Fans pick 100 books like The Top Five Regrets of the Dying

By Bronnie Ware,

Here are 100 books that The Top Five Regrets of the Dying fans have personally recommended if you like The Top Five Regrets of the Dying. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of You Are the Placebo: Making Your Mind Matter

Sandi Holst Author Of Breathe! You Got This!: Fortunes Favor The Inspired

From my list on getting what you want in life.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am the first in my family to go into business for myself. Now, it took me years of thinking about it before I made the jump. I was scared to take that step, but I did it. My expertise came from 25 years of managing hundreds of clients in numerous industries. I loved how successful people can be with the craziest of ideas. How can you find your passion so you are happy and loving what you are doing in life? How do you overcome the fear of failure, move forward with your desires, and become abundant in doing it? 

Sandi's book list on getting what you want in life

Sandi Holst Why did Sandi love this book?

When we are not feeling well or diagnosed with an illness, the first line of defense is the pharmacy. But it doesn’t have to be. Dr. Joe tells us in detail that we can heal ourselves no matter what we are diagnosed with. In my life, I have had times of working long hours and personal stress. It made me unwell.

In 2018 I started to dive into the holistic world where I could take some control in healing myself. Out of all the books I have read over the years, Dr. Joe helped me the most. He helped me with de-stressing my business and personal life. This put me in the driver's seat of healing my medical issues.

By Joe Dispenza,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked You Are the Placebo as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Throughout history up until the present, many cultures have traditionally experienced the effects of verifiable healings, along with hexes, curses, witchcraft, voodoo and other mysterious phenomena. These effects - many of which were elicited by unscientific means - were brought about by the beliefs and lore of the society. Even today, pharmaceutical companies use double- and triple-blind randomised studies in an attempt to exclude of the power of the mind over the body. In You Are the Placebo, Dr. Joe Dispenza explores the history, the science and the practical applications of the so-called placebo effect. Citing many amazing individual cases…


Book cover of The Passion Test: The Effortless Path to Discovering Your Life Purpose

Sandi Holst Author Of Breathe! You Got This!: Fortunes Favor The Inspired

From my list on getting what you want in life.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am the first in my family to go into business for myself. Now, it took me years of thinking about it before I made the jump. I was scared to take that step, but I did it. My expertise came from 25 years of managing hundreds of clients in numerous industries. I loved how successful people can be with the craziest of ideas. How can you find your passion so you are happy and loving what you are doing in life? How do you overcome the fear of failure, move forward with your desires, and become abundant in doing it? 

Sandi's book list on getting what you want in life

Sandi Holst Why did Sandi love this book?

Far too many people are stuck in life and don’t even know what they are passionate about. A few years ago, I read this book and took the test. I not only found my top five passions, but it also helped me hone into my top five passions simultaneously. I am now living them, loving them, and being quite abundant for them. It was the starting point that got me where I am today.

This starting point led me to a successful business in an industry I love. I found new ways to grow and become a leader, so much so that I was inspired to write my book a few years later. 

By Janet Bray Attwood, Chris Attwood,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Passion Test as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The inspirational and life-changing New York Times bestseller that will help you discover the meaning behind your life.

Can a simple test change a person's life? Through their New York Times bestseller The Passion Test, Janet Bray Attwood and Chris Attwood have inspired thousands to shape their lives by discovering their passions and living according to what matters most to them. Readers can identify their top five passions by taking the Test, and then learn exactly how to align their lives with their priorities by following the Attwoods' easy-to-follow step-by-step program of action.

Combining powerful storytelling and profound wisdom from…


Book cover of I Can Make You Rich

Sandi Holst Author Of Breathe! You Got This!: Fortunes Favor The Inspired

From my list on getting what you want in life.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am the first in my family to go into business for myself. Now, it took me years of thinking about it before I made the jump. I was scared to take that step, but I did it. My expertise came from 25 years of managing hundreds of clients in numerous industries. I loved how successful people can be with the craziest of ideas. How can you find your passion so you are happy and loving what you are doing in life? How do you overcome the fear of failure, move forward with your desires, and become abundant in doing it? 

Sandi's book list on getting what you want in life

Sandi Holst Why did Sandi love this book?

Well, that’s a title we are all interested in, isn’t it? I don’t think I hesitated for more than a minute to order it. This changed my mindset about money.  

As children, most of us heard, “Money doesn’t grow on trees.” But if you think about it, where does paper money come from? “Trees.” Paul simply helps us change our mindset about money, and I have learned to think about money positively and abundantly. Once I did this, money came from all directions, expected and unexpected.

By Paul McKenna,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked I Can Make You Rich as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Are you ready to become rich?

If you've ever wondered why it is that some people find it easy to make money while others struggle, it's not because they are more intelligent, work harder or have better luck - it's simply because they think and act differently.

