Death Books

This book "The Waiting Room" humbles me, it's not all about the "woe is me" factor. We all go through "difficult" times; each in our own way; feeling it can't get any worse, but we forget other people could be going through something much worse. The great thing about this book is that it tells us God is always with us in our own "waiting room". Not to look at the difficulty but look towards Christ and in doing that we become sensitive to God's heart; which is giving "HOPE" to others in hopeless situations.

This book is an awesome display of faith. It makes my trials seem trivial in comparison. Reading this book will increase anyone's faith and minister to the spirit. Several members of my family and church have purchased and read "The Waiting Room" and all have been blessed by the experience. Thanks Carrie for a labor of love!!

Once I began to read this wonderful book about faith and trust in God, I literally could not put it down until I had read every word. It was gripping and compelling from the first page to the last. The author's absolutely fascinating story is told in an extremely personal and highly readable style. This is a very special inspirational work which I highly recommend!

I had never thought before about the "waiting rooms" that we all eventually encounter in life, those situations where we must rest and wait. After reading "The Waiting Room" however, I have become more aware of how God indeed is working in these circumstances and how it is in the waiting room where we are changed and molded into his likeness. Carrie George bravely shares her very personal experiences in waiting rooms, both literally (hospital settings) and figuratively (those waiting places we experience). It is very encouraging to actually see how God worked in situations which on the surface would appear quite bleak, but which in reality were filled with his presence. "The Waiting Room" is inspiring and increased my faith tremendously as Ms. George, with honesty and openness, told of God's wonderous works in her family's waiting rooms. I highly recommend it.

The Waiting Room is a guidebook for every wife and mother. An inspirational look at dealing with, and overcoming hardship. I was personally really blessed in my relationship with my kids and husband after reading this.

The experiences of dying individuals in this book were compelling and insightful. Each chapter tells a story of a hospice patient's unique situation and challenges from the perspective of a volunteer. In the margins, the author would pose insightful questions about ethical dilemmas, boundary issues, or problems, that she encountered in this particular assignment. For this reason, selected chapters might serve as effective case studies and be suitable for a training class or discussion group for hospice volunteers.

There is a glossary of medical and hospice terms in the back of the book and a very practical chapter on the physiological process as one is actively dying. Although the author writes openly about her sadness and feelings of ambivalence and conflict, her personal story speaks for the value of compassion in this line of work yet the tone is never maudlin or despondent. Personal opinions are balanced with pragmatism.

In summary, I would recommend this book to hospice volunteers but also to people who are trying to get a deeper understanding of the general hospice experience.

I was pleasantly surprised and enlightened by reading this informative book on hospice care. Very well done, with an interesting personal touch.

I have been an RN for over 30 years and a hospice nurse for 14 years. As I read When Autumn Comes I discovered how Mary Jo Bennett brings her gift of listening with her whole heart to each encounter with those approaching death. It is clear that she offers a caring and quiet spirit to her patients and shows how we can also.

I found "When Autumn Comes" to be very inspiring as well as comforting reading at the time my father was passing on. I think more than anything it helped me to recognize my own agenda vs. my father's real needs and state of mind. This book helped me to not be so afraid of death and instead to support my father and actually encourage him in this process by my mindful presence. I will never forget this rich experience of being at his side until the moment when he took his final breath. It was an honor, a joy and a privilege and I am so grateful to have had this guidebook for support to enhance my spiritual understanding of the death process.

The stories Ms. Bennett tells in When Autumn Comes have the power to penetrate deeply into relationship spaces most of us are unwilling to go without a guide. She has learned the sacred art of listening, and challenges me to ask this burning question everywhere I go these days, "How can I help?"

This book is one of the most honest written books I have read on the many feelings we go through in our grief. I especially like the ending of the book how it challenges us to look deep within us, and gives hope.This book leads us to a deeper faith in God and trust. It is a must read for anyone who is grieving the loss of someone you love.

