Humans have expressed ideas about death since cave paintings and stone tablets. In this space we’re offering some more recent books that we find particularly important, thought provoking, and helpful.
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The Five Invitations: Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully
We wish everyone would read this book, regardless of age, health, or faith. Ostaseski’s stories from years of hospice work as well as reflections from his own life are poignant and inspirational. He offers ways to live with uncertainty and find joy, peace, and acceptance at any time in our lives.
Aging as a Spiritual Practice: A Contemplative Guide to Growing Older and Wiser
With humor, fine storytelling, compassion, and insight, Richmond reflects on the aging process, including his own, from his view as a Buddhist teacher.
Being with Dying: Cultivating Compassion and Fearlessness in the Presence of Death
Joan Halifax, a leading Buddhist teacher and thinker, has spent years working with dying people, their loved ones, and caregivers. This book offers practical advise, profound insight, and wisdom about the transformative power of the dying process.
Final Gifts: Understanding the Special Awareness, Needs, and Communications of the Dying
Written by hospice nurses who share indelible stories from their years of being at the bedsides of dying people. It’s wonderfully approachable, written with deep compassion and insight.
Knocking on Heaven’s Door: The Path to a Better Way of Death
Butler’s account of the decline and death of her father is harrowing, instructive, and a call to action. “Before I shepherded my parents through to their deaths, I thought that medical overtreatment was mainly an economic problem,” Butler writes. “After my father's death, I understood the human cost. After my mother's death, I saw that there could be another path.”
Natural Causes: An Epidemic of Wellness, the Certainty of Dying, and Killing Ourselves to Live Longer
Author Barbara Ehrenreich, the prolific and provocative journalist, asserts that we should stop working so hard to dodge aging and death, allow ourselves to enjoy this gift we call life and think for ourselves, prioritizing enjoyment over peer pressure, fads and propaganda when it comes to medical treatments and so-called anti-aging regimens.
On Death and Dying: What the Dying Have to Teach Doctors, Nurses, Clergy and Their Own Families
We’ve all heard of Kübler-Ross and the five stages of grief. But how many have read her book? People haven’t changed since she wrote this now-classic. The stories, emotions, and challenges, addressed with her insight and humanity is well worth experiencing.