Do you want to make more money? Do you want to improve the quality of your life? Do you believe you can be rich? What if it was easier than you think?
Over the past decade, Paul McKenna PhD has made a unique study of the mindset of people rich not only in…


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Book cover of Free Your Joy: The Twelve Keys to Sustainable Happiness

Free Your Joy By Lisa McCourt,

We all want peace. We all want a life of joy and meaning. We want to feel blissfully comfortable in our own skin, moving through the world with grace and ease. But how many of us are actively taking the steps to create such a life? 

In Free Your Joy…

Book cover of Simply Amazing Women: Life After Heartbreak

Sandi Holst Author Of Breathe! You Got This!: Fortunes Favor The Inspired

From my list on getting what you want in life.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am the first in my family to go into business for myself. Now, it took me years of thinking about it before I made the jump. I was scared to take that step, but I did it. My expertise came from 25 years of managing hundreds of clients in numerous industries. I loved how successful people can be with the craziest of ideas. How can you find your passion so you are happy and loving what you are doing in life? How do you overcome the fear of failure, move forward with your desires, and become abundant in doing it? 

Sandi's book list on getting what you want in life

Sandi Holst Why did Sandi love this book?

This book is about overcoming life’s challenges and achieving success in your business and personal life. Life is tough. The age-old saying, “Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” is present in each of these ladies' stories.

Reading about their challenges made me stronger to get past mine. Even though my challenges were far from theirs, they gave me strength in my daily business and personal life to continue to move forward. To not only be inspired but help inspire others. The result of our challenging journeys is always health and happiness.  

By K. C. Armstrong,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Simply Amazing Women as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Life After Heartbreak: 13 inspiring examples to encourage and inspire you.
Simply Amazing Women continues celebrity radio host K. C. Armstrong's theme of human resiliency. Each of his 13 interviews showcases a woman who courageously faced severe challenges and ultimately used the experience for the benefit of others. It's not just about being a survivor; it's about surviving to ease the path of people facing their own life challenges: addiction, discrimination, poverty, violence, and more. You will see yourself in these women and relate to their qualities of self-preservation and empowerment.
Armstrong (formerly of the Howard Stern Show) uses his…


Book cover of On Death & Dying: What the Dying Have to Teach Doctors, Nurses, Clergy & Their Own Families

Hari Ziyad Author Of Black Boy Out of Time

From my list on loss and grief from a certified death doula.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a journalist, author and screenwriter, my work has always pondered loss and grief. I think this has something to do with the fact that of my mother’s religion; she was a convert to Hinduism and started conversations about the inevitability of death and how the soul and the body aren’t the same when us children were at a very young age. It probably also has something to do with the constant presence of death within my family and communities as a Black and queer person in a violently anti-Black and queerantagonistic world. I currently volunteer at a hospice, and provide community-building programming to death workers from diverse communities.

Hari's book list on loss and grief from a certified death doula

Hari Ziyad Why did Hari love this book?

A quintessential text of death and dying research, this incredibly insightful and compassionate exploration shines a blaring light on all of the hidden contours of a topic we often shy away from.

You’ll almost certainly come away from these pages with a new understanding of the stages of grief (they probably don’t refer to what you were taught they refer) and the importance of honesty and connection when facing mortality. It's an invaluable resource for anyone seeking to better comprehend the human experience.

By Elisabeth Kübler-Ross,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked On Death & Dying as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. The five stages of grief, first formulated in this hugely influential work forty years ago, are now part of our common understanding of bereavement. The five stages were first identified by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross in her work with dying patients at the University of Chicago and were considered phases that all or most people went through, when faced with the prospect of their own death. They are now often accepted as a response to any major life change.

However, in spite of these terms being in general use, the subject of death is still surrounded…


Book cover of Final Gifts: Understanding the Special Awareness, Needs, and Communications of the Dying

Eve Joseph Author Of In the Slender Margin: The Intimate Strangeness of Death and Dying

From my list on grief to normalize mourning and confirm you're not going crazy.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was eleven when my brother died in a car accident and, although I didn’t know it at the time, this experience shaped me in ways I couldn’t anticipate. Many years later, when I began working as a social worker at a local hospice, I realized that I was drawn to the work as a way to finally grieve that early loss. As I helped people navigate their own losses I found myself feeling my own grief for the first time. It wasn’t until I started writing about the hospice work that I found my brother again. I am powerfully drawn to the parallels between writing and the work of dying. 

Eve's book list on grief to normalize mourning and confirm you're not going crazy

Eve Joseph Why did Eve love this book?

Maggie Callanan and Patricia Kelley were both hospice nurses when they wrote this book in 1992 and their book, having sold over 500,000 copies, is still a guide for those who find themselves in the presence of the dying.