My mother and oldest son were killed in an automobile accident seven months ago. I have read over a dozen books on enduring the loss of a child. This one was the best I have read. It offered such practical advice. I plan to purchase some for gifts for others who have lost children. If you have lost a child, this is one book you definitely need to read.

My husband and I lost our fifth child, Ana-Lauren Gabrielle, when she was 16 mos. old, in 1998. We have both devoured books to help us deal with our indescribable grief and this is one of the best, if not the best, books I have ever read on the subject of child loss to date. It is easy to read and covers the whole spectrum of what we have felt and dealt with personally and gives great advice to those experiencing the same thing and those who are striving to understand what we are feeling and going through. While no two experiences are the same, ever, we certainly felt as though, John and his family had gone deep inside our hearts and heads and expressed what is almost impossible to put into words in an impeccable way.

I found this book by John Bramblett to be the greatest source of help since losing our 11 month old son in July to a very rare and rapid infection. I cannot count the books I've read just since July but this is by far the most honest, encouraging book I have read so far. I finally felt like I was normal. The author tackles the issue head-on and he has helped me tremendously in learning about the grief process. My husband and I are using it as a resource for a teaching on grief in our Sunday School class. I would recommend it for anyone to read. If you have not lost a child, just read it to help others who have lost people that meant the world to them.

Unfortunately, I was given this book as a gift from my best friend, only a few days after my 2 year old son died. When, you are in this situation, books on how to grieve seem to be one of the most popular way to show they care. Out of all the books that were given to me, this is the ONLY one that I read. It has been 5 years now and I still refer back to it from time to time. This was the most sincere and heartfelt book that I have ever read. If you are grieving(or know someone who is )this was (and is) very comforting to me.

Murphey has been successful in grasping many of the different aspects of mental illness and depression in this easy-to-read daily encouragement book. Included in the daily hope are helpful hints and suggestions to enable caregivers. Many of the suggestions could be keys to opening up the minds and souls of the ones needing help due to depression or a mental illness. The book would make a great gift to those who are struggling with the everyday tasks of caring for depressed or mentally ill patients.

This book goes to places in the heart where other resources have not dared to go. The short but packed readings shed light on the real feelings and often unstated questions of those of us who love and care for someone who struggles with depression or mental illness. I don't have to be afraid of my questions or feelings or my own need for support and encouragement. I can face the uncertainties of depression in my loved one with hope. And with God. This is a book that will be a resource I'll keep close at hand and one which I will recommend and give as a gift many times over.

Cecil Murphey has stayed true to his word -- encouragement. Depression and Mental Illness are mysteries that often leave not only the patients, but the caregivers frustrated and lost. This book addresses honest feelings and gives comfort that the feelings we have are often shared with others.

The prayers offer assurance that we are not alone in this journey. Suggestions and experiences offer help and guidance. The list of support groups and resource materials are also quite beneficial.

A blessed treasure to return to often.... and a wonderful gift to share.

When you have a loved one with depression or mental illness all of your attention is focused on them. We easily forget about ourselves. If we do not nurture our own selves, our ability to help our loved ones is deeply affected.

This book and all the books in this series are extremely insightful and will help those who care for someone with depression or mental illness. If your loved one also suffers from Alzheimer's or Addiction we highly recommend Cecil Murphey's other books dealing with these topics.

As I read a page each day, I felt like I was chatting with someone who was walking the path with me. Each daily encouragment covers the varying and conflicting emotions a family member experiences when a loved one has a mental illness.

I used the one-sentence prayers at the end of each reading as a prompt for my own prayers. The prayers helped me to focus on God rather than the mire our family was often in.

"When Someone You Love Suffers from Depression or Mental Illness" is one of those books that the reader wants to return to. It will become dogged-eared as you come back for encouragment.

It is a subject that is hard for most everyone - the death of a child. However, Dr. Komp takes us on a spiritual journey and gives us a look at the lives and deaths of some special children and their experiences with angels and other inspiring encounters.

