I love to read. This is an eclectic mix of some of my favorite books. I will keep adding to this list. Do you have a book you love and like to share with others?
Poetry
“Poetry is a life-cherishing force.” Mary Oliver
Bass, Ellen - The Human Line
Bly, Robert - Morning Poems
Gibran, Kahlil - The Treasured Writings of Khalil Gibran
Merwin, W. S - The Second Four Books of Poems
O’Donohue, John - To Bless the Space between Us
Oliver, Mary - Dreamwork
Rainer Maria Rilke - A Year with Rilke: Daily Readings from the Best of Rainer Maria Rilke. Translated and edited by Joanna Macy and Anita Barrows
Rumi - The Essential Rumi. Translated by Coleman Barks
Holden, Anthony and Ben Holden - Poems That Make Grown Up Men Cry
Practicing kindness and self-compassion
Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche - Training in Tenderness: Buddhist Teachings on Tsewa, the Radical Openness of Heart That Can Change the World
Christopher Germer - The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion: Freeing Yourself from Destructive Thoughts and Emotions
Matthieu Ricard - Altruism: The Power to Change Yourself and the World
Kristen Neff - Self-Compassion: Stop Beating Yourself Up and Leave Insecurity Behind
Sharon Salzberg - Loving-Kindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness
Tsoknyi Rinpoche - Open Mind, Open Heart: Awakening the Power of Essence Love
Why meditate?
Andy Fraser - The Healing Power of Meditation: Leading Experts on Buddhism,Psychology, and Medicine Explore the Health Benefits of Contemplative Practice
Dan Siegel - Aware: The Science and Practice of Presence - The Groundbreaking Meditation Practice
Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche - Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness. New York: Harmony Books, 2007.
If you are caring for a dying person
Ira Byock - The Four Things That Matter Most: A Book about Living
Maggie Callanan and Patricia Kelly - Final Gifts: Understanding the Special Awareness, Needs and Communications of the Dying
Christine Longaker - Facing Death and Finding Hope: A Guide to the Emotional and Spiritual Care of the Dying
Joanne Lynn, Joan Harold, and Janice Lynn Schuster - Handbook for Mortals: Guidance for People with Serious Illness
Wyatt, Karen - What Really Matters: 7 Lessons for Living from the Stories of the Dying
Saunders, Cicely - Watch with Me: Inspiration for a Life in Hospice Care
What do dying and death teach us?
Marie De Hennezel - Intimate Death: How the Dying Teach Us How to Live
Atul Gawande - Being Mortal: Illness, Medicine and What Matters at the End
Joan Halifax - Being with Dying: Cultivating Compassion and Fearlessness in the Presence of Death
Paul Kalanithi - When Breath Becomes Air
Elizabeth Kübler-Ross - On Death and Dying: What the Dying Have to Teach Doctors, Nurses, Clergy and Their Own Families.
Henri Nouwen - Our Greatest Gift: A Meditation on Caring and Dying
Judith Lief - Making Friends with Death: A Buddhist Guide to Encountering Mortality
Frank Ostaseski - The Five Invitations: Discovering What Death Can Teach Us about Living Fully
Randy Pausch - The Last Lecture
How contemplative practice can help you stay present at the bedsidE
Koshin Paley Ellison and Matt Weingast - Awake at the Bedside. Contemplative Teachings on Palliative and End-of-Life Care
Cheryl A. Giles and Willa B. Miller - The Arts of Contemplative Care: Pioneering Voices in Buddhist Chaplaincy and Pastoral Work
More heart advice from the Buddhist tradition
Pema Chödrön - When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times
Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche and David R. Shlim - Medicine and Compassion: A Tibetan Lama’s Guidance for Caregivers
Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche - The Heart of Compassion
Shantideva - The Way of the Bodhisattva: A Translation of the Bodhicharyavatara.
Sogyal Rinpoche - The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying.
Thich Nath Hanh - No Fear, No Death: Comforting Wisdom for Life
Thondup Tulku - Peaceful Death, Joyful Rebirth: A Tibetan Buddhist Guideboo
Tsoknyi Rinpoche - Carefree Dignity. Discourses on the Training of the Mind