The authors act as interpreters for the living and help them understand the language the dying often use. As a hospice social worker, it was not uncommon for me to hear the dying speak of packed suitcases or imaginary taxis pulling up to their doors.

This book helped me to engage with that language and to enter the altered reality that the dying often experience. It encourages us to let go of the rational and invites us into the mystery of death and dying in ways that are life-changing. 

By Maggie Callanan, Patricia Kelley,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Final Gifts as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this moving and compassionate classic—now updated with new material from the authors—hospice nurses Maggie Callanan and Patricia Kelley share their intimate experiences with patients at the end of life, drawn from more than twenty years’ experience tending the terminally ill.

Through their stories we come to appreciate the near-miraculous ways in which the dying communicate their needs, reveal their feelings, and even choreograph their own final moments; we also discover the gifts—of wisdom, faith, and love—that the dying leave for the living to share.

Filled with practical advice on responding to the requests of the dying and helping them…


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Book cover of Currently Away: How Two Disenchanted People Traveled the Great Loop for Nine Months and Returned to the Start, Energized and Optimistic

Currently Away By Bruce Tate,

The plan was insane. The trap seemed to snap shut on Bruce and Maggie Tate, an isolation forced on them by the pandemic and America's growing political factionalism. Something had to change.

Maggie's surprising answer: buy a boat, learn to pilot it, and embark on the Great Loop. With no…

Book cover of Gratitude

Denise Kiernan Author Of We Gather Together: Stories of Thanksgiving from Then to Now

From my list on gratitude making every day feel like Thanksgiving.

Why am I passionate about this?

Denise Kiernan is a multiple New York Times bestselling author of narrative nonfiction books including The Girls of Atomic City, the Last Castle, and We Gather Together. Throughout her career as a journalist and an author, she has explored underrepresented stories and characters and the impact they have had on history. These stories of the unsung offer fresh perspectives on historical tales we think we already know. At the heart of many of Kiernan’s nonfiction explorations are women from a variety of different backgrounds and time periods. She has devoted her last three books to the history of Thanksgiving and gratitude, writing separate books for all ages.

Denise's book list on gratitude making every day feel like Thanksgiving

Denise Kiernan Why did Denise love this book?

The late Oliver Sacks was a neurologist who wrote eloquently about medical topics until he was taken from us by cancer in 2015.

Before he died, he wrote four lovely essays talking about his illness, and the great privilege of being human. Sacks was one of our greatest writers, thoughtful and incisive. Because he was dying as he wrote this, you may wish to wait to digest this book if you have recently experienced the loss of a loved one, and come back to it when you’re in a better place.

By Oliver Sacks,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Oliver Sacks died in August 2015 at his home in Greenwich Village, surrounded by his close friends and family. He was 82. He spent his final days doing what he loved: playing the piano, swimming, enjoying smoked salmon - and writing . . .

As Dr Sacks looked back over his long, adventurous life his final thoughts were of gratitude. In a series of remarkable, beautifully written and uplifting meditations, in Gratitude Dr Sacks reflects on and gives thanks for a life well lived, and expresses his thoughts on growing old, facing terminal cancer and reaching the end.

I cannot…


Book cover of Intimate Death: How the Dying Teach Us How to Live

Kirsten DeLeo Author Of Present Through the End: A Caring Companion's Guide for Accompanying the Dying

From my list on how to support a dying person.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have accompanied dying people for more than twenty-five years—as a counsellor, volunteer chaplain, and companion. I feel passionate about changing the perception of dying and death, the way we care for people during their most vulnerable moments, and how we support families through this painful time. Since my twenties I have been immersed in Buddhist practise which inspires and informs my life and work. Together with other clinicians and mindfulness practitioners, we created one of the first contemplative-based training in end-of-life care for caregivers called “Authentic Presence”. Daring to be present might be the hardest thing you may have done in your life, and, you may come to discover, one of the most intimate, beautiful, and rewarding.

Kirsten's book list on how to support a dying person

Kirsten DeLeo Why did Kirsten love this book?

Intimate Death stands out through its spare and poetic language, its astute observation of the experiences of illness and dying, and matters of human dignity. Marie de Hennezel is a French psychologist. With great compassion and sensitivity, she shares her conversations with patients. She tells of life's unfinished business and how she learned to attend to it. Her writing is beautiful and transformative. It will touch your heart and change how you will view death.

Another book I would like to mention is Henri Nouwen’s Our Greatest Gifts: A Meditation on Dying and Caring. Nouwen is a Catholic priest and spiritual writer. Like de Hennezel, he touches the reader through his poetic and direct style.