There are so many moving individual stories inside this book. One that hit read khard had to do with a Jew who lost his daughter in a camp when he was seperated from her by the guards. She was sent to be killed and he went to a forced work detail. He deals with the issues of having let go of her hand and being seperated. That must have been a nightmare for him.

It is a one sitting book to read - you will not put it down and will start and finish in just that one sitting. I cried but not from sadness but out of a spiritual understanding about love and God.

I highly recomemnd this book to buy and read.

I actually cried as I finished this book - not a sad cry, but one that I cannot fully understand or articulate at the moment... That's why I call "A Window to Heaven" "soul stirring" - it did something to me, for me, but I'm not sure just what yet...

In this book, Dr. Diane Komp describes her spiritual journey - from agnostic/atheist (she said she went back & forth between the 2) to someone who truly believes in God. This transformation was due to the special relationships she had with her patients - all children suffering from various forms of cancer - and their families.

Dr. Komp describes several of her patients, and what each of them (and/or their families) realized & taught her - and what they can teach us as well, if we're willing to listen...

She also discusses the problems with today's medical system - where doctors-to-be are taught not to form relationships with their patients, but instead to see each new "case" as just a job to do - as if there was not a HUMAN attached to the disease/injury/issue. I know I've run into this myself, and it's quite disheartening!

Overall, I would highly recommend "A Window to Heaven".

If you are looking for a book to help you with the healing process for a child who died by accident, you may not feel that you can relate to this book. However, her stories of children seeing God and Jesus before they died did bring me a sense of peace, hoping that my little cousin DJ did the same.

I recently lost my brother. He was not a child when he died at the age of 30 but I drew so much from this book. I would recommend this book to anyone who is dealing with the death of a loved one. I realized that my brother was no alone on his journey to Heaven. It's given me peace in my heart.

I first ran across the name of Diane Komp a few years ago in a Christianity Today article -- her name or the article itself did not catch my attention but this excerpt did:

"Today many children with leukemia are cured, but this was not the case when Anna first became sick. Her therapy brought her periods of time when she was disease-free over the five years she received treatment, but she faced the end of her life at age seven. Before she died, she mustered the final energy to sit up in her hospital bed and say: 'The angels - they're so beautiful! Mommy, can you see them? Do you hear their singing? I've never heard such beautiful singing!' Then she laid back on her pillow and died." (p.28) So began the spiritual journey of this doctor, who was self-described as being somewhere between an agnostic and an atheist.

I made a mental note to read this book in the future but quickly forgot about it until few days ago. Subconsciously, as I was preparing for a Pediatric Surgery rotation in October, I remembered Anna's last words. After few searches on Google with "Mommy," "angel," "doctor," and "faith," I found the book again.

I got this book in the mail today and finished reading it in one sitting, in about two hours. (This is rather RARE for me, but the book is rather short, only 113 pages long, and very gripping)

I almost cried several times while reading the book -- not because it was so sad. Does Jesus drive a school bus? I think so. You'll have to read the book ...

When my wife died more than three years ago, I read a lot and attended a number of gried support groups. This book spoke to me more than any other I read at the time. Since that time I have given a copy to about a dozen friends who have suffered a tragic loss -- either a spouse, child or parent. The response from the others is the same as mine. It is a powerful, meaningful, and comforting book. Miller uses his full range of talents -- minister, grief counselor, and photographer -- to bring together a wonderful book. The reader is comforted with the context for loss he provides. I can't recommend it strongly enough.

