C.S. Lewis's A Grief Observed is excellent (and a much deeper howl of grief than the rather remote title would suggest--he was simply absolutely determined to clearly see and name his own grief while he experienced it, because language was how he coped with absolutely everything) and also a pretty fast read.

If children's/YA is acceptable, there's always Katherine Paterson's Bridge to Terabithia.

Gloria Naylor's Mama Day doesn't dig into the grief until the last quarter of the novel, but it's wrenching and gorgeous.

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, most definitely not for everyone (it was emphatically a big harrowing yes for me, but I'm a freak), but oh is it filled with sorrow and bereavement.

And Maxine Chernoff's 1991 novel Plain Grief (reviewed here by Hilma Wolitzer) is excellent (I recall liking it more than Wolitzer did, but she did like it quite a bit, and her review does a great job of quickly running through the complex narrative and all its varieties of grief).

Huh. The community theatre I worked with is doing a one-woman production of the Didion.

The textbook quoted extensively from Lewis.

but I'm a freak

This is my problem with "normal people" book lists. I am not the typical student, in a variety of way.

Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands by Jorge Amado

The textbook quoted extensively from Lewis.

Then the textbook is way better than the reading list!

And I just thought of two picture books for children that deal with the subject very movingly (surely better than the damn Notebook!):

Annie and the Old One

The Two of Them

So, I have an assignment for class. I must choose and read a book (fiction or non-fiction) related to grief and bereavement.

Joy Luck Club

Marley and Me

I'd prefer Sarah's Key to Winter Garden.

Let the Great World Spin has multiple storylines about grief.

There's Revolution, which is bad history, but good writing. I thought the opening, which deals more with grief/bereavement than the rest, was really good.

Oh duh, one of my favorites, John Irving's A Widow for One Year. Actually probably any Irving. Or any Amy Tan.

Also, Paul Auster's The Book of Illusions.

Isn't The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion supposed to be very good?

It is very good. And more straightforward than Blue Nights, which is also about memory and aging.

There's also About Alice by Calvin Trillan.

I must choose and read a book (fiction or non-fiction) related to grief and bereavement.

Her suggestions: Making Rounds With Oscar, Winter Garden, The Help, Watering the Elephants, Any Jody Picoult Book, The Notebook, Bed Number 10

I will admit to being skeptical of this list. Anyone have any ideas?

Yeah, that is a weird list! There are so many books about grief and bereavement, I don't even know where to start. I mean, it's one of the most common themes in literature. Anyway, a couple of 2011 nonfic books that come to mind: Joyce Carol Oates, A Widow's Story; Meghan O'Rourke, The Long Goodbye; Julian Barnes, Nothing to be Frightened Of (though I think that one might be more specifically about death than grief itself).

Also, off the top of my head, probably half of Anne Tyler's books are about dealing with grief and loss, among other things. Morgan's Passing is the first one that comes to mind, but I seem to recall it's a major theme in many of her other books too.