By Marie De Hennezel, Carol Brown Janeway (translator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Intimate Death as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Marie de Hennezel is a psychologist who works as part of a team of doctors and nurses in a hospital for the terminally ill in Paris. The men and women who come there do not always know that they are dying. It is Marie de Hennezel's aim to bring them - and their loved ones - to this knowledge, and then to encourage them to live each day that remains as fully and serenely as possible. This work seeks to show how precious the final days of a person's life can be, and how deeply moving it is to share…


Book cover of The Schopenhauer Cure

Anna Caltabiano Author Of The Seventh Miss Hatfield

From my list on exploring the transitions through life.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always been interested in people—specifically exploring what makes us human from different angles and often different disciplines. Overtime, this has taken the shape of writing novels, studying biological anthropology, psychology, and medicine, and sometimes even just people watching. My novels have explored topics such as nonsuicidal self-injury, the pains of growing up, and growing up multicultural. I am currently pursuing a PhD in Psychology.

Anna's book list on exploring the transitions through life

Anna Caltabiano Why did Anna love this book?

Dr. Irvin Yalom is a writer and clinical practitioner who is beloved by many in the field of mental health and therapy. I, like many, admire the way in which he tackles the most difficult human dilemmas through intimate stories highlighting the universality of many of these topics. It was difficult for me to pick which of Dr. Yalom’s books to recommend, as I have thoroughly enjoyed each one I’ve read. However, The Schopenhauer Cure is particularly about confronting mortality—the realization of the ephemerality of life and the limitations and acceptance of what we can achieve. Through Dr. Yalom’s adroit depictions of Philip Slate and Julius Hertzfeld, we see the blurred edges of philosophy and psychology, where some of our most basic questions may best be addressed by the melding of the two.

By Irvin D. Yalom,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Schopenhauer Cure as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From the internationally bestselling author of Love's Executioner and When Nietzsche Wept, comes a novel of group therapy with a cast of memorably wounded characters struggling to heal pain and change lives

Suddenly confronted with his own mortality after a routine checkup, eminent psychotherapist Julius Hertzfeld is forced to reexamine his life and work -- and seeks out Philip Slate, a sex addict whom he failed to help some twenty years earlier. Yet Philip claims to be cured -- miraculously transformed by the pessimistic teachings of German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer -- and is, himself, a philosophical counselor in training.

Philip's…


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Book cover of Today Was A Good Day: A Collection of Essays From The Heart Of A Neurosurgeon

Today Was A Good Day By Edward Benzel,

My book is a collection of monthly Editor-in-Chief letters to the readership of World Neurosurgery, a journal that I edit. Each essay is short and sweet. The letters were written for neurosurgeons but have been re-edited so that they apply to all human beings. They cover topics such as leadership,…

Book cover of Extreme Measures: Finding a Better Path to the End of Life

Lisa J. Shultz Author Of A Chance to Say Goodbye: Reflections on Losing a Parent

From my list on end-of-life planning.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an advocate for end-of-life planning. When my dad entered his eighties, and while still raising my own children, I found myself unprepared for my father’s steady health decline. Suddenly, I was thrust into the role of overseeing his care and making hard decisions. Our difficulties were exacerbated by a western medical system that fell short to prepare us for the end of his life. After my dad’s death, I began researching end-of-life issues to educate myself and plan for my own senior years. I have a goal to support others who face losing a parent and to facilitate healing for those who have already lost one. I also strive to inform and inspire the next generation to learn and plan early to guide themselves and their families to minimize avoidable problems and enhance quality elder years.


Lisa's book list on end-of-life planning

Lisa J. Shultz Why did Lisa love this book?

The author, Dr. Zitter, is described as an expert on the medical experience of death and dying. Her specialties of pulmonary/critical care and palliative care brought to life the spectrum between a comfortable, natural death versus a "keep alive at all costs" mentality. This book was thoughtful and presented many sides of difficult dying experiences. I found it incredibly valuable to understand typical trajectories that might occur at the end of life from illness, organ failure, frailty, or dementia. It helped me gain clarity on my own wishes, and I encourage others to read the book and then discuss it with loved ones. Rather than it being a depressing subject matter, it has the potential to be a gift if the reader can move into a place of communicating and documenting wishes for end-of-life.

By Jessica Nutik Zitter, M.D.,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Extreme Measures as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

For readers of Being Mortal and Modern Death, an ICU and Palliative Care specialist offers a framework for a better way to exit life that will change our medical culture at the deepest level


In medical school, no one teaches you how to let a patient die.

Jessica Zitter became a doctor because she wanted to be a hero. She elected to specialize in critical care—to become an ICU physician—and imagined herself swooping in to rescue patients from the brink of death. But then during her first code she found herself cracking the ribs of a patient so old and…


Book cover of You Are the Placebo: Making Your Mind Matter
Book cover of The Passion Test: The Effortless Path to Discovering Your Life Purpose
Book cover of I Can Make You Rich

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