Library
A Curated Collection Of External Resources
Grief can leave us searching for answers, reassurance, or simply the comfort of knowing that someone else has felt what we're feeling.
Whilst no book, podcast, or talk can take grief away, they can help us better understand our experience, offer language for emotions that feel impossible to describe, and remind us that we are not alone.
Over the years, we have gathered together the resources that have most shaped our own understanding of grief. These are the books, podcasts, and talks we return to time and time again, and the ones we most often recommend to our community.
Take what feels helpful. Leave what doesn't. Come back whenever you're ready.
Podcasts
Listening can feel different to reading. Sometimes another person's voice, story, or perspective reaches us in a way words on a page cannot. These podcasts combine lived experience, expert insight, neuroscience, psychology, and honest conversations about grief.
All There Is with Anderson Cooper
Why we recommend it
Perhaps our favourite grief podcast. Anderson speaks with remarkable openness about losing his own parents whilst inviting guests to explore the many different faces of grief. Honest, thoughtful, and deeply moving.
Perfect if you're looking for: Personal stories, reflection, and beautifully human conversations.
Click here to listen
Griefcast with Cariad Lloyd
Why we recommend it
A refreshing reminder that grief and laughter can exist together. Cariad creates space for open conversations about death with writers, comedians, actors, and public figures, helping make grief feel less lonely and less taboo.
Perfect if you're looking for: Relatable conversations and moments of lightness alongside loss.
Click here to listen
Thanks for Asking
Why we recommend it
Hosted by Nora McInerny, this podcast acknowledges that life after loss is often messy, complicated, and contradictory. Honest without ever feeling overwhelming.
Perfect if you're looking for: Real conversations about navigating life after bereavement.
Click here to listen
Good Mourning Podcast
Why we recommend it
Combining expert interviews with lived experience, this podcast offers practical guidance whilst remaining warm, compassionate, and reassuring.
Perfect if you're looking for: Both emotional support and practical advice.
Click here to listen
Good Grief with Amanda Kloots
Why we recommend it
Amanda explores the many different ways grief changes us through conversations filled with hope, resilience, and honesty.
Perfect if you're looking for: Stories of healing and moving forwards without leaving love behind.
Click here to listen
The Grief Coach Podcast
Why we recommend it
An accessible podcast covering many aspects of grief, featuring therapists, experts, and bereaved guests sharing their experiences.
Perfect if you're looking for: Practical tools and compassionate guidance.
Click here to listen
Open to Hope Podcast
Why we recommend it
A vast library of conversations covering almost every aspect of grief imaginable.
Perfect if you're looking for: Expert advice and a wide variety of perspectives.
Click here to listen
Books
Some books explain grief. Others make us feel understood. Sometimes, reading someone else's words can give language to something we have been carrying but haven't quite known how to express ourselves.
There can be something deeply comforting in recognising yourself in another person's story — in finding a sentence that puts into words what you couldn't, or discovering that someone else has felt something you thought was yours alone.
These are some of the books we find ourselves recommending again and again.
It's OK That You're Not OK - Megan Devine
Why we recommend it
If we could recommend just one book to someone who has recently been bereaved, it would probably be this one. Megan gently challenges the idea that grief is something we should "move on" from and instead reminds us that grief is a natural response to love.
Perfect if you're looking for: Reassurance that your grief is not something to fix.
Grief Works - Julia Samuel
Why we recommend it
Written by one of Britain's leading grief psychotherapists, this book combines decades of clinical experience with immense compassion.
Perfect if you're looking for: Understanding the many different ways grief can affect us.
The Grieving Brain - Mary-Frances O'Connor
Why we recommend it
One of the clearest explanations of why grief feels the way it does. Mary-Frances explores what happens inside our brains after loss and why adapting takes time.
Perfect if you're looking for: The science behind grief.
Bearing the Unbearable - Dr Joanne Cacciatore
Why we recommend it
This book beautifully reflects our own philosophy that grief needs to be witnessed. It is compassionate, deeply human, and reminds us that healing begins when our pain is seen by another.
Perfect if you're looking for: Feeling held and understood.
Finding Meaning - David Kessler
Why we recommend it
Rather than asking us to move on, David Kessler explores how we continue our relationship with those we've lost whilst slowly finding meaning alongside grief.
Perfect if you're looking for: Hope without toxic positivity.
The Wild Edge of Sorrow - Francis Weller
Why we recommend it
One of the books that has most influenced our own thinking. Weller explores grief as something communal rather than individual and reminds us that mourning has always belonged within community.
Perfect if you're looking for: A deeper exploration of grief, ritual, and belonging.
Option B - Sheryl Sandberg & Adam Grant
Why we recommend it
A thoughtful exploration of resilience after sudden loss and how we slowly begin rebuilding our lives.
Perfect if you're looking for: Navigating life after profound change.
A Grief Observed - C.S. Lewis
Why we recommend it
Raw, honest, and timeless. Lewis captures grief with extraordinary vulnerability.
Perfect if you're looking for: A deeply personal memoir.
The Smell of Rain on Dust - Martín Prechtel
Why we recommend it
A poetic reflection on grief as love, community, and remembrance. A beautiful reminder that mourning has always been something shared.
Perfect if you're looking for: A more philosophical exploration of grief.
TED Talks
Sometimes twenty minutes can completely change how we understand grief. A different perspective, a story we recognise ourselves in, or simply hearing someone put words to something we’ve been feeling can shift the way we see our own experience.
These talks explore grief, loss, love and what it means to find our way through difficult experiences. They’re a lovely place to start if you’re looking for something short and bitesize that you can listen to, reflect on and perhaps come back to again.
Here are some of our favourites.
The Paradox of Grief - Julia Samuel
Why we recommend it
Julia beautifully explains why grief isn't something we overcome but something we learn to carry.
Perfect if you're looking for: Understanding grief with compassion.
What Happens in Our Brains When We Grieve? - Mary-Frances O'Connor
Why we recommend it
A fascinating introduction to the neuroscience of grief and why our brains struggle after loss.
Perfect if you're looking for: Making sense of your thoughts and emotions.
3 Secrets of Resilient People - Lucy Hone
Why we recommend it
Lucy shares what resilience has taught her following the death of her daughter. Practical, hopeful, and deeply moving.
Perfect if you're looking for: Hope during difficult days.
We Need to Tell Our Stories About Death - Hannah Jardine Youell
Why we recommend it
A thoughtful reminder that grief needs to be spoken about, shared, and witnessed.
Perfect if you're looking for: Understanding the importance of community.
What Grief and Soy Sauce Taught Me About Life After Loss - Charlene Lam
Why we recommend it
A beautiful reflection on memory, love, and the ordinary moments that continue connecting us to those we've lost.
Perfect if you're looking for: A gentle reminder that love remains.
Our Philosophy
At Grief Is An Island, we believe the most important resource isn’t a book, a podcast or a TED Talk. It’s another human being. Someone willing to sit beside your grief, listen to your story and simply witness what you’re going through.
These resources can offer comfort, understanding and perspective, but they are never intended to replace connection. That’s why, alongside our free Library, we also offer free online Grief Cafés, local workshops and in-person retreats, as well as an ongoing community for those navigating life after loss.
Because we don’t believe grief needs fixing. We believe it needs witnessing.