to it soon! And I read Joan Didion's book a couple of years ago. So good.
DeleteI read The Fact of A Body earlier this year, and Ive also read Caitlin’s Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, and Good Mourning by Elizabeth Meyer, and Working Stiff by Julie Melina. I have a few other similar titles on my TBR, most notably Stiff by Mary Roach.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your expertise
Good Mourning and Working Stiff I have not heard of. I will add them to my list! Stiff is excellent. I loved that one.
DeleteI've read enough about death and true crime that my husband's started teasing me about it, but I mostly can only recommend some obvious ones - Being Mortal and Smoke Gets in Your Eyes. Dead Center, about an ME's office, was also pretty good. I've also not gotten to most of the books on your list, so I appreciate the recommendations!
ReplyDeleteCaitlin Doughty is classic. I've read all of hers and just finished up with her newest one with my son! So good.
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