Best Sociology of Death Books
Here you will get Best Sociology of Death Books For you.This is an up-to-date list of recommended books.
1. It's OK That You're Not OK: Meeting Grief and Loss in a Culture That Doesn't Understand
Author: by Megan Devine
Sounds True, Inc.
English
280 pages
As seen in THE NEW YORK TIMES READER’S DIGEST SPIRITUALITY & HEALTH HUFFPOSTFeatured on NPR’s RADIO TIMES and WISCONSIN PUBLIC RADIO When a painful loss or life-shattering event upends your world, here is the first thing to know: there is nothing wrong with grief.
“Grief is simply love in its most wild and painful form,” says Megan Devine. “It is a natural and sane response to loss.” So, why does our culture treat grief like a disease to be cured as quickly as possible?
In It’s OK That You’re Not OK, Megan Devine offers a profound new approach to both the experience of grief and the way we try to help others who have endured tragedy. Having experienced grief from both sidesas both a therapist and as a woman who witnessed the accidental drowning of her beloved partnerMegan writes with deep insight about the unspoken truths of loss, love, and healing.
She debunks the culturally prescribed goal of returning to a normal, “happy” life, replacing it with a far healthier middle path, one that invites us to build a life alongside grief rather than seeking to overcome it. In this compelling and heartful book, you’ll learn: Why well-meaning advice, therapy, and spiritual wisdom so often end up making it harder for people in grief How challenging the myths of griefdoing away with stages, timetables, and unrealistic ideals about how grief should unfoldallows us to accept grief as a mystery to be honored instead of a problem to solve Practical guidance for managing stress, improving sleep, and decreasing anxiety without trying to “fix” your pain How to help the people you lovewith essays to teach us the best skills, checklists, and suggestions for supporting and comforting others through the grieving process Many people who have suffered a loss feel judged, dismissed, and misunderstood by a culture that wants to “solve” grief.
2. Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End
Author: by Atul Gawande
Picador
English
304 pages
Named a Best Book of the Year by The Washington Post, The New York Times Book Review, NPR, and Chicago Tribune, now in paperback with a new reading group guideMedicine has triumphed in modern times, transforming the dangers of childbirth, injury, and disease from harrowing to manageable.
But when it comes to the inescapable realities of aging and death, what medicine can do often runs counter to what it should. Through eye-opening research and gripping stories of his own patients and family, Gawande reveals the suffering this dynamic has produced.
Nursing homes, devoted above all to safety, battle with residents over the food they are allowed to eat and the choices they are allowed to make. Doctors, uncomfortable discussing patients’ anxieties about death, fall back on false hopes and treatments that are actually shortening lives instead of improving them.
In his bestselling books, Atul Gawande, a practicing surgeon, has fearlessly revealed the struggles of his profession. Here he examines its ultimate limitations and failuresin his own practices as well as others’as life draws to a close. Riveting, honest, and humane, Being Mortal shows how the ultimate goal is not a good death but a good lifeall the way to the very end.
3. When Breath Becomes Air
Author: by Paul Kalanithi
Random House
English
228 pages
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST This inspiring, exquisitely observed memoir finds hope and beauty in the face of insurmountable odds as an idealistic young neurosurgeon attempts to answer the question What makes a life worth living? NAMED ONE OF PASTE’S BEST MEMOIRS OF THE DECADE NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review People NPR The Washington Post Slate Harper’s Bazaar Time Out New York Publishers Weekly BookPage Finalist for the PEN Center USA Literary Award in Creative Nonfiction and the Books for a Better Life Award in Inspirational MemoirAt the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade’s worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer.
One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live. And just like that, the future he and his wife had imagined evaporated. When Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi’s transformation from a nave medical student possessed, as he wrote, by the question of what, given that all organisms die, makes a virtuous and meaningful life into a neurosurgeon at Stanford working in the brain, the most critical place for human identity, and finally into a patient and new father confronting his own mortality.
4. Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson, 20th Anniversary Edition
Author: by Mitch Albom
076790592X
Crown
English
A special 20th anniversary edition of the beloved international bestseller that changed millions of livesMaybe it was a grandparent, or a teacher, or a colleague. Someone older, patient and wise, who understood you when you were young and searching, helped you see the world as a more profound place, gave you sound advice to help you make your way through it.
For Mitch Albom, that person was Morrie Schwartz, his college professor from nearly twenty years ago. Maybe, like Mitch, you lost track of this mentor as you made your way, and the insights faded, and the world seemed colder. Wouldn’t you like to see that person again, ask the bigger questions that still haunt you, receive wisdom for your busy life today the way you once did when you were younger?
Mitch Albom had that second chance. He rediscovered Morrie in the last months of the older man’s life. Knowing he was dying, Morrie visited with Mitch in his study every Tuesday, just as they used to back in college. Their rekindled relationship turned into one final class: lessons in how to live.
5. Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted
Author: by Suleika Jaouad
English
368 pages
0399588582
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A searing, deeply moving memoir of illness and recovery that traces one young woman’s journey from diagnosis to remission to re-entry into normal lifefrom the author of the Life, Interrupted column in The New York TimesI was immersed for the whole ride and would follow Jaouad anywhere….
