Suggested reading list

Reading Suggestions

Our librarian, Mary Hartley has put together the suggested reading list below – her personal ‘picks’ of helpful and supportive books.

All these books can be borrowed from our Postal library.

If you purchase any of these books from Amazon, please can we ask you to sign up to Easy Fundraising (choosing The Compassionate Friends as the beneficiary) and go to the Amazon site through there. You can find more information about how we raise money in this way here. This costs you nothing and every time you shop online at Amazon and almost 3000 other online retailers, our charity receives a donation from the seller.

K - available for kindles or similar device
AD - available as an audio download
AB - available as an audio book
TCF- for sale from our website

Some of these books are out of print, and some of them are expensive, but we have them all in the library.

BOOKS FOR EVERYONE

Upright with Knickers On: surviving the death of a child by Gina Claye (TCF)

Aspects of Loss: a companion for bereaved parents and their families by Gill Hartley (TCF)

Bereaved Parents and their Continuing Bonds: love after death by Catherine Seigal (K, TCF)

Always with You by Gloria Hunniford. (Her 2^nd book not the 1^st) (K)

For the Love of Mike: and bereavement columns by Anne Hilary Phillips (TCF)

A Manual for Heartache by Cathy Rentzenbrink (K, AD, TCF)

Beyond Tears by Ellen Mitchell (K)

Holding onto Love by Chuck Collins.(K)

Into the Mourning Light by Andrea Corrie(K, TCF)

Living in the Mourning Light by Andrea Corrie (K, AD, TCF,)

Dear Parents: letters to bereaved parents by Joy Johnson

Bearing the Unbearable by Joanne Cacciatore (K, AD, TCF)

Grieving is Loving by Joanne Cacciatore (K, TCF)

It’s ok that you’re not ok by Megan Devine (K, AD)

Permission to Mourn: A New Way to do Grief by Tom Zuba (K)

Becoming Radiant: a new way to do life following the death of a beloved by Tom Zuba

One Step at a Time: mourning a child by Betty Madill (k)

The other side of complicated grief: hope in the midst of despair by Rhonda O’Neill RN (K)

The PTSD Sourcebook by Glenn R Schiraldi (K)

Legacies from Grief by Freddie Bagley

Midowed by Debbie Enever (K). (Debbie’s only child, Dan died in a road incident and his organs were donated for transplant)

I Promise it Won’t Always Hurt Like This: 18 assurances on grief by Clare Macintosh (K, AD)

And Always Annaliese: learning to live with the death of our daughter by Clare Louise (K, TCF)

Love Untethered: how to live when your child dies by Vanessa May (K, TCF)

When Words are not Enough: creative responses to grief by Jane Harris & Jimmy Edmonds (K, TCF)

 

BOOKS TO HELP AFTER A SUICIDE

No Time To Say Goodbye: surviving the suicide of a loved one by Carla Fine (AD)

Books by Adina Wrobleski (whose daughter died by suicide) ----a) Suicide survivors: - A guide for those left behind. b) Suicide: why? 85 questions and answers about suicide c) Suicide of a child. (K - only c)

Losing a Child, explorations in grief by Linda Hurcombe (Linda’s daughter died by suicide but this book is helpful for all parents, it’s full of good advice)

Do they have bad days in heaven? Surviving the suicide loss of a sibling by Michelle Linn-Gust.

His Bright Light by Danielle Steel (This is a non-fiction book about the author’s son who suffered from bi-polar disease and died from suicide.) (K, AD)

I’ll write your name on every beach: A mother’s quest for comfort, courage and clarity after suicide loss by Susan Auerbach (K)

The Empty Chair: the journey of grief after suicide by Beryl Glover (K)

A Blond Boy with Buttercups by Beryl Glover

 

BOOKS TO HELP AFTER A DEATH FROM SUBSTANCE USE

See You Soon by Philippa Skinner (K, we also have an audio book, very kindly recorded by the author, available from the library)

Junkie Buddha: a Journey of Discovery in Peru by Diane Esguerra (K)

Ben: diary of a heroin addict by Anne Rogers (K)

Lukelove: my boy, my grief, my journal: losing a child to opioids by Sheila Scott

Mum Can You Lend Me Twenty Quid? By Elizabeth Burton-Phillips (K, AD)

More than you were by Christine Thatcher

Am I still a mother?: surviving life’s cruellest tragedy-twice by Helen Bouchami (K)

They Are So Much More: expressions of love and grief by members of TCF

Jack and Me: how NOT to live after loss by Cosmo Landesman

 

BOOKS FOR SIBLINGS

The Last Act of Love: the story of my brother and his sister by Cathy Rentzenbrink (K, AD)

