Recommended Readings
If you can only read three books, we recommend the following:
Gwande MD, Atul – Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End
Byock MD, Ira – Dying Well: A Prospect for Growth at the End of Life
Kabat-Zinn, Jon – Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life
Death and Dying and Hospice Care
Aries, Philippe – The Hour of Our Death
Kubler-Ross MD, Elisabeth – On Death and Dying
Le Shan, Eda – Learning to Say Goodbye: When a Parent Dies
Lynne MD, Joanne and Harrold MD, Joan – Handbook for Mortals
Newland MD, Sherwin – How We Die: Reflections on Life’s Final Chapter
Speerstra, Karen and Anderson, Herbert – The Divine Art of Dying: How to Live Well While Dying
Stoddard, Sandol – The Hospice Movement: A Better Way to Care for the Dying
Trowbridge, David Daiku – Enso House: Caring for Each Other at the End of Life
Death and Spirituality
Anderson, Megory – Sacred Dying: Creating Rituals for Embracing the End of Life
Brown, Rebecca – The Gifts of the Body
Cope RN, Denys – Dying: A Natural Passage
Dowling-Singh, Kathleen – The Grace in Dying
Duda, Deborah – Coming Home: A Guide to Dying at Home with Dignity
Grosz, Anton – Letters to a Dying Friend
Halifax, Roshi Joan – Cultivating Compassion and Fearlessness in the Presence of Death
Hoffman, Yoel – Japanese Death Poems
Kapleau, Phillip – The Zen of Living and Dying: A Practical and Spiritual Guide
Kearney MD, Michael – Mortally Wounded: Stories of Soul Pain, Death and Healing
Kuhl MD, David – What Dying People Want: Practical Wisdom for the End of Life
Levine, Stephen – Who Dies? An Investigation of Conscious Living and Conscious Dying
Levine, Stephen – Healing into Life and Death
Levine, Stephen – A Year to Live
Longaker, Christine – Facing Death and Finding Hope: A Guide to the Emotional and Spiritual Care of the Dying
Remen MD, Rachel Naomi – Kitchen Table Wisdom: Stories That Heal
Sogyal Rinpoche – The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying
True Stories of Death and Dying
Albom, Mitch – Tuesdays with Morrie
Butler, Katy – Knocking on Heaven’s Door: The Path to a Better Way of Death
Bauby, Jean Dominique – The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
MacGregor MD, Betsy – In Awe of Being Human: A Doctor’s Stories from the Edge of Life and Death
Manjori, Anita – Dying to be Me: My Journey from Cancer, to Near Death, to Healing
Sweet MD, Victoria – God’s Hotel: A Doctor, a Hospital, and a Pilgrimage to the Heart of Medicine
Illness, Aging and Caregiving
De Hennezel, Marie – Intimate Death: How the Dying Teach Us to Live
Kubler-Ross MD, Elisabeth – On Death and Dying
Kubler-Ross MD, Elisabeth – On Grief and Grieving
Nuland, Sherwin MD – The Art of Aging
Quill MD, Timothy – A Midwife Through the Dying Process
Taylor, Kylea and Mead, Hanfold – The Ethics of Caregiving: Honoring the Web of Life in Our Professional Healing Relationship
Wilber, Ken – Grace and Grit: Spirituality and Healing in the Life and Death of Treya Killam Wilber
General Dharma and Spirituality
Aitken, Robert – Taking the Path of Zen
Beck, Charlotte Joko – Everyday Zen
Chodron, Pema – The Wisdom of No Escape and the Path of Loving Kindness
Chodron, Pema – Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living
Byock MD, Ira – The Four Things that Matter Most: A Book About Living
Dossey MD, Larry – The Power of Prayer and the Practice of Medicine
Gyatso, Tenzin His Holiness, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama – The Opening of the Wisdom Eye
Gyatso, Tenzin and Cutler, Howard – Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living
Goldstein, Joseph & Kornfield, Jack – Seeking the Heart of Wisdom: The Path of Insight Meditation
Hanh, Thich Nhat – The Miracle of Mindfulness
Hanh, Thich Nhat – Being Peace
Kabat-Zinn, Jon – Full Catastrophe Living
Kornfield, Jack – A Path with Heart: A Guide Through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life
Merton, Thomas – Contemplative Prayer
Mitchell, Stephen – The Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry
Salzberg, Sharon – Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness
Steindl-Rast, David – Gratefulness, the Heart of Prayer: An Approach to Life in Fullness
Steindl-Rast, David and Aitken, Robert – The Ground We Share: Everyday Practice, Buddhist and Christian
Suzuki, Shunryu – Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind
Psychology
Bolen, Jean Shinoda – Close to the Bone: Life-Threatening Illness and the Search for Meaning
Epstein, Mark – Thoughts Without a Thinker: Psychotherapy from a Buddhist Perspective
Kelley, Patricia – Companion to Grief: Finding Consolation When Someone You Love Has Died
Satir, Virginia – Peoplemaking
Schwiebert, Pat and DeKlyen, Chuck – Tear Soup: A Recipe for Healing After Loss (Illustrated by Taylor Bills)
Schneider PhD, John – Finding My Way: Healing and Transformation Through Loss and Grief
Tatelbaum, Judy – The Courage to Grieve
Worden, William – Grief Counseling & Grief Therapy
Other
Dass, Ram and Gorman, Paul – How Can I Help? Stories and Reflections on Service
Albom, Mitch – Tuesdays With Morrie
Bauby, Jean Dominique – The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Frankl, Viktor – Man’s Search for Meaning
Fuzzy Slippers Productions – Holding Our Own: Embracing the End of Life (DVD)
Stillwater, Michael + Malkin, Gary – Graceful Passages Music: 2 CD set
Varley, Susan – Badger’s Parting Gifts
Barron, T.A. – Where is Grandpa? (Illustrated by Chris Soentpeit)