Standing in the Circle of Grief: Prayers and Liturgies for Death and Dying Book

As a librarian, I know that every public library needs to have a wide range of reading material. There are lots of different readers and the library should have something for everyone. I also know that readers should never apologize for their reading tastes. I do not feel shame, guilt or anything else because I read romances. I love them and will continue to read them. I hope that all readers read what they want, not what others tell them to read.

However, I have also believed that it is hard to widen someone's reading tastes. For example, I have yet to find a western novel that interests me. When I was leading our Readers' Advisory workshops, it was very rare that someone encountered a new genre that they continued to read after our classes. This is not a problem, just a statement of what I have experienced.

So I have to say, I picked this book up with a great deal of trepidation. I only knew Baumbich through her Dearest Dorothy novels and they never appealed to me. I can't give you a good reason, they just didn't. However, this book was exactly what I needed at this moment and I am grateful to Baumbich for writing it.

I am five months into my retirement. I have mixed feelings about why I retired and how my time is going. For the most part, I am having a blast. Baumbich reminded me that life is good, that humor is helpful, that I am not in control, that my assumptions could be wrong and other aspects of living as a human.

Baumbich is not saying anything new, I have heard all this before from many people in many ways. However, I am very taken with the way Baumbich writes. This book was, for me the right book at the right time. Thank goodness for the serendipity that put it in my hands now.

If you have read anything by Baumbich, I suspect you will enjoy this also. If you are looking for a pick-me-up, I recommend the first chapter. You can decide after that if these stories and insights are what you are looking for.