Don't Let Death Ruin Your Life: A Practical Guide to Reclaiming Happiness After the Death of a Loved One

The title of this book is something of a misnomer. While Brooke, a parenting columnist for the New York Daily News and former CNN correspondent, does include some information about coming to grips with the death of close friend or family member, she also focuses quite a bit on what to do before people die to ensure their memory. Presented is guidance on how to videotape interviews with elderly family members, write love letters to express feelings before it's too late, and get the best possible family pictures. Brooke also stresses the importance of preparing wills and preplanning funerals. This scattershot approach gets bewildering; although chapters are devoted to one topic, Brooke goes off on tangents within those chapters. For example, she jarringly inserts a paragraph on how to remember loved ones in the middle of a discussion on the death rituals of different cultures. A marginal purchase for public libraries.