Here are 100 books that Departing in Peace fans have personally recommended if you like Departing in Peace. Book DNA is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Heaven: A Comprehensive Guide to Everything the Bible Says About Our Eternal Home

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage Author Of Preparing for Glory: Biblical Answers to 40 Questions on Living and Dying in Hope of Heaven

From my list on preparing practically for the end of life.

Why am I passionate about this?

When my mother died at age 83, I became executor of her estate. When our son was diagnosed with a brain tumor at age 22 and went through four brain surgeries in nine months, I acted as his caregiver while also caring for my father, who was dying from cancer. As a Christian, I wanted to learn what the Bible taught me about the hope of Heaven, leaving a legacy (my mother made it easier to be her executor by organizing her essential information), caregiving, and aging wisely. As an author, life, and legacy coach, and speaker, I love sharing the hope, peace, and comfort I gained through these resources. 

Elizabeth's book list on preparing practically for the end of life

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage Why Elizabeth loves this book

Everything I ever wanted to know about Heaven but didn’t know to ask! Whereas my book attempts to answer questions about Heaven in brief, readable meditations, Alcorn’s book is, as the title suggests, comprehensive. Listening to this book brought me great comfort as I grieved my mother’s death, and I knew I needed to have a copy to keep in my library. 

By Randy Alcorn ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Heaven as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Over 1 Million Copies Sold!

Have you ever wondered . . . ? What is Heaven really going to be like? What will we look like? What will we do every day? Won’t Heaven get boring after a while?We all have questions about what Heaven will be like, and after twenty-five years of extensive research, Dr. Randy Alcorn has the answers.

In the most comprehensive and definitive book on Heaven to date, Randy invites you to picture Heaven the way Scripture describes it—a bright, vibrant, and physical New Earth, free from sin, suffering, and death, and brimming with Christ’s presence,…


If you love Departing in Peace...

Book cover of These Blue Mountains

These Blue Mountains by Sarah Loudin Thomas,

A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…

Book cover of Creating a Spiritual Legacy: How to Share Your Stories, Values, and Wisdom

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage Author Of Preparing for Glory: Biblical Answers to 40 Questions on Living and Dying in Hope of Heaven

From my list on preparing practically for the end of life.

Why am I passionate about this?

When my mother died at age 83, I became executor of her estate. When our son was diagnosed with a brain tumor at age 22 and went through four brain surgeries in nine months, I acted as his caregiver while also caring for my father, who was dying from cancer. As a Christian, I wanted to learn what the Bible taught me about the hope of Heaven, leaving a legacy (my mother made it easier to be her executor by organizing her essential information), caregiving, and aging wisely. As an author, life, and legacy coach, and speaker, I love sharing the hope, peace, and comfort I gained through these resources. 

Elizabeth's book list on preparing practically for the end of life

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage Why Elizabeth loves this book

Everyone has a story to share, and that story matters! For the past twenty-five years, I have been helping people tell their stories, and I like using this book because Taylor doesn’t overcomplicate it. He believes every person can share their “spiritual legacy”—that is, their “non-material” legacy, whether it is a story, letter, blessing, or something else. As I coach people in sharing their spiritual legacy, I often use the simple and accessible exercises from this book. 

By Daniel Taylor ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Creating a Spiritual Legacy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

We establish wills to pass on our possessions and property to family members and friends, but what about the things that really matter: our values, beliefs, wisdom, and stories? Those are the things of lasting significance, the things that make up a spiritual legacy. Daniel Taylor, a heralded teacher, bestselling author of Letters to My Children (over 50,000 sold), and a proven master of preserving spiritual legacies, shows how anyone--not just professional authors or those who consider themselves creative--can preserve and pass on their vision of life.

No matter what age or stage of life you're in, creating a spiritual…


Book cover of Aging with Grace: Flourishing in an Anti-Aging Culture

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage Author Of Preparing for Glory: Biblical Answers to 40 Questions on Living and Dying in Hope of Heaven

From my list on preparing practically for the end of life.

Why am I passionate about this?

When my mother died at age 83, I became executor of her estate. When our son was diagnosed with a brain tumor at age 22 and went through four brain surgeries in nine months, I acted as his caregiver while also caring for my father, who was dying from cancer. As a Christian, I wanted to learn what the Bible taught me about the hope of Heaven, leaving a legacy (my mother made it easier to be her executor by organizing her essential information), caregiving, and aging wisely. As an author, life, and legacy coach, and speaker, I love sharing the hope, peace, and comfort I gained through these resources. 

