Item category 2: Death Positive Libraries

Alfie Monk is like any other nearly teenage boy - except he's 1,000 years old and can remember the last Viking invasion of England. Obviously no one believes him, so when everything Alfie knows and loves is destroyed in a fire, and the modern world comes crashing in, he embarks on a mission to fi...

Grief is a path we can all expect to walk one day, when we lose someone we love, and life suddenly looks different. But how long does grieving take? When can we expect to feel 'normal' again? And should we? In 'The Aftergrief', acclaimed grief coach and New York Times bestselling author Hope Edel...

As we're compelled to capture, store and share more and more of our personal information, there's something we often forget. All that data doesn't just disappear when our physical bodies shuffle off this mortal coil. If the concept of remaining socially active after you're no longer breathing sou...

A stunning blend of the personal and professional, 'The Archaeology of Loss' is Sarah Tarlow's first memoir. An accomplished archaeologist, much of Sarah's work is concerned with the ritual and belief behind the practice of grief. In 2012, she was awarded the Chair in Archaeology at the Universit...

'I've a body out the back for you' - imagine having that sentence said to you. And then imagine it actually being pertinent. Welcome to Evie King's world. What happens if you die without family or money? The answer to this very three-in-the-morning question is that Evie, or someone like her, will...

The end of a life can often feel like a traumatic, chaotic and inhuman experience. In this reassuring and inspiring book, palliative care physician Dr BJ Miller and writer Shoshana Berger provide a vision for rethinking and navigating this universal process. There are plenty of self-help books fo...

Atul Gawande examines his experiences as a surgeon, as he confronts the realities of ageing and dying in his patients and in his family, as well as the limits of what he can do. He emerges with a story that crosses the globe and history, exploring questions that range from the curious to the prof...

Dak's dad has been dead for seven days when suddenly he reappears. He's the same in almost every way, with one startling exception: Dad has turned into a clownfish, and now lives in a tank at their local aquarium. Dak is delighted by the news - he has Dad back, even if he isn't quite as he was be...

Coffin roads are a marked feature of the landscape of the Scottish Highlands and islands - many are now popular walking and cycling routes. This book journeys along eight coffin roads to discover and explore the distinctive traditions, beliefs and practices around dying, death and mourning in the...

When Olivia's teacher, Miss Evans, dies, the children at her school are encouraged to think of everything that reminds them of her. This book is about love and legacy and will help children understand that while sadness is an inevitable part of grief, death is not necessarily the end for what is ...

Erin's daddy sees the colour in everything. Even on the greyest days, they put on their wellies and go splashing in puddles. But what happens when the greyest day of all comes, and Daddy isn't there any more? Can Erin learn to find colour in the world again? This deeply sensitive picture book abo...

As a specialist in palliative medicine, Dr Rachel Clarke chooses to inhabit a place many people would find too tragic to contemplate. Every day she tries to bring care and comfort to those reaching the end of their lives and to help make dying more bearable. Rachel's training was put to the test ...

Social media is full of dead people. Nobody knows precisely how many Facebook profiles belong to dead users but in 2012 the figure was estimated at 30 million. What do we do with all these digital souls? Can we simply delete them, or do they have a right to persist? Philosophers have been almost ...

This volume of poetry provides a collection of funeral poems, appropriate for reading at a funeral or memorial service.

'Döstädning', or the art of death cleaning, is a Swedish phenomenon by which the elderly and their families set their affairs in order. Whether it's sorting the family heirlooms from the junk, downsizing to a smaller place, or setting up a system to help you stop misplacing your keys, death cle...

This anthology contains over 100 poems, chosen by creator of the bestselling 'The Poetry Pharmacy', William Sieghart, and illustrated by Emily Sutton. Divided into four thoughtfully-curated sections, including Poems to Make You Smile, Poems to Move You, Poems to Give You Hope and Poems to Calm an...