Joan, thanks for the correct title "A Dog's Purpose". I cried and cried but loved the book. I am thinking of reading "The Art of Racing in the Rain" which is also supposed to be good. I read "the story of Edgar Sawtell" which I also enjoyed and had a good cry.
Ocallie36 CommentTime2 hours ago edit delete I just finished this book. It really makes you think. Who are the people that had the impact in your life and changed it forever more? If you have read this book, you know it isn't the people you would think it is. I have been going over this in my mind, the answers are not that obvious. One definitely is. For my 5th person , I chose Joan. If not for her and this website I could not have made it through the past 5 years. I learned how to be a caregiver. I learned how to still love a sometimes unlovable husband. I learned how to handle the death when it did come. I learned more than I ever wanted to know about AD. I learned that I could get comfort and strenghth from people I have never even met. Thank you.
For those of you who read dog stories, the author of "A Dog's Purpose" has a book out "A Dogs Journey". I just purchased it for my kindle (a little pricey at $11.99) and can't wait to read it. If anyone has already read the book, I'd like to know what you thought of it. Many reviews on Amazon say its better than "A Dogs purpose". I find that hard to believe but will be open minded.
Let me know how it was as soon as you read "A Dog's Journey". I sobbed my eyes out when I read "A Dog's Purpose", and I don't want to do that again. Although I did love the book.
I just finished a really lovely book: Olive Kitteredge by Elizabeth Strout. Each chapter is a story about a particular person in the small town where Olive lives, and Olive's life intertwines in some way with that person. I loved it.
If you like N. Sparks you will love a new author I just discovered. Kristin Hannah. She writes about mothers and daughters, secrets and marriage relationships that are challenged. I just finished two books this week. Home Front - and Winter Garden. I admit I shed more than a couple tears. I couldn't wait to head to the local library again. Even though her characters are going through difficult times and challenges, underlying is hope and redemption.
I would like to add my 2 cents. Until just now I had no idea there was a book list here. I am a veracious reader and I have more books than I have good sense. Most of my books have come from used lists at amazon.com Most recently - one of the best reads was 'The Four Agreements' by Dom Miguel Ruiz and 'The Fifth Agreement' by Ruiz and Janet Miller.
The Four Agreements: "Be Impeccable With Your Word" "Don't Take Anything Personally" "Don't Make Assumptions" "Always Do Your Best"
The Fifth Agreement: "Be Skeptical - But Learn To Listen"
These massages can benefit each and everyone of us on this long difficult path that we must walk alone, but together we support each other....
Has anybody read Anne Morrow Lindbergh's book, "Against Wind and Tide"? I've been an admirer of her writing for years, but found this book especially close to my heart because part of it is about things like becoming a widow and growing older. I realized I was going to have to buy this book when I found myself wanting to write in the library copy, and when I found page after page that said exactly what I've been feeling lately. I recommend this book very highly.
I stayed up passed midnight last nite finished "Low Pressure" by Sandra Brown. I think it was one of her best books.
She is from here (Arlington, TX). She had a very nice home here (or so it appeared from the pictures) that she wanted torn down and a new one built. She contacted Chuck Norris and the producers of Walker, Texas Ranger which was filmed in the DFW area. In one of the last seasons of the show, they used her house as part of a show and blew it up.
It worked out well for everyone. She got her house removed and they got a house to blow up. LOL
I recently found several books by an author new to me, Ann B. Ross, about a fictional lady in her sixties. With titles like Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind, Miss Julia Stands Her Ground, Miss Julia Takes Over, Miss Julia Stirs Up Trouble, and Miss Julia Paints the Town, I guess you can tell that the main character is spunky, with a capital "S". Since lately I feel like I have no spunk left, it's like getting a transfusion to read these books. They're just fun, but make me feel for a little while that I could be like Miss Julia.
