Book Review: Softening the Grief By Joan E. Markwell, Janie Fields, Patricia Hollingsworth, and Susie McDonald

Softening the Grief

By Joan E. Markwell, Janie Fields, Patricia Hollingsworth, and Susie McDonald

 

Softening the Grief is a book written by and for women who have lost a child, and for those that love them and want to help them through such a heartbreaking time.

These women know, as I do, that the pain doesn’t stop just because the calendar ticks off two weeks or the friends stop coming by or calling. It is something that is in our hearts, a part of our being, until our own time comes.

This book lists many hurtful comments made by people that have not been there, that do not realize the hurt they are heaping upon an already broken heart. Suggestions for things to say instead of the usual “it happens to everybody” or “you have other children” are given. Most of the suggestions are good ones. A few, from my perspective, are just as hurtful as the original, unthinking comment.

These women and many others are members of a club that none of us wants to be in: The Bereaved Mothers Club. While Softening the Grief may be very helpful to those dealing with the loss of older and adult children, it doesn’t touch on the pain suffered by those who never got to know their children.  Those of us that have experienced miscarriage and stillbirth do not have memories of kindergarten or graduation or the other special moments with this child to lean back on. All we have is what might have been but never got a chance to be.

This book is great for the group that it serves. If you have a loved one in your life that has lost a child and you do not know how to help her deal with her traumatic loss, you will find this a good guide.

Softening the Grief earns 5 stars.  It is available if you need it and I pray you never do.

We were sent a complimentary copy of this book.  We are under no obligation to write any review, positive or negative.

We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

Notice: This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.

Book Review: Pizza With Jesus (No Black Olives): Finding Home and Grace Amid Hardship and Grief By P. J. Frick

Pizza With Jesus (No Black Olives): Finding Home and Grace Amid Hardship and Grief

By P. J. Frick

Pizza With Jesus (No Black Olives) by P. J. Frick is the rather sad story of one woman’s journey through grief.  It would seem that she is blasted at every turn with some new challenge.

If you want to read a book that will hit you like a ton of bricks, this is it.  We see God in every page.  We see Jesus with arms wide open.

This book is well-written and impactful.  We see how when the author, P. J. Frick, was at her lowest points, God sent furry little angels to rescue her.

When you sit down to read Pizza with Jesus, you will want to have at least one giant economy-sized box of tissues with you.

We give this book all five stars.

We were sent a complimentary copy of this book.  We are under no obligation to write any review, positive or negative.

We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

Notice: This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.

Book Review: When You Lose Someone You Love Written and Illustrated by Joanne Fink

When You Lose Someone You Love 
Written and Illustrated by Joanne Fink

Get out the giant size box of tissues and grab your copy of When You Lose Someone You Love, written and illustrated by Joanne Fink. Prepare for a roller coaster of emotions.

This little book is designed to help one deal with the loss of a loved one.  

On our How to Manage Your Monkey website, we talk about preparing for retirement and making pre-need funeral arrangements.

But, it is impossible to plan emotionally for the loss of someone you love.  Even if their death is not a surprise, it is still hard to deal with their loss.

Perhaps When You Lose Someone You Love will help you, or someone you know, deal with a loss.  There is no way to tell.  Each person is different and each loss is different.

That being said, we need to say that this little book is very well-written and helps reach those parts that are hurting and maybe helps someone who is grieving realize that their feelings, no matter what they are, are normal.

We give When You Lose Someone You Love all five stars.  We think for some people this will act like a salve to help soothe the hurts.  For others, it might not do anything.  

We suggest you buy a copy and read it before a loss takes place.  Keep a copy on hand and offer it to those you know who are going through a recent loss.

Like chicken soup when you are ill, it just might help and it probably won’t hurt. 

Note from Suz: I could relate to some of the issues and feelings Mrs. Fink shared in this book, though her loss was her husband. We are approaching the fifth anniversary of my daddy’s death. She shares some of her daughter’s words on the loss of her daddy. The wounds are still so raw from my own experience. I cried buckets reading parts of the song this girl wrote to her daddy.

This book doesn’t erase the pain. Nothing can ever fully do that, really. But, it offers understanding and a chance to not feel so alone in one’s grief.

We were sent a complimentary copy of this book.  We are under no obligation to write any review, positive or negative.

We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

Notice: This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.

Book Review: Jaybird’s Song By Kathy Wilson Florence

Jaybird’s Song

By Kathy Wilson Florence

If you like smiles, you’ll like this book. If you like books that make you cry, you’ll love this book.  All the way through, Jaybird’s Song was an emotional experience.