The Day That Went Missing by Richard Beard (K)

The Web of Grief: how you can free yourself from the sticky web and spread your wings by Rhiannon Jones (K)

From a Clear Blue Sky: surviving the Mountbatten bomb by Timothy Knatchbull (whose twin brother Nicky died) (K,)

Not That Kind of Love by Clare Wise and Greg Wise (K, AD)

The Empty Room: understanding sibling loss by Elizabeth de Vita Raeburn

An Empty Chair: living in the wake of a sibling’s suicide by Sara swan Miller

The Lone Twin: understanding twin bereavement and loss by Joan Woodward

Sisters and Brothers: stories about the death of a sibling by Julie Bentley (K)

My Sister Milly by Gemma Dowler (K, AD)

 

BOOKS FOR CHILDREN

The Sad Book by Michael Rosen (TCF)

Water Bugs and Dragonflies by Doris Stickney

Are You Sad Little Bear? By Rachel Rivett (K)

Apricity the White Pheasant by Sarah Relf

When I See a Sparkle by Helen Davies and Kim Whittingham

 

BOOKS FOR GRANDPARENTS

When A Grandchild Dies: what to do, what to say, how to cope. By Nadine Galinsky (K)

Grandparents Cry Twice: help for bereaved grandparents by Mary Lou Reed

Forgotten Grief: a grandmother’s struggle to cope after the loss of her grandson by Ann Arnold

Forgotten Tears: a grandmother’s journey through grief by Nina Bennett

 

BOOKS TO HELP AFTER A MURDER

A Song For Jenny: A mother’s story of love and loss by Julie Nicholson (whose daughter died in the 7/7 attacks) (K, also made into a film available from prime video)

For the love of Julie by Ann Ming (K)

An Ordinary Murder by Lesley Moorhead

Tim, An Ordinary Boy by Colin and Wendy Parry

Goodbye Dearest Holly by Kevin Wells (although the Soham murders were horrific Holly’s dad is basically a positive person and I came away from this book with the feeling that his family had been neither defeated nor destroyed by the man who’d taken their daughter and sister from them) (K)

 

BOOKS OF HOPE

When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Harold Kushner (K)

On Life After Death by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross (a doctor whose work with sick and dying children made her certain life continues after physical death)

Raymond Moody has written quite a few books on the subject of Near Death Experiences, including ‘Life after Life’. (some are K or AD)

Candles on the Ganges by Peter Upton (K)

If the Spirit Moves You: life and love after death by Justine Picardie (K)

Heaven Therapy: insights into the afterlife by Ross Bartlett (K)

Proof of Heaven: a neurosurgeon’s journey into the afterlife by Ebal Alexander (K)

 

POETRY

Don’t Let Them Tell You How To Grieve by Gina Claye (K, TCF)

Forget-Me-Not Poems: A collection of poetry honouring our children gone too soon edited by David Bransby (TCF)

The Swallow, the Owl and the Sandpiper: words of courage, wisdom and spirit compiled by Claire Maitland.(K)

A Broken Heart Still Beats by Anne McCracken and Mary Semel (this is actually a compilation of poetry and prose from famous people whose children have died through the ages)

Selected Poems by Michael Rosen (K)

Loss: poems to better weather the many waves of grief by Donna Ashworth (k)

Find Me There by Sara Rian

The Reluctant Survivor by Dany Sherlock (TCF)

Walking Through Treacle by Safina Powell (TCF)

 

BOOKS FOR FATHERS (and mothers too)

Fireflies by David Morell: a father’s classic tale of love and loss. (this is an unusual book which blends fact and fiction but the feedback is always very positive from readers.) (K)

Kadian Journal by Thomas Harding; a father’s journal following the sudden death of his young son. (K, AD, TCF)

Against the Dying of the Light: a father’s journey through grief by Leonard Fein (K)

One for Sorrow by Alan Hargrave (K)

Dear Charlie: Letters to a lost daughter by Reg Thompson (K)

Losing a Child and the Grieving Experience by Bruce Watt (K)

Eggshells by Bryan Clover (TCF)

Memories of Max: a father’s story by Allan Bachanan (K)

 

FICTION

BOOKS TO INSPIRE AND MOTIVATE

A Grief Observed by CS Lewis (K, AD)

The Shack by Paul Young (K, A. This is also a film available from prime video)

A Valley Journey: surviving bereavement by Abi May (K, TCF)

Cooked with Love by Tracy Edwards ( a collection of recipes inspired by the children of TCF members) (TCF)

A Happy Healthy You by Caroline Yeats ( A mixture of biography, advice and healthy recipes from a young woman who died from cancer)