There is something about a New England summer that invites us to slow down. It may be the gentle sway of a rocking chair on the front porch, the familiar creak of a weathered dock reaching into a quiet lake, or the sound of children laughing somewhere down the street. It might be a cool evening after a hot July day, when the windows are open, a soft breeze drifts through the house, and the only thing on the calendar is watching the sun slip below the horizon just a little later than it did yesterday. Summer has a way of reminding us that not every moment needs to be filled. Sometimes, it is simply enough to sit, to breathe, and to be.

Summer has always been a season for reading. A favorite chair on the deck. A hammock beneath an old maple tree. A blanket at the beach. A book tucked into a carry-on bag for a long-awaited vacation. Yet if you are grieving, the simple act of reading can feel surprisingly difficult. Concentration comes and goes. The mind wanders. You may read the same page three times before realizing you have not absorbed a single word. Sometimes one sentence opens the floodgates of memory. That is okay. Books do not take grief away but can remind us that we are not walking this road alone. Sometimes a page offers understanding. Sometimes it offers hope or simply gives us permission to cry or to smile again.

At Miles Funeral Home, we have learned something from the families we have been privileged to serve over the years. Healing does not happen on a timetable. It happens in small moments. A walk around the neighborhood. A conversation with a friend. A grandchild's hug. A quiet cup of coffee in the early morning. And sometimes, on the pages of a meaningful book. If you are looking for a book companion this summer, here are some that grieving hearts have found helpful.

It is OK That You're Not OK by Megan Devine has become a modern classic because it offers the permissions grieving people desperately need. Permission not to have all the answers, not to "get over it." Devine helps the griever discover that grief is not something to fix but to carry with love.

Not every day has room for an entire chapter.

Healing After Loss by Martha Whitmore Hickman offers short daily reflections to read over a morning cup of coffee or before bed. Sometimes a single page is enough to steady your heart for the day ahead or let the day go.

When C. S. Lewis lost his beloved wife, he wrote A Grief Observed. For spousal loss, it is honest and powerful. He writes about questions, anger, faith, and love with remarkable candor. Sixty years later, readers still find comfort in knowing someone else has walked through those same difficult emotions.

"I can't remember things." "I can't focus." "I feel exhausted all the time." The truth is that grief affects both the heart and the brain. The Grieving Brain by Mary-Frances O'Connor explains why these experiences are so common. Understanding what grief is doing inside us often brings a surprising sense of peace.

Not every meaningful book about grief is actually about grief. The Book of Joy, written by the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Douglas Abrams, reminds us that joy is not the absence of sorrow. It is something that slowly finds its way back into our lives, often walking hand in hand with our memories.

If poetry is more your language, as it is mine, try All the Honey by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer. This anthology of poems written in memory of her deceased son and father includes poems that speak to every movement of the grief journey.

There is no summer reading challenge for the grieving heart. No prize for finishing six books. No deadline for healing. On a certain day you will read an entire chapter; others you will read only a paragraph. Sometimes a book will stay closed beside you while you watch the cardinals at the feeder, listen to the evening crickets, or simply remember someone whose absence still feels impossibly large. That, too, is part of healing. Books do not erase grief. But they can become gentle companions, reminding us that others have walked this road before, that our feelings are not unusual, and that love continues long after a life has ended.

Miles Funeral Home maintains a small lending library of books on grief, healing, caregiving, and hope. If you would like to borrow a book, stop by our Holden location. There is no cost, no obligation, and no timeline for returning books. We know the need and believe that good books should be shared. Whether you leave with a book, a conversation, or simply a quiet moment, know that our door is always open.

Sometimes healing begins not with finding the answers, but in discovering someone has found the words.