Elizabeth's book list on preparing practically for the end of life

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage Why Elizabeth loves this book

We all need stories of real women aging wisely and well, and Betters, who is in her seventies, and Hunt, who is in her eighties, live and tell vibrant and inspiring stories. I love the way they share biblical examples of women who aged with grace and real-life examples. This book makes me want to honor older women and to become an honorable older woman. 

By Sharon W. Betters , Susan Hunt ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Aging with Grace as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Today's culture marginalizes old age, often portraying it as burdensome and hopeless. Here is a book that presents examples of women who have found joy in the passing of time as they age with grace-finding fulfillment in their enjoyment of God.


If you love William Clifford Davis...

Book cover of Coyote Weather

Coyote Weather by Amanda Cockrell,

Coyote weather is the feral, hungry season, drought-stricken, and ready to catch fire. It’s 1967, and the American culture is violently remaking itself while the country is forcibly sending its young men to fight in a deeply unpopular war.

Jerry has stubbornly made no plans for the future because he…

Book cover of Who Cares for You?: A 4 Week Bible Study for Caregivers

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage Author Of Preparing for Glory: Biblical Answers to 40 Questions on Living and Dying in Hope of Heaven

From my list on preparing practically for the end of life.

Why am I passionate about this?

When my mother died at age 83, I became executor of her estate. When our son was diagnosed with a brain tumor at age 22 and went through four brain surgeries in nine months, I acted as his caregiver while also caring for my father, who was dying from cancer. As a Christian, I wanted to learn what the Bible taught me about the hope of Heaven, leaving a legacy (my mother made it easier to be her executor by organizing her essential information), caregiving, and aging wisely. As an author, life, and legacy coach, and speaker, I love sharing the hope, peace, and comfort I gained through these resources. 

Elizabeth's book list on preparing practically for the end of life

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage Why Elizabeth loves this book

I am frequently asked about the best way to support caregivers, and I usually recommend this compact little book. Bondurant, a former caregiver of her young daughter, knows caregivers need brief readings and helpful journaling questions. This little book can be used in a group or individually.

I love how Bondurant draws caregivers to the comfort that Jesus cares for them as they care for their loved ones. I am thankful for a book I can confidently recommend to caregivers because it delivers on the “comfort” Jesus offers and they desperately need. 

By Marissa Bondurant ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Who Cares for You? as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In all my caregiving, who is caring for me?

That’s the question this Bible study invites us to ponder. Most caregivers experience anxiety, fear, frustration, loneliness, and exhaustion. In their caregiving, they wonder who will refresh their souls.

In this four-weekBible study designed for all types of caregivers, including those who have a special needs child, an aging parent, or a chronically ill spouse, you’ll take comfort in Jesus’ personal encounters with caregivers and discover how God is empowering you to care for your loved one.

In Who Cares for You? you’ll:

Discover how Jesus meets your needs in seasons…


Book cover of A Beginner's Guide to the End: Practical Advice for Living Life and Facing Death

Susannah Fox Author Of Rebel Health: A Field Guide to the Patient-Led Revolution in Medical Care

From my list on defend yourself U.S. health care system.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m not a clinician, but friends often ask for my advice when they get sick or need help caring for a loved one. I’ve spent nearly 25 years mapping the terrain created by innovative patients, survivors, and caregivers, the rebels of medical care. I’m also a caregiver to elders. Along the way, I’ve collected books to loan when someone facing a health challenge asks me, “What do I do now?” Each of these five books was written for when you find yourself in the healthcare maze and need to borrow courage, sharpen your senses, and navigate as best you can.

Susannah's book list on defend yourself U.S. health care system

Susannah Fox Why Susannah loves this book

My mom and I are competing to see who can give away more copies of this book; we love it that much. Both of us have been bedside caregivers for dying relatives and have seen firsthand how beautiful that process can be if people are prepared.

I love how the book is designed with nice, large print, lovely illustrations, and little snacks of insight sprinkled throughout in boxes and “fast facts.” This book is the essential What to Expect When You’re Expecting–but for death.

By Bj Miller , Shoshana Berger ,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked A Beginner's Guide to the End as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

“A gentle, knowledgeable guide to a fate we all share” (The Washington Post): the first and only all-encompassing action plan for the end of life.

“There is nothing wrong with you for dying,” hospice physician B.J. Miller and journalist and caregiver Shoshana Berger write in A Beginner’s Guide to the End. “Our ultimate purpose here isn’t so much to help you die as it is to free up as much life as possible until you do.”