Winter Grief, Summer Grace: Returning to Life After a Loved One Dies (Miller, James E., Willowgreen Series.)
I first became familiar with this book following my husband's death 16 years ago. Like the seasons of the year, this book follows the seasons following a death, beginning with Autumn (the "fall" from peace), and progressing through Winter (a "harsh" time), Spring (with its "fragile beginnings") and into Summer (the worst having been dealt with; a time when hope for new life can develop within you). Unlike the seasons of the year which ends in 365 days, the seasons of grief take as long as is necessary for each individual person. Like the year, each of which is different, the year(s) following the death of a loved one will each be different, but with time will become easier to handle. Each "season" is to be read when you are ready to move a little further along in your grief journey and offers quotes, Scripture readings, helpful diagogue, and is followed with helpful suggestions for each stage of grief. I found comfort from reading this book and following some of the suggested means of support. This has been an excellent gift to grieving friends who have been so positive in their acceptance of the book. Of my large collection of books dealing with grief, I found this to be the most useful in offering me concrete ways to lead me in a healthy way to overcome my grief and to restore me to a life of new and enjoyable beginnings.

I have sent this book to various people who have lost a loved one and in all cases they were most appreciative. I received this book from my daughter after my husband passed away and read it many, many times as I found consolation in the message.

This little book was given to me about 2 months after my husband died 10 years ago. It is tremendously helpful in coming to grips with grief. Although there are some spiritual passages, it is not a religious book. It focuses your thinking, as well as citing some positive things things to do. Over this decade I have given away many, many copies to grieving friends. It is always most welcome and appreciated.

A friend gave this book to me shortly after I lost my 21-year-old son in a car accident. This book really helped me realize I am not alone in my grief. The emotions listed in the book were exactly what I was feeling! I couldn't believe an author could capture the essence of my pain like that. The action items were also very helpful. I have since purchased this book for others who are grieving. I would highly recommend this book!

I was one of those kids in Southwood. Wow does this book bring it back and now it all makes sense to me.

Christy Scheck did not have to die. The mental health system is getting better but there is so far to go. Especially in the eyes of the public. People with mental illness are not lepers, they just need medicine as a diabetic needs insulin. The general public is so ill-informed. This book is about this young girl who got caught up in the protocol of management and money and greed, and she did not have to die. There is hope and with movies like A Beautiful Mind and Girl, Interrupted and others, like Mike Wallace and Kim Basinger to bring mental health to the forefront of society, it will not hide behind the doors any longer, and will be dealt with in the dignified manner it deserves.

It's amazing and truly sad what greed and money does to people, at the expense of someone else's life and a families happiness.

i read an article in Roling stone.. it in first paragraph stated the parents took this kid out of soccer coed... or something of that nature.. mostlikely the parents have all to do more with the death as much as the hospitals who take advantage .
i happend to be a honors student in art school no drugs or alchol and recovering frm bulima when my father intended to keep me from school by trying to tell a doctor iwas ill.despite he was told to leave me alone .. the next fifteen years of my life were draged into hospitals on lies and hysteria. i was subject to for no reason .. ect. and drugs and i had nt even suffered depression i was a higly educated and adjsuted happy person till my father began to do this.. he admitted this to but not to doctors my father was a md so it was easy to get away with this . my fahter was also a food aholic and gamblerand sick.. see a movie called terror in the family it goes into the lies parents tell of children and who realy is the sick person...
my life was destroyed by these places and i saw first hand what goes on and parents who realy need the places not kids who ar exposed to sick families dysfunction who are basicly reacting to an illness.....
they realy need to have the parents admitted along side the kid id they do this ...
i was kept sick for 115 years and negelcted of anything i said that would have saved me . as a reslut my life suffered ill from truama.... i saved my own life when i escaped this cycle of doctors looking for insurance. butthe effects of damge it left on my life eventuly despite i live about four to five years very happy super healty like i was before this happened i will now die from thethings that were done to me inthe years i was [mistreated] by this system.....
parents have all todo with this kids death .. if they were functional parents they would not need a shrink . they mighttry communcation and being honest with them self.. somewhere they failed and it is not just the system...

