My Facing Loss Reading List

The list of books below has personal significance. These are the books that came to me by way of recommendations from comforters and supporters. These are the books I read on my own personal Facing Loss journey. This list is not necessarily a recommended reading list for everyone else’s journeys of loss. However, each book crossed my path during my grief experience, and each played its own part in my journey of hope. Some more than others.

I have bolded the books that were especially helpful to me. I decided I should capture and compile this list for my own sake. And I decided to share it for the sake of others, as well. Revelation 12:11 reminds us that we overcome by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony and because we do not love our own lives. Many of the books below are stories about, experiences of, and responses to brokenness in the context of faith. They are testimonies. Testimonies are contemporary illustrations of the veracity of the ancient gospel. The gospel makes claims on our lives; testimonies are the multitudes of stories of our responses to those claims. When I was hurting and in pain, I would read about other fellow journeyers who walked the path of brokenness in the light of the gospel. Also, some books I include were purely devotional and had little to do with grief. And yet, they played their part in my healing.

I do not include the Bible in this particular reading list. The Bible deserves a category all its own. All these stories are made possible by the teachings of the Bible. Therefore, do not exclude the Bible in any journey of brokenness. In fact, the Bible is God’s story of his creation of a beautiful world, the collapse or brokenness of the world, and the redemption of the world. The Bible is a book that addresses brokenness like no other book. The story reported throughout the Bible is a story of overwhelming brokenness. For example, I found that the many psalms read me when I thought I was reading them.

To summarize, read your Bible to heal, but don’t ignore the individual stories of healing shared by those who took the time to write their story down. In fact, this is one reason I agreed to repurpose my own journal into a blog. I had to invest my journey for others. In the words of Revelation 12:11, I needed to overcome. And help others overcome, too.


My Facing Loss Reading List

Albom, Mitch; Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, A Young Man, and Life’s Greatest Lesson

Alcorn, Randy; Heaven

Baillie, John; A Diary of Private Prayer

Bevan, Frances, translator; Hymns of Ter Steegan and Others

Bounds, E. M.; Purpose in Prayer

Burgess, Sherri; Bronner: A Journey to Understand

Burroughs, Jeremiah; The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment

Challies, Tim; Seasons of Sorrow

Chambers, Oswald; A Holy Occupation

Crossman, Eileen Fraser; Mountain Rain: A Biography of James O. Fraser

Cuyler, Theodore; God’s Light on Dark Clouds

Davis, D. Ray; Facing Loss: Lessons of Hope from My Unwanted Journey (ebook)

Duncan, Ligon; When Pain is Real and God Seems Silent: Finding Hope in the Psalms

Dunn, Bill and Leonard, Kathy; Through a Season of Grief: Devotions for Your Journey from Mourning to Joy

Easley, Ernest; Resting in God’s Sovereignty

Elliff, Tom; The Unwanted Gift

Elliot, Elizabeth; The Path of Loneliness

Flavel, John; Facing Grief

Fox, Ronnie; Beyond My Strength

Gibson, David; The LORD of Psalm 23: Jesus Our Shepherd, Companion, and Host

Greear, J. D.; Gospel

Guthrie, David and Nancy; Grief Share: Your Journey from Mourning to Joy

Guthrie, Nancy, editor; Be Still, My Soul

Guthrie, Nancy; Hearing Jesus Speak into Your Sorrow

Haugk , Kenneth C. A Time to Grieve: Journeying Through Grief, Book One

Haugk, Kenneth C.; Experiencing Grief: Journeying Through Grief, Book Two

Haugk, Kenneth C.; Finding Hope and Healing: Journeying Through Grief, Book Three

Haugk, Kenneth C.; Rebuilding and Remembering: Journeying Through Grief, Book Four

Havner, Vance; Though I Walk Through the Valley

Kellemen, Robert W.; God’s Healing for Life’s Losses

Keller, Timothy; Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering

Lewis, C. S.; A Grief Observed

Lewis, C. S.; The Screwtape Letters

Lorance, Rachel Landrith; Still Good: One Family’s Story of Loss and the Hope that Remains

Ortland, Dane; Gentle and Lowly

Martin, Robbie Steele; Learning to Live Again

Martin, Robbie Steele; Work Your Way to a New Life: The Learning to Live Again Workbook

McDaniel, Terra; Hopeful Lament

Miller, James Russell; The Ministry of Comfort

Mitsch, Raymond R. and Brookside, Lynn; Grieving the Loss of Someone You Love

Morgan, Robert J.; The Red Sea Rules

Murray, Andrew; Absolute Surrender

Murray, Andrew; The Inner Life

Murray, Andrew; Prayer Guide

Murray, Andrew; Waiting on God

Piper, John and Taylor, Justin (Editor), Ellis, Carl; Powlison, David A.; Saint, Steve; Shramek, Dustin; Talbot, Mark (Contributors); Suffering and the Sovereignty of God

Rankin, Jerry; In the Secret Place: A Pilgrimage Through the Psalms

Reed, Erik; Uncommon Trust: Learning to Trust God When Life Doesn’t Make Sense

Sittser, Jerry; A Grace Disguised: How the Soul Grows Through Loss

Sittser, Jerry; A Grace Revealed: How God Redeems the Story of Your Life

Smith, James Bryan; The Good and Beautiful God

Sproul, R. C.; The Holiness of God

Spurgeon, Charles; The Power of Prayer

Terry, Bobby S. (Bob); Struggling Toward Hope: Life After the Death of a Spouse

Tripp, Paul David; New Morning Mercies

Vanauken, Sheldon; A Severe Mercy: A Story of Faith, Tragedy, and Triumph

Vroegrop, Mark; Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy

Wainscott, Justin; Lost in Wonder, Love, and Praise: Hymns and Poems

Warfield, B. B.; The Emotional Life of Our Lord

Westberg, Granger E.; Good Grief

Wilcox, Laurie; My Worst Year, My Best Year

Willard, Dallas; Life Without Lack: Living in the Fullness of Psalm 23

Wolf, Katherine and Jay; Suffer Strong

Wolterstorff, Nicholas; Lament for a Son

Wright, H. Norman; Experiencing Grief

Yarbrough, Julie; Inside the Broken Heart