Episode · The Daily Stoic · 2026-10-30
Books mentioned on If We Were Dying, It Would Be Easier | What Grief Teaches Us About Being Alive
If only we could, as Marcus Aurelius said, let everything we do and say be that of a dying person, then we would get so much more right. Kate Bowler is a four-time New York Times bestselling author, award-winning podcast host, and professor of religious history at Duke University.
Ryan Holiday recommended Blue Nights by Joan Didion, Everything Happens for a Reason by Kate Bowler, and Everything Happens for a Reason and Other Lies I've Loved by Kate Bowler, and discussed Consolations from a Stoic.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Consolations from a Stoic
Discussed“Seneca writes a series of essays called Consolations. In one case, it's him consoling his mother over the loss of him.”
Where to get it
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Blue Nights
Blue Nights by Joan Didion is a deeply personal memoir about grief, aging, and the pain of losing her daughter, written in the wake of immense personal tragedy.
Recommended“And in this little chunk, Kate and I are going to be talking about grief. Talk about Joan Didion's incredible book, Blue Nights.”
Where to get it
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Everything Happens for a Reason
Everything Happens for a Reason by Kate Bowler is a memoir with the full subtitle And Other Lies I've Loved, which addresses the author's stage four cancer diagnosis and challenges the toxic positivity of the phrase that everything happens for a reason.
Recommended“My favorite book of hers is Everything Happens For A Reason and Other Lies I've Loved. Let's get into it with Kate.”
Where to get it
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Everything Happens for a Reason and Other Lies I've Loved
Everything Happens for a Reason and Other Lies I've Loved by Kate Bowler is a deeply personal memoir that explores grief, mortality, faith, and the cultural pressure to find silver linings in life's most devastating circumstances.
Recommended“My favorite book of hers is Everything Happens For A Reason and Other Lies I've Loved. Let's get into it with Kate.”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (3) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“Her new book about joy is called Joyful Anyway. Like, how do you have joy in a world with so much darkness?”
“Whether you've just become hooked on Homer's Odyssey or are a dyed-in-the-wool nerd looking for a deep dive into the depths of myth and history, let's talk about myths baby is for you.”
“Right now we're exploring Prithian as we go deep into the highly anticipated and newly released a guitar books by Sarah J. Mass. Fantasy Fan Girls is not your typical deep dive book podcast.”