The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: All the Living and All the Dead by Hayley Campbell

The first time I read All the Living and All the Dead, it was an easy pick for the Most Original book winner in the 2022 Non-Obvious Book Awards. Fueled by a childhood fascination with death, the author tells the story of "people who have made death their life's work." In a time when the most frequent depictions of death we see are the fictionalized stories of near-heroic serial killers in TV shows and movies, this book offers a unique and non-obvious perspective on a discomforting topic. The vital question at the heart of this book is: are we missing something by letting death remain hidden?

Most of us don't like to talk about or even think about death. Often, the only time we do it is when the worst happens. For anyone who has been told (or believes) death is still only something to be feared, this book offers an eye-opening alternative narrative. In doing so, it's not like any other non-fiction book you're likely to read. For that reason alone, I think it's worth reading and why I recommended it as this week's pick for the Non-Obvious Book of the Week.

About the Non-Obvious Book Selection of the Week:

Every week I share a new “non-obvious” book selection. Titles featured here may be new or classic books, but the date of publication doesn’t really matter. My goal is to elevate great reads that perhaps deserve a second look which you might have otherwise missed.