Kafka lives and her name is Leon Bing. But the truly scary thing is that Bing's report on society - "A Wrongful Death: One Child's Fatal Encounter with Public Health and Private Greed" - is NON-FICTION. This could happen to any troubled teen - and it did. But what's even more interesting than how and why this 13 year old girl committed suicide while under professional medical care is how and why this book isn't getting reviewed! Attention authors and investigative journalists everywhere: you may have a story worthy of a Pulitzer or Nobel Prize - but how's it going to effect change if no one reads it?

Yukinobu Hoshino's 2001 Nights is not your average manga.

With precise and detailed drawings, and a tangible indebtedness to Arthur C. Clarke, Hoshino tells in a series of short stories the future of mankind's journey into space. Beginning with a classic Cold War sf story, continuing on with the discovery of life--of sorts--on the moon, and furthering outward to the utmost boundaries of the solar system, Hoshino tells his stories with steadily increasing imagination, pulling the reader gradually from more mundane hard sf to weirdly handled (but very Clarkeian) cosmic and religious issues in the volume's final, lengthy chapter, "Lucifer Rising," which smacks of Clarke's "The Star" as well as Gene Wolfe's "All the Hues of Hell."

Not only are these excellent comics, they are some of the best sf short stories you're likely to read, though Hoshino sometimes plays fast and loose with science if it helps the plot.

Okay, ditto all the other glowing reviews; I normally don't post my opinions unless it's different from others', but this is one of the few times when a product has got me so enthused that I simply must join in the praise. IT'S GREAT!...I got chills all over just like I first did as a kid when it dawned on me how vast the universe could be, and how alone humankind seems in it...I must say, this is quite an effective "twist" on one's usual expectations of Science Fiction, a twist which actually in effect restores the sense of melancholia which a deep, prolonged contemplation of outer space usually seems to instill sooner or later...

[have edited original today 2008 MAR b/c I finally really do realize that even with a spoiler alert people are just going to read on anyway, of course, and get the surprising though very simple ending, which I was commenting about, and that would just totally destroy the beautiful cumulative effect of reading all three volumes to get there, to that beautiful, majestic, haunting, and chilling vision....]

Has Yukinobu Hoshino done any other stuff, I wonder??? Now that I'm "onto him", I'm gonna go look for his other works....

This is an amazing trilogy (read my other 2 reviews of vols. 2 & 3). The below reviews are so accurate to what I want to say, that I won't repeat them. I love this series. It's some of the best sci-fi comics I've ever read. There's an overwhelming sense of vastness to the universe and a sad feeling for mankind in the stories - no matter how far they get in space, it's still not enough - there's no end to the immenseness!
The stories are wonderfully believable and the Japanese artwork is not the `big eyed', Hello Kitty stuff one comes to expect of manga.
Whoever decided to translate this series for America should be given an award for recognition of intelligent comic work. It's that good. I've read the 3 books several times and they're wonderful with each read.
Each volume ends with an epic tale. Volume 1 has "Lucifer" which is a great concept of an anti-matter universe which may be responsible for the Big Bang theory. Great stuff. Get these books - they're wonderful. This is the way comics should be done!

I bought this book in the spring while I was in college studying comics. When you read so many comics, even the good ones seem to go pale. This graphic novel made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. With mature visuals and sensitive writing Yukinobu Hoshino sows accurately the vastness of the universe and the importance of human destiny within it and beyond it. The occasional over-explaining takes away very little in this epic. A great read by anyone's standards; comics fan or not.

2001: A Space Odyssey is one of my favorite movies for its detailed and believable vision of a future that is still largely unrealized. I was pleasantly surprised to see Yukinobu Hoshino pay homage to Kubrick's visual style throughout much of 2001 Nights, in scenes that were recognizably inspired by the film. The skillfully-rendered black-and-white panels throughout the book are evocative of the silence and vastness of space, yet the human characters are drawn with grace and style, without the occasional cartoonish facial expressions that mar other manga I've read. This stylistic discipline helps to keep the work focused and believable.