Theirs is a clear-eyed and big-hearted action plan for approaching the end of life, written to help readers feel more in control of…


Book cover of Vision in White

Jemi Fraser Author Of Pick Your Spot

From my list on small-town, found-family romances.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always lived in a small city in Northern Ontario (Canada) that is surrounded by smaller towns and even smaller villages. I’m a first-generation Canadian who grew up without extended family any closer than Scotland. I’ve learned first-hand how wonderful found families can be. Once I started writing, I was drawn to happy endings and small-town settings where everyone knows your business but has your back too. I hope you enjoy these small-town recommendations as much as I do. Here’s to small towns, found families, and happy endings!

Jemi's book list on small-town, found-family romances

Jemi Fraser Why Jemi loves this book

This is a comfort read for me. While it was published a while ago, this series is all about love, family (blood and otherwise), comfort, and friendship.

Four lifelong friends form Vows, a wedding destination and planning business. Vows is like the small towns I love so much. In this book, Mackensie and Carter stumble around each other until they realize the differences don’t matter when hearts fall in love.

The found family vibe of the four friends and their extended families fills me up every time I read.

By Nora Roberts ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Vision in White as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

#1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts presents her first trade original-a novel of love, friendship, and family-in this beautiful french flap edition of Book One in the Bride Quartet.

Wedding photographer Mackensie "Mac" Elliot is most at home behind the camera, but her focus is shattered moments before an important wedding rehearsal when she bumps into the bride-to-be's brother...an encounter that has them both seeing stars.

A stable, safe English teacher, Carter Maguire is definitely not Mac's type. But a casual fling might be just what she needs to take her mind off bridezillas. Of course, casual flings…


If you love Departing in Peace...

Book cover of Temple of Dreams: A Novel of Now and Then

Temple of Dreams by Carolyn Mathews,

Homeless following the death of his adoptive parents in a car crash and the subsequent loss of their farm tenancy, Seb decides to enrol as a residential student at the Asklepios Foundation, a College of Natural Medicine, boasting a sanctuary modelled on an ancient Greek healing temple. Spending a night…

Book cover of It Starts with One: Changing Individuals Changes Organizations

Justin G. Gravitt Author Of The Foundation of a Disciplemaking Culture: Building a Core Team to Awaken a Movement

From my list on build a Christian disciple making culture.

Why am I passionate about this?

Making disciples is the hardest, most rewarding ministry I’ve ever experienced! For the past ten years, I’ve been helping pastors and church leaders make disciples and build a disciple-making culture in their churches. I know the challenges each of these things brings, and I’ve read books that teach others how to do them. However, most of these books focus on the big picture and never get into the weeds about how to do it. My goal with this list is to give you books to help you learn how to make disciples and build a disciple-making culture. 

Justin's book list on build a Christian disciple making culture

Justin G. Gravitt Why Justin loves this book

Changing the culture of any organization is a huge challenge. Black is an expert in culture change who teaches others how to do it in the business and non-profit world. This book is full of insights born from Black’s experience.

From the start, he explains how change works, why we often get it wrong, and what’s required to make real change and make it last. The book is organized around the main barriers to change and the solutions to those barriers. This book is focused, clearly written, and full of illustrations and tools.

It’s an easy 10 out of 10 for me because it helped me develop an internal framework of how change works and how to lead others through the change process. 

By J. Stewart Black , Hal Gregersen ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked It Starts with One as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"PROVOCATIVE, PRACTICAL, POWERFUL!"

-Stephen R. Covey, Author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

"For any executive, this is an excellent roadmap for leading strategic change!"

-Bill Marriott, Chairman and CEO, Marriott International, Inc.

"Finally a book that gets it right. Organizations don't change.
People change. It Starts with One gives extremely practical tools to make real change happen."

-Jack Zenger, Author of The Extraordinary Leader and CEO and Co-founder of Zenger|Folkman

"All successful businesses accept the need for change. It Starts with One steers the reader through the complexities of modern leadership and delivers a…


Book cover of Blown to Bits: How the New Economics of Information Transforms Strategy

Niraj Dawar Author Of Tilt: Shifting Your Strategy from Products to Customers

From my list on marketing strategy.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have taught marketing strategy to MBAs and Executives at Business Schools and companies around the world, and have consulted for major companies in financial services, consumer packaged goods, software, and others for over three decades. Some of my Harvard Business Review articles are among the review’s bestsellers, and my book on marketing strategy, TILT: Shifting Your Strategy from Products to Customers, received the best business book award in 2014. I run a marketing strategy consultancy at Brand Strategy Group with clients on three continents. 

