A reading list for the days that need it

The first thing most people who grieve will tell you, if you ask, is that nobody knows what to say. The books that help, in our experience, are the ones that do not try to fix anything. They simply keep company.

This is a list we have collected over four years from our customers, our team, and the bereavement counsellors we sometimes consult.

1. A Grief Observed ÔÇö C.S. Lewis. The original.
2. The Year of Magical Thinking ÔÇö Joan Didion.
3. H is for Hawk ÔÇö Helen Macdonald. Loss, and a goshawk.
4. Levels of Life ÔÇö Julian Barnes. The third part especially.
5. The Light of the World ÔÇö Elizabeth Alexander.
6. Wave ÔÇö Sonali Deraniyagala.
7. When Breath Becomes Air ÔÇö Paul Kalanithi.
8. Notes on Grief ÔÇö Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
9. Lament for a Son ÔÇö Nicholas Wolterstorff.
10. The Long Goodbye ÔÇö Meghan O'Rourke.
11. The Iliad ÔÇö Book 24. Priam comes for the body of his son.
12. Bird by Bird ÔÇö Anne Lamott. Not about grief. About continuing.