So sorry for your loss How I learned to live with grief, and other grave concerns

Journalist Gachman (Brokenomics) delivers a poignant, personal exploration of grief. After the author lost her mother to cancer and her sister to alcoholism in the span of two years, she was forced to acknowledge that "grief would become part of me, instead of something I had to conquer." Gachman gets up-close to the emotional vagaries of loss, recounting how, after her mother's death, she'd find herself crying during a Geico commercial one moment, and emotionally numb the next. Both reactions are normal, she writes, as "grief, like life, doesn't always have to make sense." Elsewhere, she discusses how finding reminders of the dead in one's daily life can "keep the love we felt and feel" alive, considers the value (and limitations) of seeking psychological help, and lays out small ways to help others in mourning. Gachman perceptively puts words to the uncomfortable realities of loss--"Death was not glorious and wondrous... it was a blunt object, lurking in the corner"--and deconstructs its social myths, helping readers feel less alone. Those facing loss will find solace here. (Apr.)