Niraj's book list on marketing strategy

Niraj Dawar Why Niraj loves this book

This book described the economics of the internet age as the web was taking off. It remains a classic in that it not only predicted many of the transformations that were to play out on the web, including social media, and it continues to be useful as a template for predicting the coming transformations that will be wrought by Web3 and Blockchain.

By Philip Evans , Thomas S. Wurster ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Blown to Bits as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Richness or reach? The trade-off used to be simple but absolute: your business strategy either could focus on 'rich' information - customized products and services tailored to a niche audience - or could reach out to a larger market, but with watered-down information that sacrificed richness in favor of a broad, general appeal. Much of business strategy as we know it today rests on this fundamental trade-off. Now, say Evans and Wurster, the new economics of information is eliminating the trade-off between richness and reach, blowing apart the foundations of traditional business strategy. "Blown to Bits" reveals how the spread…


Book cover of The Long View: Why We Need to Transform How the World Sees Time

Akshat Rathi Author Of Climate Capitalism: Winning the Race to Zero Emissions and Solving the Crisis of Our Age

From my list on crash course in our climate choices.

Why am I passionate about this?

Typically, climate journalists share stories of disastrous extreme weather events made more extreme by climate change. But over the past decade, I’ve discovered that every sector of the economy and every country on the planet that I’ve had the privilege to explore has people working on climate solutions. Crucially, in many places, these are now working at scale. 

Akshat's book list on crash course in our climate choices

Akshat Rathi Why Akshat loves this book

This is the one book that explains why humans have become poor at understanding the passage of time and how we can change fast to plan for a shared future.

“Living in the age we do, we have never before had such leverage to shape the trajectory of the future, with so little collective recognition of that fact,” writes Richard Fisher. 

By Richard Fisher ,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Long View as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'A beautifully turned, calmly persuasive but urgent book' IAN MCEWAN

'A landmark book that could help to build a much brighter future' DAVID ROBSON

A wide-ranging and thought-provoking exploration of the importance of long-term thinking.

Humans are unique in our ability to understand time, able to comprehend the past and future like no other species. Yet modern-day technology and capitalism have supercharged our short-termist tendencies and trapped us in the present, at the mercy of reactive politics, quarterly business targets and 24-hour news cycles.

It wasn't always so. In medieval times, craftsmen worked on cathedrals that would be unfinished in…


If you love William Clifford Davis...

Book cover of Marriage and Fatherhood in the Nazi SS

Marriage and Fatherhood in the Nazi SS by Amy Carney,

When I was writing this book, several of my friends jokingly called it the Nazi baby book, with one insisting it would make a great title. Nazi Babies – admittedly, that is a catchy title, but that’s not exactly what my book is about. SS babies would be slightly more…

Book cover of Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time

Jordan Yin Author Of Urban Planning For Dummies

From my list on planning livable cities from the bottom up.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m an urban planner and educator who is fascinated not just by cities and the experience of place, but also by the ideas and actions that go on “behind the scenes” in the planning of cities. Almost all US cities are guided by some sort of local plan and, while no plan is perfect, my hope is always that inclusive planning can help communities solve their problems to make any place a better place. I was raised in Cleveland, Ohio, and have lived mostly in the eastern US – from Michigan to Alabama – where I'm constantly intrigued by the everyday “nooks and crannies” of the places and communities where I live, work, and play.

Jordan's book list on planning livable cities from the bottom up

Jordan Yin Why Jordan loves this book

Cities have become more pedestrian-friendly over the last decade and Jeff Speck’s book is one of the reasons for this movement. Walkability saves lives, promotes a sense of community, and makes places more sustainable. Speck’s guide to “Ten Steps of Walkability” is an instant classic in the practice of urban planning with approachable ideas such as “mixing uses” and “getting parking right” that can help bridge the gap between activists, politicians, and developers to work together improve any community.

By Jeff Speck ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Walkable City as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Jeff Speck has dedicated his career to determining what makes cities thrive, and he has boiled it down to one key factor: walkability. The very idea of a modern metropolis evokes visions of bustling sidewalks, vital mass transit, and a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly urban core. But in the typical American city, the car is still king and downtown is a place that's easy to drive to but often not worth arriving at. Making walkability happen is relatively easy and cheap; seeing exactly what needs to be done is the trick. In this essential book, Speck reveals the invisible workings of the…


Book cover of Heaven: A Comprehensive Guide to Everything the Bible Says About Our Eternal Home
Book cover of Creating a Spiritual Legacy: How to Share Your Stories, Values, and Wisdom
Book cover of Aging with Grace: Flourishing in an Anti-Aging Culture

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