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Morbidly Curious Book Club: NOVA Chapter (Northern Virginia)

The MCBC NOVA Chapter is a localized chapter of The Morbidly Curious Book Club. An 18+ non-fiction macabre-focused book club diving into the darker parts of your library, whether it be true crime cases, morally ambiguous medical practice, spirits and ghosts, or death. We discuss 1 book around the end of each month. You will see the book we are reading in the 'Currently Reading' tab, and the meeting time on the 'Meeting' tab. We ask beforehand that you check trigger warnings on all books we discuss. It is safe to assume they will be touching on many tough subjects. Some may be easy to miss. Proceed with caution. You do not have to commit to anything. Come and join as you may and discuss at your own will. Even if you weren't quite able to finish the book!

Briefly Perfectly Human: Making an Authentic Life by Getting Real About the End

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER | New York Times' Staff Favorite Book of the Year | Boston Globe Best Book of the Year

A deeply transformative memoir that reframes how we think about death and how it can help us lead better, more fulfilling and authentic lives, from America’s most visible death doula.

"A truly unique, inspiring perspective on the time we have, what we do with it, and how we let go of this world.... There is no one I'd trust more to guide me through an understanding of death, and how it informs life." — Jodi Picoult, New York Times bestselling author of Mad Honey and The Book of Two Ways

"Briefly Perfectly Human is a beautiful, raw, light-bringing experience. Alua's voice is shimmering, singular, and pulses with humor, vulnerability, insight, and refreshing candor.... Be prepared for it to grab you, hold you tight, and raise the roof on the power of human connection." — Tembi Locke, author of From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home

For her clients and everyone who has been inspired by her humanity, Alua Arthur is a friend at the end of the world. As our country’s leading death doula, she’s spreading a transformative message: thinking about your death—whether imminent or not—will breathe wild, new potential into your life.

Warm, generous, and funny AF, Alua supports and helps manage end-of-life care on many levels. The business matters, medical directives, memorial planning; but also honoring the quiet moments, when monitors are beeping and loved ones have stepped out to get some air—or maybe not shown up at all—and her clients become deeply contemplative and want to talk. Aching, unfinished business often emerges. Alua has been present for thousands of these sacred moments—when regrets, fears, secret joys, hidden affairs, and dim realities are finally said aloud. When this happens, Alua focuses her attention at the pulsing center of her clients’ anguish and creates space for them, and sometimes their loved ones, to find peace.

This has had a profound effect on Alua, who was already no stranger to death’s periphery. Her family fled a murderous coup d’état in Ghana in the 1980s. She has suffered major, debilitating depressions. And her dear friend and brother-in-law died of lymphoma. Advocating for him in his final months is what led Alua to her life’s calling. She knows firsthand the power of bearing witness and telling the truth about life’s painful complexities, because they do not disappear when you look the other way. They wait for you.

Briefly Perfectly Human is a life-changing, soul-gathering debut, by a writer whose empathy, tenderness, and wisdom shimmers on the page. Alua Arthur combines intimate storytelling with a passionate appeal for loving, courageous end-of-life care—what she calls “death embrace.” Hers is a powerful testament to getting in touch with something deeper in our lives, by embracing the fact of our own mortality. “Hold that truth in your mind,” Alua says, “and wondrous things will begin to grow around it.”

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Published Apr 29, 2025

272 pages

Average rating: 7.28

145 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

BMC
Aug 07, 2025
8/10 stars
Took me a while to get into it and I was wishing for more doula stories, but by the end I was laughing, crying, and fully invested. A beautiful life story for a beautiful human.
se.mcomber
Sep 17, 2025
8/10 stars
Beautifully written and really puts into perspective how we’ve pushed death away as a scary thing instead of opening our hearts to it just being another stage of life. Death never used to be taboo and in some cultures it’s celebrated, as it should be. Loved it
Amymarie
Sep 02, 2025
2/10 stars
Could do not even finish this one, not a recommendation
crickets
Aug 16, 2025
2/10 stars
I want my time back
Absolutely
Aug 09, 2025
I loved the book

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