This book does a bit of time travel in that in one chapter, you’re in the turbulent 1960s and in the next chapter, you’re in 2003 and 2004.  This was a bit frustrating for me at first because I tend to prefer chronological order.  But, it grew on me and the back and forth rhythm became a bit of a comfort, a respite from the sad parts of one time frame or the other.

There are lots of smiles and tears shared, along with memories of events during the Civil Rights movement, integration, and personal family heartbreaks.  We get to witness some of the trials of the teenage years, some rather graphic, and those of the not-so-very young years.

Jaybird’s Song ultimately becomes about the struggle of the little girl inside of a hurting middle-aged woman, struggling to reconcile the love and the hurt of her family’s past and bringing that love - and forgiveness - forward to share with her children.

It is a great book and I give Jaybird’s Song all five stars. It has made me do a great deal of soul-searching myself.  Maybe it will do the same for you.

We were sent a complimentary copy of this book.  We are under no obligation to write any review, positive or negative.

We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

Notice: This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.

Book Review: Five Keys for Grieving People: An Unofficial Guide to Your New Normal by Jean Birckhead

Five Keys for Grieving People: An Unofficial Guide to Your New Normal

by Jean Birckhead

Death is a very sad part of life. When a close loved one dies, it can be like a body blow that just keeps on coming.

In her book, Five Keys for Grieving People: An Unofficial Guide to Your New Normal, Jean Birckhead tries to help those left behind deal with those body blows.

This is a very short book, which is good because when one is dealing with a recent loss they are not normally looking to read a long book about grief.  However, in those few pages, Birckhead is able to give readers what they need to help deal with their grief.

One key that Birckhead points out is to take life as slow as possible.  One thing David told grieving families when he was working with a cemetery is that, “If it is a good deal today, it will be a good deal tomorrow.” By that he meant don’t make any major decisions, financial or otherwise, right away that can be put off.

We give Five Keys for Grieving People all five stars.  It is very well-written.  It deals with the core issues and lets grieving people know that it is okay to grieve.

We think this would be a great book for churches to offer to small group classes.  A great idea would be to teach classes to those who have not yet suffered grief, as well as to those who are going through it.

When you buy your copy of Five Keys for Grieving People, why not go ahead and buy a copy to give to your church library.

We were sent a complimentary copy of this book.  We are under no obligation to write any review, positive or negative.

We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

 


Notice: This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.

Book Review: Amazing Adventures with Dev: His Voice, My Voice, Our Voice By Melody L. Boulton and Devon Allen Merritt

Amazing Adventures with Dev: His Voice, My Voice, Our Voice

By Melody L. Boulton and Devon Allen Merritt

We were given a copy of Amazing Adventures with Dev: His Voice, My Voice, Our Voice by Melody L. Boulton and Devon Allen Merritt in consideration of a review.

Amazing Adventures with Dev is the story of a mother and her second son, their lives together, and the loss of his life to a rare lung condition at the age of 23 years.

This book elicited some very strong emotional responses from me, especially as I tried to share some of the scenes with others.  Having also lost a child, I can understand the devastation, confusion, the questions...the endless “whys”. I can understand one wondering how one can possibly continue on without this child (regardless of age) in it any longer.  I cannot judge the way another parent processes their grief.  Grief can do strange things to a person and make a person do strange things.

Some parts of Amazing Adventures with Dev may seem strange or too “out there” to many.  It talks of reincarnation, how our souls are eternal beings, how life goes on after the death of the earthly body.  But, she is also delves into astrology and meeting with mediums and other things that I cannot relate to at all.  These things may be a turnoff to other Christians as well.  

There is no doubt this mother loves her son and always will.  I can understand never wanting to lose that relationship.  There is a strong, almost overwhelming feeling that this love has turned from parental love to worship.   I can understand intense love and I don’t doubt that our loved ones watch over us from the other side.  It seems, though, that she has made a deity of Devon.  This part of the book made me very uncomfortable.

Amazing Adventures with Dev is a book that will definitely make you think. It gives plenty to ponder.  However, unless you are very well-grounded in your faith, it may cause confusion, and may not be the book for you.  If you are strong in your faith, then you will likely find it interesting to ponder the questions that it brings up.  Shared with others, it can lead to enlightening discussions.

Because I believe that calling on mediums goes against the teachings of the Bible, I cannot give the book all five points on our one-to-five scale. This book is well-written, with only a few areas missed by a proofreader.  I will give it a four because one sign of a good book is that it elicits strong emotional responses and Amazing Adventures with Dev most definitely achieved that!

Notice: This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.