Grief in Literature & What I’m Reading After Losing My Dad ❤️

Grief is complicated, lonely, and deeply personal—and in the wake of my Dad’s passing in May, I’ve found myself feeling drawn to return to stories that have helped me to process the pain of past losses, finding moments of comfort, catharsis, and healing. In this video, I’m sharing 15+ books in a variety of genres that explore grief in all its forms—stories that have helped me cry, reflect, and feel less alone—as well as the titles on my TBR (both nonfiction and fiction) that I hope will meet me where I am in the weeks and months and years to come as I mourn the loss of my Dad.

Whether you’re grieving yourself or supporting someone who is, I hope these books offer a little light in the darkness.

If you've read something that helped you through a loss, please feel free to share it in the comments. You never know who it might help.

Thank you for being here - as isolating as grief feels, we are not alone. And we can find a way through the pain ❤️

🕰️ Chapters
0:00 Losing my Dad & the power of stories
5:06 Childhood Favourites
5:22 Little Women
8:33 Anne of Green Gables
11:50 Rilla of Ingleside
12:56 Valley of the Horses
17:08 Contemporary and Historical Fiction
17:25 The Collected Regrets of Clover
19:27 The Reading List
21:36 Monkey Beach
23:53 The Yield
24:57 Science Fiction
25:05 I Cheerfully Refuse
27:08 Harrow the Ninth
28:50 The House of Saints
31:29 To Be Taught if Fortunate
32:58 Fantasy
33:04 The Fifth Season
34:13 A Day of Fallen Night
36:39 Horror
37:39 Rouge
38:48 Natural Beauty
40:46 Monstrilio
42:08 Our Wives Under the Sea
44:18 My Grief TBR

📚 Books Mentioned
indicate books sent to me by the publisher

Affiliate links to buy all books: https://bookshop.org/shop/plantbasedb...

Childhood Favourites
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery
Rilla of Ingleside by LM Montgomery
Valley of the Horses by Jean M Auel

Contemporary Fiction
*The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Bramer
The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams
Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson
The Yield by Tara June Winch

Science Fiction
I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger
Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
The House of Saints by Derek Kunsken
Wayfarers Series by Becky Chambers - need to reread to clarify which book applies
To Be Taught if Fortunate by Becky Chambers

Fantasy
The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin
A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon

Horror
Rouge by Mona Awad
Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang
*Monstrilio by Gerardo Somano Cordova
Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield

🔖TBR

Nonfiction
It's Ok That You're Not OK by Megan Devine
The Grieving Brain by Mary-Frances O'Connor

Memoir
Notes on Grief by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
Stay True by Hua Hsu

Poetry
Time is a Mother by Ocean Vuong
Hello Grief by Alessandra Olanow
Good Grief by Brianna M. Pastor
When I Am Gone by Becky Hemsley

Literary Fiction
The Seas by Samantha Hunt
Grief is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter
The Sentence by Louise Erdrich
Folklorn by Angela Mi Young Hur
Mongrel by Hanako Footman
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
Death Valley by Melissa Broder
Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

Classics
Katalin Street by Magda Szabo
The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories by Leo Tolstoy

Fantasy
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (YA)

Science Fiction
The Seep by Chana Porter
Among Others by Jo Walton (YA)

Contemporary
My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman
One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle

Historical
Only Here, Only Now by Tom Newlands
Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell


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FAQs
What does your channel name mean? I picked "Plant Based Bride" for my blog when I started it back in 2015 as I was starting the process of planning my vegan wedding and wanted to document it. I have been vegan for 10+ years and married since 2016!
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#grief #bookrecommendations