My favorite books on creating a higher, broader perspective on loss and grief

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been working with grieving individuals for over 30 years. Early in my career, I realized that my purpose in life was to help people who were grieving the loss of a loved one. I wrote my first book about grief over 25 years ago. It has been my mission to help people find light in the darkness. One way to do this is to have a broader perspective, to realize that there is more going on than we can see or understand. When you have a higher, broader perspective on your grief, you’re able to make meaning out of loss and find beauty in the brokenness.  


I wrote...

Transcending Loss: Understanding the Lifelong Impact of Grief and How to Make It Meaningful

By Ashley Davis Bush,

Book cover of Transcending Loss: Understanding the Lifelong Impact of Grief and How to Make It Meaningful

What is my book about?

Death doesn’t end a relationship, it simply forges a new type of relationship—one based not on physical presence but on memory, spirit, and love.

There are many wonderful books available that address acute grief and how to cope with it. But they often focus on crisis management and imply that there is an "end" to mourning, and fail to acknowledge grief’s ongoing impact and how it changes through the years. This book looks at grief over time and shows readers how to navigate the powerful grief journey, including ways to make meaning, to celebrate love, to stay connected to their loved ones, and to transcend to a level of healing.

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Man’s Search for Meaning

Ashley Davis Bush Why did I love this book?

I first read this book while in graduate school in the late 1980s. I have read it many times since as a reminder about a broader perspective on life and tragedy. This book is about psychiatrist Viktor Frankl's experience in the Nazi death camps. Frankl was in four different camps, including Auschwitz, between 1942 and 1945. He survived but his parents, brother, and pregnant wife were all killed. In spite of horrific conditions and monumental losses, Frankl writes about the ability to choose one’s response to tragedy, find meaning in it, and furthermore, how to live with purpose. This book is surprisingly uplifting and spiritually inspiring.

By Viktor Frankl,

Why should I read it?

41 authors picked Man’s Search for Meaning as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

One of the outstanding classics to emerge from the Holocaust, Man's Search for Meaning is Viktor Frankl's story of his struggle for survival in Auschwitz and other Nazi concentration camps. Today, this remarkable tribute to hope offers us an avenue to finding greater meaning and purpose in our own lives.


Book cover of I'm Still With You: Communicate, Heal & Evolve With Your Loved One on the Other Side

Ashley Davis Bush Why did I love this book?

This book leaves you feeling close to your loved ones on ‘the other side of the veil,’ as if they are but a breath away.

Sherrie Dillard is a psychic medium with an amazing ability to connect with people who have died. Her stories show how love is stronger than death and that an entire world is going on that we’re unaware of. She describes how important it is to know that our loved ones still communicate with us. She also has exercises and meditations to help you continue with your own soul’s journey.

By Sherrie Dillard,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked I'm Still With You as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Our loved ones are still with us even after they ve passed to the other side. Psychic medium Sherrie Dillard shares dozens of amazing case studies that show how the power of love transcends the veil between this world and the next. You will also discover exercises and meditations for healing grief and continuing the soul journey you are on with your family and friends who have passed away. I m Still With You shares breathtaking insights into the life review process that occurs on the other side and shows how that process uplifts and influences surviving loved ones. This…


Book cover of Hamnet

Ashley Davis Bush Why did I love this book?

This book helps you understand how universal and timeless the experience of grief is for all of humanity.

It takes place in England during the 1580s, during the Black Plague. The novel follows the life of a Latin tutor (who happens to be William Shakespeare.). We watch as he falls in love with an eccentric young woman and builds a life with her in spite of family enmeshments and dysfunctions. When one of their children eventually succumbs to the plague, the experience of parental bereavement is hauntingly powerful and universally true.

By Maggie O'Farrell,

Why should I read it?

32 authors picked Hamnet as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

WINNER OF THE 2020 WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION - THE NO. 1 BESTSELLER 2021
'Richly sensuous... something special' The Sunday Times
'A thing of shimmering wonder' David Mitchell

TWO EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE. A LOVE THAT DRAWS THEM TOGETHER. A LOSS THAT THREATENS TO TEAR THEM APART.

On a summer's day in 1596, a young girl in Stratford-upon-Avon takes to her bed with a sudden fever. Her twin brother, Hamnet, searches everywhere for help. Why is nobody at home?

Their mother, Agnes, is over a mile away, in the garden where she grows medicinal herbs. Their father is working in London.

Neither…


Book cover of Many Lives, Many Masters

Ashley Davis Bush Why did I love this book?

I encountered this book decades ago and it totally changed how I envisioned past lives and soul contracts.

Psychiatrist Brain Weiss was skeptical when one of his patients began remembering past-life traumas. However, the memories seemed to relate to her present-day nightmares and panic attacks. She began to channel messages from another realm, including messages for him, and he began to believe in the reality of past lives. This book provides compelling evidence that past-lives are very real.

By Brian L. Weiss,

Why should I read it?

6 authors picked Many Lives, Many Masters as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From author and psychotherapist Dr. Brian Weiss comes the classic New York Times bestseller on the true case of the past-life therapy that changed the lives of both the prominent psychiatrist and young patient involved-now featuring a new afterword by the author.

As a traditional psychotherapist, Dr. Brian Weiss was astonished and skeptical when one of his patients began recalling past-life traumas that seemed to hold the key to her recurring nightmares and anxiety attacks. His skepticism was eroded, however, when she began to channel messages from the "space between lives," which contained remarkable revelations about Dr. Weiss' family and…


Book cover of Who Dies? An Investigation of Conscious Living and Conscious Dying

Ashley Davis Bush Why did I love this book?

I read this book again and again when I want to remember that death is not something to be terrified of. In fact, when I read this book, death feels more like a natural process that can be welcomed. I feel a kind of calmness towards the whole human race as we all seek to live, knowing that we will eventually die. To truly understand death, you also have to understand life.

By Stephen Levine, Ondrea Levine,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Who Dies? An Investigation of Conscious Living and Conscious Dying as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The first book that explains how to open to the immensity of living with death—and how participating fully in life is the perfect preparation for whatever may come next.

In Who Dies?, the Levines provide calm compassion rather than the frightening melodrama of death.


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Book cover of The Complete Eldercare Planner: Where to Start, Which Questions to Ask, and How to Find Help

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What is my book about?

Trusted for more than three decades by family caregivers and professionals alike, this comprehensive and reassuring caregiving guide offers the crucial information you need to look after your elders and plan for the future.

Being a caregiver for aging parents, close friends and family, and other elders in your life is an overwhelming experience, whether you are one who has stepped into this role without warning or one who is also contemplating their own care plan. Now in its fourth edition, The Complete Eldercare Planner will help you navigate today’s complex caregiving landscape while addressing your unique needs.

By Joy Loverde,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Complete Eldercare Planner as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

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Being a caregiver for aging parents, close friends and family, and other elders in your life is an overwhelming experience, whether you are one who has stepped into this role without warning or one who is also contemplating their own care plan. Now in its fourth edition, The Complete Eldercare Planner will help you navigate today’s complex caregiving…


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