Her writing restores the moon, lights the way as we learn to endure the unknown. Chanel Miller, The New York Times Book Review Beautifully crafted …Affecting … A transformative read … Jaouad’s insights about the self, connectedness, uncertainty and time speak to all of us.
The Washington Post In the summer after graduating from college, Suleika Jaouad was preparing, as they say in commencement speeches, to enter the real world. She had fallen in love and moved to Paris to pursue her dream of becoming a war correspondent.
The real world she found, however, would take her into a very different kind of conflict zone. It started with an itchfirst on her feet, then up her legs, like a thousand invisible mosquito bites. Next came the exhaustion, and the six-hour naps that only deepened her fatigue.
6. The Last Lecture
Author: by Randy Pausch
1401323251
Hyperion
English
A lot of professors give talks titled “The Last Lecture.” Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, audiences can’t help but mull the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance?
If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy? When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn’t have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer.
But the lecture he gave-“Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams”-wasn’t about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because “time is all you have… And you may find one day that you have less than you think”).
It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living. In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humor, inspiration and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon and given it an indelible form.
7. I Wasn't Ready to Say Goodbye: Surviving, Coping and Healing After the Sudden Death of a Loved One (A Compassionate Grief Recovery Book)
Author: by Brook Noel
1402212216
Sourcebooks
English
The most helpful grief book to read when you’re ready to start healing after the loss of a loved one. 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, 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.
It then reveals some of the myths of the grieving process and what really happens as you navigate through the pain. Top-rated within grief books, topics include: Grieving the loss of a child, partner, parent, sibling, friend, or pet The physical and emotional effects of grief Navigating difficult days such as holidays, anniversaries, and birthdays Helping children cope with grief Understanding the grief recovery processWritten by two authors who have experienced it firsthand, this book has offered solace to over one-hundred fifty-thousand people, ranging from seniors to teenagers and from the newly bereaved to those who lost a loved one years ago.
8. A Grief Observed
Author: by C. S. Lewis
0060652381
HarperCollins Publishers
English
Written after his wife’s tragic death as a way of surviving the “mad midnight moment,” A Grief Observed is C.S. Lewis’s honest reflection on the fundamental issues of life, death, and faith in the midst of loss. This work contains his concise, genuine reflections on that period: “Nothing will shake a man – or at any rate a man like me – out of his merely verbal thinking and his merely notional beliefs.
He has to be knocked silly before he comes to his senses. Only torture will bring out the truth. Only under torture does he discover it himself.” This is a beautiful and unflinchingly honest record of how even a stalwart believer can lose all sense of meaning in the universe, and how he can gradually regain his bearings.
9. Final Gifts: Understanding the Special Awareness, Needs, and Communications of the Dying
Author: by Maggie Callahan
Simon & Schuster
English
224 pages
In this moving and compassionate classicnow updated with new material from the authorshospice nurses Maggie Callanan and Patricia Kelley share their intimate experiences with patients at the end of life, drawn from more than twenty years’ experience tending the terminally ill.
Through their stories we come to appreciate the near-miraculous ways in which the dying communicate their needs, reveal their feelings, and even choreograph their own final moments; we also discover the giftsof wisdom, faith, and lovethat the dying leave for the living to share.
Filled with practical advice on responding to the requests of the dying and helping them prepare emotionally and spiritually for death, Final Gifts shows how we can help the dying person live fully to the very end.
10. On Grief and Grieving: Finding the Meaning of Grief Through the Five Stages of Loss
Author: by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
Scribner
English
272 pages
Ten years after the death of Elisabeth Kbler-Ross, this commemorative edition of her final book combines practical wisdom, case studies, and the authors’ own experiences and spiritual insight to explain how the process of grieving helps us live with loss.
Includes a new introduction and resources section. Elisabeth Kbler-Ross’s On Death and Dying changed the way we talk about the end of life. Before her own death in 2004, she and David Kessler completed On Grief and Grieving, which looks at the way we experience the process of grief.
Just as On Death and Dying taught us the five stages of deathdenial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptanceOn Grief and Grieving applies these stages to the grieving process and weaves together theory, inspiration, and practical advice, including sections on sadness, hauntings, dreams, isolation, and healing.
This is a fitting finale and tribute to the acknowledged expert on end-of-life matters (Good Housekeeping).
11. The Denial of Death
Author: by Ernest Becker
Free Press
English
336 pages
Winner of the Pulitzer prize in 1974 and the culmination of a life’s work, The Denial of Death is Ernest Becker’s brilliant and impassioned answer to the “why” of human existence. In bold contrast to the predominant Freudian school of thought, Becker tackles the problem of the vital lie – man’s refusal to acknowledge his own mortality.
In doing so, he sheds new light on the nature of humanity and issues a call to life and its living that still resonates more than twenty years after its writing.
12. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
Author: by Mary Roach
English
303 pages
0393324826
“One of the funniest and most unusual books of the year…. Gross, educational, and unexpectedly sidesplitting.”Entertainment WeeklyStiff is an oddly compelling, often hilarious exploration of the strange lives of our bodies postmortem. For two thousand years, cadaverssome willingly, some unwittinglyhave been involved in science’s boldest strides and weirdest undertakings.
In this fascinating account, Mary Roach visits the good deeds of cadavers over the centuries and tells the engrossing story of our bodies when we are no longer with them.
13. Grief Counseling and Grief Therapy, Fifth Edition: A Handbook for the Mental Health Practitioner – Grief Counseling Handbook on Treatment of Grief, Loss and Bereavement, Book and Free eBook
Author: by J. William Worden PhD ABPP
English
352 pages
0826134742
Encompassing new content on the treatment of grief, loss, and bereavement, the updated and revised fifth edition of this gold-standard grief therapy book continues to deliver the most up-to-date research and practical information for upper-level students and practitioners alike. It’s a must have for all mental health professionals.
The fifth edition includes updates to the author’s Tasks and Mediators of Mourning, new case studies, and valuable Instructor Resources. The text highlights recent initiatives to extend care to the bereaved and fosters the knowledge and skills required for effective intervention and even preventative treatment.
Also addressed in this bereavement counseling book is the impact of social media and online resources for cyber mourning, changes in the DSM-5 as they influence bereavement work, alternate models of mourning, and new findings on the varied qualities of grief.
The fifth edition continues to present a well-organized, concise format that is easy to read and provides critical information for master’s level health courses in grief counseling and grief therapy as well as for new and seasoned practitioners alike. New to the Fifth Edition: Refinements to the author’s TASKS of Mourning New considerations regarding Mediators of Mourning on social variables The impact of social media and online resources on cyber mourning Complicated spiritual grief after mass shootings and other catastrophes Changes in the DSM-5 as they influence bereavement work Cross-cultural and multifaceted counseling for specialized grief, including grandparent’s grief, prolonged grief disorder, and HIV-AIDS-related bereavement Updated information on grief and depression New case studies and updated references Includes reflection and discussion questions in each chapter Updated and revised information on grief counseling training Accompanying instructor packet with Manual, PowerPoint slides, and Test Bank Fourth Edition Named a 2013 Doody’s Core Title!
14. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory
Author: by Caitlin Doughty
English
272 pages
0393351904
“Morbid and illuminating” (Entertainment Weekly)a young mortician goes behind the scenes of her curious profession. Armed with a degree in medieval history and a flair for the macabre, Caitlin Doughty took a job at a crematory and turned morbid curiosity into her life’s work.
She cared for bodies of every color, shape, and affliction, and became an intrepid explorer in the world of the dead. In this best-selling memoir, brimming with gallows humor and vivid characters, she marvels at the gruesome history of undertaking and relates her unique coming-of-age story with bold curiosity and mordant wit.
By turns hilarious, dark, and uplifting, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes reveals how the fear of dying warps our society and “will make you reconsider how our culture treats the dead” (San Francisco Chronicle).
15. On Death And Dying
Author: by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
Scribner
English
304 pages
Fifty years after its original publication, a commemorative edition with a new introduction and updated resources section of Dr. Elisabeth Kbler-Ross’s beloved, groundbreaking classic on the five stages of grief. One of the most important psychological studies of the late twentieth century, On Death and Dying grew out of Dr. Kbler-Ross’s famous interdisciplinary seminar on death, life, and transition.
In this remarkable book, Dr. Kbler-Ross first explored the now-famous five stages of death: denial and isolation, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Through sample interviews and conversations, she gives readers a better understanding of how imminent death affects the patient, the professionals who serve that patient, and the patient’s family, bringing hope to all who are involved.
This edition includes an elegant, enlightening introduction by Dr. Ira Byock, a prominent palliative care physician and the author of Dying Well, as well as Congressional testimony given by Dr. Kbler-Ross on death with dignity.
16. Healing After the Loss of Your Mother: A Grief & Comfort Manual
Author: by Elaine Mallon
English
185 pages
1733538909
HEALING AFTER THE LOSS OF YOUR MOTHER is a heartfelt and practical guidebook for those mourning the loss of their mother & for supporters hoping to help a loved one through grief. Like a compassionate friend, author Elaine Mallon captures the raw, unique pain of losing your mother with empathy, honesty, and eloquence.
She tenderly walks the reader through each step of the grieving process, offering straightforward answers to many common questions and addressing fears faced by those grieving, as well. This is an essential step-by-step guidebook for anyone uncertain about what to do or where to turn after their mother’s death.
For those hoping to support someone through grief, this book also offers insight on how to comfort them by explaining what a person in mourning is going through and how to be most helpful to them. If you’ve lost your mother, please know this: If you’re grieving, you’re healingand you are not alone.
This grief recovery manual provides helpful information on: What Can I Expect? The List How Do I Do This? The Process How Long Will This Pain Last? Getting A Support System Shifting Relationships Identity Crisis Grief Work vs. Allowing Coping Tools Grief vs.
