The Death
Reading Challenge

A mortician's memoir of working in a crematorium. Funny, warm, and the perfect introduction to death positivity.

"The gateway drug. Everyone starts here."

What happens to our bodies after we die? Mary Roach investigates with wit and rigour.

"The funniest book ever written about cadavers."

A surgeon's meditation on how medicine fails the dying — and how we can do better.

"Will change how you think about end-of-life care."

The exposé that changed the funeral industry. Still shocking 60 years later.

"Essential reading for understanding the death industry."

Doughty travels the world exploring how different cultures care for their dead.

"The most eye-opening book on global death customs."

A sweeping history of Western attitudes toward death from the Middle Ages to the present.

"The definitive academic work on death history."

A neurosurgeon diagnosed with terminal cancer reflects on what makes life meaningful.

"The most beautiful memoir about dying ever written."

A poet-undertaker's essays on death, life, and the business of burying the dead.

"Literary masterpiece. Will make you cry and laugh."

A lavishly illustrated coffee table book exploring death art from around the world.

"The most beautiful book on death ever published."

The 8th-century Tibetan text on the nature of consciousness and the dying process.

"The original death manual. Challenging but transformative."

Didion's raw account of grief after her husband's sudden death.

"The most honest book about grief ever written."

A radical rethinking of time management in the face of our finite lives.

"The perfect book to end the year. Will change everything."