Aside from the fantastic artwork, the author lays out a sweeping story of humankind's quest to find its destiny beyond Earth, told in a series of time-separated vignettes. He touches upon issues of cooperation, isolation, exploration, greed and even religion -- and manages to pull this off without becoming trite.

It's pretty tough to describe in words something that is so visually distinctive and compelling. I originally ordered this book on a whim, but it has just blown me away.

I actually had the extreme fortune of working with Hollie at the local grocery store in Madison, MS in the early 90's and I found out about her death when I was at home visiting from college in ATL. I was mortified to find out that she was killed and even more so that anybody would do that to her. She was THE most caring, honest and funniest person I've ever known. She was amazing! I can only imagine the pain it is for Mr. Calhoun father to write such an in-depth account on the loss of not only his daughter, but Hollie, as a person. I didn't believe it was about her until I saw her picture on the inside flap cover. This book doesn't even convey how good a person Hollie really was and its even more heartbreaking for me because I really knew her. A phrase that Hollie would say everytime she was right about something, "Thank you for playing!" I still use it today.

I found 400 Hours to be an extremely poignant and gut wrenching story.The authors pain was horrific.I came away feeling that I knew the entire family and had somehow gone through the entire grieving process with them.It's all there.The author made it easy to read by weaving in and out of the various family members and how they each came to grips with the loss of Hollie.I highly recommend this book.

With this book you really feel the pain of Hollies family and the agony they went through during her disapearance and eventual recovery.I really felt like I got to know who Holly really was.

A couraageous writing by a father concerning the life and death of his daughter. He writes of the heart-wrenching path and details of finding out about her kidnap and murder. Through an enlighting look at the process involved in this personal case he gives us all an upclose view of police investigating. The reader acutely experiences the process and shares in the Calhouns nightmare, while also having the privelege of getting to know Hollie.

I lost my brother in an accidental gunshot incident many years ago. That was horrific enough but couple that with murder and abduction and hours of not knowing and you have a true nightmare. This is a rare man who is able to reveal his innermost private feelings about the loss of his daughter. One reels as he describes the numbness, disorientation, and "inappropriate" acting out behaviors which run the gamut of emotions which he experienced. This book inevitably triggers one's own feelings about the out-of-body fog that accompanies the loss of a loved one. He knows correctly that it will never be over, his pain merely gradually muted a little more as each year passes. The sense of disbelief and wondering what might have been will never go away. Rather than being a downer, this book refreshes with its honesty.

This is an amazing book which addresses issues you are either facing or may be facing in the future. The book offers insight from women who know from experience what to expect when you are faced with the unexpected- the loss of a husband through death or divorce. They bring honesty, humor and reality to a painful but very real life circumstance. I have given this book to family and friends with the assurance that I have done them a great kindness by sharing Barbara and Donnette's wisdom. I highly recommed this book to all women in all circumstances based on the knowledge that nothing in our lives stays the same.

It's comforting to know where to turn for answers to so many questions. I'm impressed with the authors' thoroughness and depth of research. Thank you, Barb and Donnette!

It is terrible to loose one you love. This book is full of good advice and better than any other I have seen on the subject. Thank you Barbara and Donnette Jan Huey

This is an amazing book which addresses issues you are either facing or may be facing in the future. The book offers insight from women who know from experience what to expect when you are faced with the unexpected- the loss of a husband through death or divorce. They bring honesty, humor and reality to a painful but very real life circumstance. I have given this book to family and friends with the assurance that I have done them a great kindness by sharing Barbara and Donnette's wisdom. I highly recommed this book to all women in all circumstances based on the knowledge that nothing in our lives stays the same.

I wish this book had been available when my husband died in 1982! It would have made things so much easier then, but the information is helpful to me as a widow even now. I bought two books ... one for me and one for my home town library. Alice Peterson, Keystone Heights, FL