Someone mentioned "The Passage" by Justin Cronin in an earlier post. This is not the type of book I would normally read. I had seen this book mentioned on Amazon, with favorable, almost glowing, reviews by the folks at Amazon. I agree with Joan - this usually means the book is not so great. And then Stephen King (my all-time favorite author) gave it an excellent review, so I decided it can't be THAT bad if King liked it - and I bought it. WHAT TOOK ME SO LONG???? This book is excellent! Highly recommended! And now, there is a sequel - "The Twelve" which I have purchased, but haven't started reading yet. Can't seem to find the time, since DH currently has his days and night mixed up!
I'm the one who mentined "The Passage." I also have "The Twelve" waiting on my Kindle. It's still waiting because I recently read a few really good books, one of which is "The Light Between the Oceans." Excellent. I think most of you would like this one. I just finished "The End of Your Life Book Club," a true story about a book club between a mother and son begun while she is undergoing chemo treatments for pancreatic cancer. I was very interested because of the recent death of my sister from the same thing. I also read "In the Shadow of the Banyan," about Cambodian refugees during the time of the Khmer Rouge; also an excellent read. I am currently reading "A Casual Vacancy," by J. K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books. Believe me, it is nothing like those!
Daugther just sent me "When God Winks at You" couldn't put it down til I finished,maybe its been discussed on here before if it has sorry,guess its a series
Just finished "Miiles from Home", a true story by Colleen Lanier. I could hardly put it down! What would you do if your best friend asked you to help him drive cross country to bring his Dad, who has cancer, and his Mom, who has Alzheimers, back home to an ALF? You will laugh, you will cry, and it's so, so true! Download it from Amazon.
I have just started it - was it you Vickie or someone posted on Facebook the day it was free to download. Have started it but not gotten back to it but need to.
Hello everyone, I am new here and I am looking at these post and they are all so great and all so helpful and supportive, what an execellent group.
I came to the Book Recommnedations section becuase there is a new book being released. Anyways this book provides some excellent advice on how to fight Alzheimer's disease including some new treatments that have been really effective. I also found out that it includes some good adivce for couples that still have sexual interest and what and how these individuals can do to handle this situation (both within the home and in care facilitaties). Also, from what I can see on my own it provides some great information on what everyone can do to help stave off disease states for as long as possible and to grow old with a fit brain.
It is called: BUILDING AN AGELESS MIND: PREVENTING AND FIGHTING BRAIN AGING AND DISEASE by: WILLIAM J. TIPPETT
Hope this will help, it is Brand New and offers some real research behind what one can do ( I have many on order for friends and it is being released very shortly I am told).
Hi everyone. I came across a new book that I have found so helpful and wanted to share it with you. It is called Adults Understanding & Facilitating Transitions written by Annette M. Lane, RN, PhD, Sandra P. Hirst, RN, PhD, GNC (c), and Marlette B. Reed, BEd, MA. Annette and Sandra are nurses and Marlette a palliative care chaplain.
The book is about transition experiences through the lifespan. In particular, it focuses on transitions that older adults and their families face, such as coping with chronic illness, relocating to new settings, issues of meaning and purpose in life and death and dying.
As a woman whose husband with dementia now lives in a facility, this book has been the most helpful resource I have found to aid me in navigating the horrible and challenging transitions of myself and my husband. The book gives me hope that I will eventually be able to navigate this life alerting transition in a healthy and positive way. I highly recommend the book for additional insight into our processes.
The book can be purchased at a cost of $60.00 for paperback or $48.00 for an ebook through Amazon or the publisher, Kendall Hunt www.kendallhunt.com.
For female spouses of younger-onset dementia patients, I'd recommend "From Granny Panties to Thongs:The Mourning After" by Penny Burke and Joan Dunn. It's a collection of true stories spoken from the hearts of widowed women, from the perspective of finding love again after their husband's deaths. (That title gets one's attention, doesn't it?) If you're curious about dating and moving on, the book paints a hopeful picture.
