Preparing for Death & Terminal Illness Books

‘Peaceful Exit: A Guide to Reimagining Your Final Chapter’

Sarah Cavanaugh wrote her new book, “Peaceful Exit,” because she wants to make a difficult conversation as easy and pain…

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“The Art of Dying Well”

Most Americans face the end of life without a concrete plan. Only one-third of Americans have filled out the basic legal…

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“Medical Aid in Dying: A Guide for Patients and Their Supporters”

“Medical Aid in Dying: A Guide for Patients and Their Supporters” was born out of Dr. Lonny Shavelson’s years of firstha…

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“Death Nesting: The Heart-Centered Practices of a Death Doula”

In her thoughtful guide on approaching death, author Anne-Marie Keppel introduces us to the concept of “death nesting.” …

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“Ethical Wills: Putting Your Values on Paper”

An ethical will is a written record articulating a person’s beliefs, philosophies and life experiences as a legacy for o…

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"Making Friends with Death"

Laura Pritchett, author of five novels, “came from a chaotic, strange, ranch-y, farm-y, science-y family,” which made he…

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"Mom's Sweater"

Mom’s Sweater” is a sensitive story about a young girl who loses her mother to a terminal disease. Through a comfort obj…

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"Gone From My Sight"

Barbara Karnes, R.N., is an award-winning hospice educator and author who has been working to demystify the dying experi…

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"The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning"

Having passed the age of 80, Margareta Magnusson decided to engage in döstädning, a Swedish word that translates as “dea…

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"How to Live Forever"

“How to Live Forever: A Guide to Writing the Final Chapter of Your Life Story” by Kimberly Best is a deceptively simple …

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"F*ck Cancer: A Totally Inappropriate Self-Affirming Adult Colori…

Jen Meyers is an author best known for her work in the Young Adult, New Adult, and contemporary romance genres. But she’…

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"Last Things: A Graphic Memoir of Loss and Love"

Marissa Moss, an award-winning author and illustrator, is best known for her children’s series, “Amelia’s Notebook.” Wit…

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"Mom's Cancer"

Brian Fies’ short, graphic novel, “Mom’s Cancer,” recounts his mother’s battle with metastatic lung cancer and the famil…

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“Follow the Child”

Sacha Langton-Gilks is a bereaved mother. Her son, David, whom everyone called DD, died from a brain tumor in 2012 at th…

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“When Breath Becomes Air”

Paul Kalanithi’s cancer became the impetus for his bestselling memoir, “When Breath Becomes Air” – fulfilling his lifelo…

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"Moving On (before and after cancer)"

“Moving On (before and after cancer)” is author Sue McCollum’s personal journal about her experience with breast cancer….

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"Aromatherapy, An Introductory Guide to the Healing Power of Scen…

When Donna Karan’s late husband Stephan Weiss had lung cancer, he used aromatherapy to help him through his illness. Men…

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"On Being Ill"

Most recognized for her feminist novels, Virginia Woolf also broke literary barriers tackling a topic previously shunned…

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"I'll See Myself Out, Thank You"

When I first started reading “I’ll See Myself Out, Thank You” I thought to myself, “I’m really going to enjoy this book….

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"Making It Through Chemotherapy"

“Making it Through Chemotherapy” is a thin, 33-page booklet, yet it’s worth reading for two reasons. First, it tackles t…

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"Life After the Diagnosis"

Dr. Steven Pantilat’s “Life After the Diagnosis: Expert Advice on Living Well with Serious Illness for Patients and Care…

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"The Evening and the Morning and the Night"

What if researchers discovered a cure for cancer, but in the process, unwittingly triggered a deadly genetic disease? Th…

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"The Cancer Journals"

“The Cancer Journals” by Audre Lorde is an extremely personal account of one woman’s experience with breast cancer and t…

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"I Want to Grow Up, I Want to Grow Hair, I Want to Go to Boise"

Until the mid-1980’s, Erma Bombeck considered herself a light comedy writer. In books such as “At Wit’s End” and “Aunt E…

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“The Deep”

While finishing up a contemporary short story class this semester, I came across a piece of fiction that has since nestl…

