Duck, Death and the Tulip

Wolf Erlbruch

An uncommonly tender illustrated meditation on the cycle of life.

Cry, Heart, But Never Break

Glenn Ringtved and Charlotte Pardi

A remarkable Danish illustrated meditation on life with and after loss:

When Breath Becomes Air

Paul Kalanithi

A young neurosurgeon reflects on the meaning of life as he faces his death – remarkable read:

Dropping Ashes on the Buddha: The Teachings of Zen Master Seung Sahn

Zen Master Seung Sahn

A Zen master explains death to a child and outlines the 3 essential principles of Zen mind:

The Magic Box

Joseph Pintauro

An extraordinary vintage children’s book for grownups celebrating “life, the wonder & pain of it & the unspeakable worthwhileness of every second of it”:

The Light of the World: A Memoir

Elizabeth Alexander

“Perhaps tragedies are only tragedies in the presence of love, which confers meaning to loss.”

Poet Elizabeth Alexander’s exquisite meditation on love, loss, and the boundaries of the the thing we call a soul:

The Night of the Gun

David Carr

“People remember what they can live with more often than how they lived.”

David Carr, the measure of a person, and the uncommon art of elevating the common record – my remembrance of this remarkable, sorely missed journalist and friend:

A Year with Rilke: Daily Readings from the Best of Rainer Maria Rilke

Anita Barrows

“Death is our friend precisely because it brings us into absolute and passionate presence with all that is here, that is natural, that is love.”

How Rilke can help us befriend our mortality and live more fully—sublimely rewarding read:

Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End

Atul Gawande

A surgeon on the crossroads between our bodies and our inner lives and what really matters in the end:

The Flat Rabbit

A sweet, minimalist Scandinavian children’s book about making sense of death:

How We Die: Reflections of Life’s Final Chapter, New Edition

Sherwin B. Nuland

“The greatest dignity to be found in death is the dignity of the life that preceded it.”

Sherwin Nuland on the art of dying as a lens on the art of living meaningfully:

Mortality

Christopher Hitchens

“To the dumb question ‘Why me?’ the cosmos barely bothers to return the reply: Why not?”