In the Checklist of Life: A Working Book to Help You Live & Leave Life

"Death is certain. Life is not." So begins this commonsensical, infinitely useful workbook that's aimed at helping your survivors handle the requisite legal and household affairs after your death. Author Lynn McPhelimy was inspired to write the book when her parents were both diagnosed with terminal cancer and her father said to her, "'You know when I'm gone, I don't want the yard all dug up when you're looking for the septic tank. So here is this little map.'" It's a book that's not meant just for the elderly or the seriously ill, but for anyone who wants a handy reference with all the necessary "facts of life" in one spot. This way, your family won't be left grieving and scrambling around trying to find your Social Security number, or the name of your insurance company, your lawyer, your second cousin who's supposed to be left your antique lead crystal vase ... you get the picture.

The book includes the nitty-gritty: writing a will, what music you want played at your funeral or memorial service (that is, if you want one), what should be included in your obituary or epitaph, and a hundred other things you've pondered--but never bothered to deal with. Granted, this is scary terrain, but it'll make things a lot less traumatic for your survivors if they feel organized and know things like where you hide the key to your safe deposit box and which bank it's with. It also covers the intricacies of your house, with space for recording the facts you take for granted: where's the damn fuse box? Do you have anything hidden in the attic, under floorboards, or somewhere else? Which sentimental items do you want left with whom or donated to which charity? What are the stories behind those objects that make them sentimental, anyway? And who's that person in the back row of the old family photo that's hidden at the bottom of a shoebox that was stashed in the back of the hallway closet??

In addition to its practicality, this workbook is also meant to be a keepsake, with space for writing down memories of important life events and things you've always meant to accomplish, the things you've always meant to tell people. In this way, The Checklist of Life also functions as a psychological kick in the pants, inspiring you to actually get out and do those things you've promised yourself you'd get around to, "one of these years." --Erica Jorgensen