Helpful Book Reviews!



Here's a picture of Candy surrounded
by her beautiful daughters!

     Today I get to share with you some of the books that Candy has found beneficial in her walk through widowhood. (Out of the five beautiful ladies in the picture, she's the one in the middle).

     Candy's husband, mother and father all died within months of each other from November 2009 to March 2010. On Facebook she shares how she never would have believed that she could deal with the challenges resulting from those losses, but with the Lord's help and her daughters . . . she's still here! :) 

      It has been a real privilege for me to get to know her a little bit, and I look forward to a growing friendship with her! 

      I'm planning to turn this post into a stand-alone page so it's always easily accessible to the hundreds of people who visit this blog every month. If you have books you'd like to recommend, please let me know. Next week we'll hear from author Sandra Aldrich, and add some of her books to this list, too.

REVIEWS OF BOOKS FOR WIDOWS AND THEIR FAMILIES

by Candy Feathers

(all of these books are written by widows)

FROM ONE WIDOW TO ANOTHER by Miriam Neff – This is the first book that I would recommend for a new widow and her family to read. It’s a resource book that really gives you guidance in all of the immediate things that you are going to be dealing with. It gives you the know how to do them as well as what you need to watch out for. It’s a book that is easy to digest in those first foggy months.

HOW TO HELP A GRIEIVING FRIEND by Stephanie Grace Whitson – This book really gives others some insight as to just how a widow is feeling and what she needs from her friends and family.

THE WIDOW’S MIGHT by Jan Thompson – This book is an easy read for a widow. It is basically a journal written by a widow of the first year of her life after the loss of her husband. It confirms that all the emotions that you are feeling are very normal.

STRAIGHT FROM A WIDOW’S HEART by Mildred E. Krentel – This book is written by a widow whose husband had a prolonged illness. It’s written from the perspective of a care giver as well as a woman after the loss of her husband.

GRACE FOR THE WIDOW: A JOURNEY THROUGH THE FOG OF LOSS by Joyce Rogers – This book is especially good for widows that were married to a man in the ministry. Joyce became a pastor’s wife at the age of 18 and that’s all she had ever known. She was married for 54 years. The chapters are short and the book is an easy one to read without feeling overwhelmed with information.

REFLECTIONS OF A GRIEVING SPOUSE by H. Norman Wright – Even though this book is written by a widower, it affirms all of the feelings and emotions, grief triggers, and melt downs that a spouse experiences. The chapters are short and designed for easy reading.

LET ME GRIEVE BUT NOT FOREVER by Verdell Davis – Verdell had always prayed that she and her husband would die together at the same time because she did not think that she could ever live without him. Her entire identity was wrapped up in her husband who was in the ministry. She very honestly shares the emptiness, the questions and the fears that plaqued her in her grief journey. She tells of the hope that anchored her soul when there was no desire to go on living.

RICHES STORED IN SECRET PLACES by Verdell Davis - This book somewhat repeats Verdell’s story of loss in her first book LET ME GRIEVE BUT NOT FOREVER but also tells of the riches that came out of her grief journey and how she chose to live again.

REAWAKENING TO LIFE: RENEWAL AFTER A HUSBAND’S DEATH by Mary Ellen Berry & Carmen Renee Berry – This book is co-written by a widow and her daughter. She talks from the perspective of a wife and husband who believed that God was going to heal him and how her faith was shattered when God didn’t. “Holding on to the belief that God will heal our husbands may actually rob us of the opportunity to say what still needs to be said before time runs out.”

WIDOW FOR A SEASON: FINDING YOUR IDENTITY IN CHRIST by Kristine Pappas – This book deals with the question “What does it mean to really trust God after the loss of our husbands?” It is written to for widows struggling to seek healing and emotional recovery and to help them find their identity in Christy.

SINGLED OUT FOR GOD’S ASSIGNMENT: A WIDOW’S VALLEY OF LEARNING by Leona Choy – This book is one that only a widow who is ready to accept the death of her husband should read. It would be too much for a new widow to read because of the way that it is written. One part that I most appreciated was that Leona thought because she was a Christian that God wanted her to hurry toward adjustment. As a result, she didn’t allow herself to grieve for the first two years after the loss of her husband. She had to go back to the beginning of her grief journey and begin again. She stresses that this is NOT the way a widow should go. Leona doesn’t hesitate to probe deep feelings and wrestle with hard questions.

THE TENDER SCAR by Richard L. Mabry (widower) – This book is taken from the journals Richard wrote after his wife passed away. He really validates all the emotions and grief that a spouse feels as he shares his emotions and situations that he encountered.