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"Kicking the Bucket List"

f you’ve ever had a loved one die and had to sort through room after room of their life’s possessions, you know what a l…

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"Good to Go: A Guide To Preparing for the End of Life"

Jo Myers left her job in radio after a 33-year career to write “Good to Go: A Guide to Preparing for the End of Life.” A…

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"Final Conversations: Helping the Living and the Dying Talk to Ea…

What do you say to your loved one when you don’t know if those words will be the last you ever share with them? Maureen …

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"Living Life Dying Death: A Guide to Healthy Conversations About …

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"Sunshine: A Novel"

“Sunshine” by Norma Klein was published in 1974. It was loosely based on the true story of a young woman who died of can…

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"Final Gifts"

Maggie Callanan and Patricia Kellley, the authors of “Final Gifts,” are hospice nurses with years of experience in the c…

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"Let's Talk About Death"

“Let’s Talk About Death: Asking The Questions That Profoundly Change The Way We Live and Die” is a powerful collection o…

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“The Death of Ivan Ilyich”

Arguably one of the greatest writers of all time, Count Lev (Leo) Nikolayevich Tolstoy was born to a wealthy Russian fam…

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“The End of Your Life Book Club”

In 2007, Will Schwalbe’s mother, Mary Anne, was diagnosed with hepatitis after returning from a humanitarian trip to Pak…

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How It All Could Be: A Work Book for Dying People and for Thos…

Stephen Jenkinson (MTS, MSW) is an author, teacher, spiritual activist, farmer, subject of the film Griefwalker, and for…

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"Tenth of December: Stories"

It’s no surprise that George Saunders’ Tenth of December: Stories won the National Book Award for Fiction in 2014. The b…

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"The Last Lecture"

Professor Randy Pausch didn’t see his struggle with pancreatic cancer as special. Almost 49,000 people are diagnosed wit…

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The Conversation

Metastatic lung cancer had wreaked havoc on 78-year-old Taras Skripchenko’s body, yet Dr. Angelo E. Volandes had the imp…

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You Take It From Here

Similar to its predecessors, Beaches and Steel Magnolias, Pamela Ribon’s You Take It From Here chronicles the roller coa…

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“Knocking on Heaven’s Door”

What happens after a debilitating stroke or a sudden heart attack snatches away the vitality of an elderly parent, spous…

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“One Foot in Heaven, Journey of a Hospice Nurse”

For the uninitiated, the concept of hospice may be hard to grasp. For one person it may involve involve a ward where a d…

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"Final Exit: The Practicalities of Self-Deliverance and Assisted …

As a guide, Final Exit by Derek Humphry blends many styles of writing to advise terminally ill people who want to die wi…

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"Sacred Dying"

What does it mean to die “sacredly”? Anderson’s book highlights a variety of rituals we can employ for those who are dyi…

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"The Gay Science"

Often misunderstood, or misinterpreted by many, Friedrich Nietzsche, the controversial philosopher whose work is as fasc…

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"Facing the Final Mystery: A Guide to Discussing End-of-Life Issu…

Facing The Final Mystery is by no means a book you read in a few sittings — nor does it simply live on your bookshelf. …

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"A Lesson Before Dying"

is the eighth novel of author and Louisiana native Ernest J. Gaines. Published in 1993, the story chronicles the interse…

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“When Someone Dies”

“When Someone Dies” by author Scott Taylor Smith is described as a “step-by-step guide to all the practical things you m…

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"Truth & Beauty"

Truth & Beauty follows the long, intense friendship between Ann Patchett, author of notable works of fiction like Bel Ca…

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"Tinkers"

It begins, “George Washington Crosby began to hallucinate eight days before he died.”  From there, we enter a beautiful,…

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Two Weeks of Life

Eleanor Clift’s husband, Tom Brazaitis, died in 2005. For years, the Newsweek journalist cared for Tom, who had been dia…

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“The Last Leaf”

It’s been pouring rain outside my window all day long, leaving me stuck inside looking longingly out. Coincidentally, th…

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"Imperfect Endings"

Zoe Carter’s busy life on the West Coast with her husband and daughters and an unfinished mystery novel are put on hold …

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