Best Selling Books on Grief and Loss : And How They Spoke to Me

This book hit me like a deep exhale. Megan Devine doesn’t try to sugarcoat loss, she actually says what so many of us secretly feel: grief isn’t a problem to solve. It’s love, transformed. Her own experience of devastating loss pours into every page, making this book less of a “guide” and more of a companion.

What I loved most? The honesty. Reading this reminded me of sitting in a late-night theater rehearsal, when someone drops their guard and speaks raw truth. Devine does that for grief. Instead of telling us to “move on,” she helps us understand that moving forward is possible, but carrying grief is part of it. I found myself underlining entire passages, almost like she was saying what my own heart wanted to whisper.

If It’s OK That You’re Not OK is a fierce friend, Healing After Loss is more like a steady candle you can come back to every night. With daily meditations, Hickman gives you bite-sized reflections that somehow speak to the hugeness of grief.

I’ll admit, I first picked this up thinking it might feel repetitive. But the opposite happened, it became a rhythm, like daily cricket practice back in my playing days. Small, consistent actions that make you stronger over time. A lot of my friends who’ve gone through different kinds of loss, jobs, parents, even marriages, found comfort in this one. It’s gentle, but don’t confuse gentle with shallow.

If grief had its own poet laureate, it would be Joanne Cacciatore. This book doesn’t just talk about loss; it sings, weeps, and prays with it. Organized into short chapters, it feels like a hand you can hold when words fail.

I connected to this book because of its balance, it acknowledges the “NO!” moments of grief but also carves space for love and meaning. As a father, I sometimes struggle to explain complex emotions to my kids, but reading this gave me language for conversations I didn’t know how to start. Cacciatore doesn’t promise relief. She promises presence. And sometimes, that’s the only promise worth trusting.

The famous five stages of grief, denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance, come from Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’s groundbreaking work. But in On Grief and Grieving, she and David Kessler expand those ideas into something deeply personal and compassionate.

I remember when my son asked me, after a loss in our extended family, “Why do I feel different every day? Yesterday I was mad, today I’m just sad.” This book explained exactly that, that grief isn’t linear. It’s a tide that pulls back and crashes again. As a parent, I found it invaluable not just for myself, but for helping my kids understand that what they feel isn’t “wrong.” It’s simply grief being grief.

This one feels like a toolkit you can actually use. Structured with daily practices, reflections, and little exercises, it’s perfect if your grief feels unpredictable, because let’s face it, some days are just harder than others.

What struck me most is how practical it is without ever being cold. I once flipped it open randomly and landed on a passage about guilt, something I wasn’t even aware I was carrying. It’s the kind of book you can keep on the nightstand, not to “finish,” but to live with. For me, it felt like having a wise coach, reminding me to take grief one day at a time, the same way I once learned to take big cricket tournaments ball by ball.