TLC Book Tour: Modern Loss

Modern Loss is perhaps not one would think of as an uplifting read. However, at some point in time all of us will experience losing someone we care about.  Just reading the introduction to this book sucked me in.  

For me, Soffer and Birkner hit on what it felt like to have no one really understand what you are going through.  My dad has Alzheimers and has spent the past six years in a nursing home.  When he was first diagnosed, my mom tried various support groups.  But because he was so young, everyone else at these groups was from her parents' generation. She really didn't feel like they understood what she was going through.  They had had some good retirement years.  She and my dad had none.  Anyway,  the support group thing wasn't very helpful for her.  She wanted to talk to someone in her age bracket that was going through the same thing.  Soffer and Brikner provide plenty of people who really do "get it."  

In Modern Loss we get to hear from a collection of authors who have lost someone and share their experiences.

The stories/chapters aren't particularly long, and are organized by topic. Although I did read several in one sitting, this is not necessarily a book that I would tell readers to breeze through. I've been reading a few each day now for a week, and still have a few left to go before I finish all of this book. 

There are many things I appreciate in Modern Loss. First off, I think this book will appeal to younger readers who are experiencing loss.  I'm not sure that I've seen another book geared toward this demographic about the same topic, yet it is something that many young people do experience.

It's written in a way that's entertaining and thoughtful.  There are some illustrations by Peter Arkle sprinkled throughout that give this book a little bit of a lighter feel.  Every chapter I've read provides me with a story that is interesting (and sad) and leaves me glad I read it. I appreciate learning from others' first-hand experiences and the honesty in each of their stories.  

This is a book I will be holding onto. Modern Loss is something that can be turned to time and again to read and re-read. 

Thanks to TLC Book Tours for providing a copy of this book for my review. All opinions expressed are, as always, my own.

For more information, please visit the HarperCollins website.