Love the title MarilynnMD! Yes, we all need hope that there is a life after living with this catastrophic disease. I'll have to check it out o Amazon! Thanks
Just finished reading a little book called "Tear Soup - A Recipe for Healing After Loss" by Pat Schwiebert and Chuck DeKlyen. "Grief is the process you go through as you adjust to the loss of anything or anyone important in your life"
This book was loaned to me by a friend who is suffering from ALS. The book has a lot to say in just a few, easy to read pages. What struck me most as I was reading this book was how applicable it is to the AD journey, regardless of what stage our LO is in.
This is not about books, but two movies I just watched. I received them from someone on the Facebook page 'Forget Me Not'. One is called 'Iris' about English author Iris Murdock who died from Alzheimer's. The other is called 'Away From Her', a Canadian filmed in Ontario I think. The wife is diagnosed with Alzheimer's and before she gets too bad decides to go into an Assisted Living. There she falls in love with a man who does not have AD but got some infection in the brain causing damage. He has to deal with his wife no longer knowing him and her loving this other man. Was a moving, sad, yet realistic movie - both were. Just does not deal with more than memory loss issues.
I would like to recommend a book that I recently finished 'I Thought it was Just Me (But It Isn't) ' by Brene Brown, Ph.D., LMSW. Very helpful in dealing with and embracing our imperfections and vulnerabilities which connect us all to each other. It teaches us to forgive and love ourselves.
"Contented Dementia" by Oliver James hasn't been mentioned since in 2009 by deb112958. A British woman, Penny Garner, developed a way of working with her mother and then refined and expanded her method. (We all know one woman can have a tremendous effect!) My husband is considered "normal" by his doctor and will not go for evaluation, but the metaphor Penny has found and some of the techniques she suggests have helped me a great deal. I'm on my third re-reading, and each time, I see something more that I can adapt to where we are in the early stages and think about how to lay a framework for what may (or may not) come. I initially despised the title, but I'm mellowing on that.
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand is the story of Louie Zamperini from youth to Olympics, to WWII, floating in the Pacific for days and capture and internment by Japanese. The author wrote: "One of the fascinating things about Louie," she says, "is that he never allowed himself to be a passive participant in his ordeal. It's why he survived." Movie will be released this month. We can overcome by being active participants in our ordeal navigating the dementia road. I found it to be an excellent read.
Just finished 'Slow Dancing with a Stranger' by Meryl Comer. Didn't buy it - got it from the library. It was good, could identify with a lot of what she dealt with either from personal experience or people here. In the early part I did get a little ticked when she talked of her husband's disability only being $39,000 a year. But then she is use to having high income so that was probably a big drop for her. She ends up with her husband who has EOAD and her mom who has VaD in her home to care for. She tried her husband in a care facility but it did not work out so she brought him home. Was worth reading.
Zibby, I read "Unbroken" earlier this year. What a fascinating story! I bought a copy for a Christmas present for my nephew, who is into all World War II stuff. I recommend this book highly.
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I read what, to me, was one of the best books I've read so far this year, and I read as much as possible. It's really a book for young adults, which I only read to make sure it's ok for my granddaughter to read. She's 16 and I bought this book for her. The book is called Eleanor and Park. I think it's a wonderful little,story about young love, but so different from other books about that subject. There is some strong language here but necessary to the story and I'm sure not anything these kids haven't heard before on TV, at school, movies, and maybe even at home. I really enjoyed this story: ELEANOR AND PARK, which has some good lessons on life, especially for young people but very enjoyable for adults.
I posted this in the For AD widows and widowers but wanted to note it here too:
In trying to figure out how to deal with grief I found on The Huffington Post website some writings by Joan Sutton. She was a columnist for The Toronto Sun newspaper. She also has a website, jsuttonstraus.com, and posted there are her writings about dealing with her husband's Alzheimers diagnosis and ultimate death. She writes about missing the skin touch of her husband, the house noise she now makes up for by leaving the TV on, and not sitting at the dining room table anymore as eating is not the pleasure it once was. The gratitude she feels for having been loved. The people who don't call anymore; her desire to constantly talk about her husband and remember him. She also has written a book, The Alzheimer's Diary, which I have not read. Anyway, I have found her writing very comforting and thought I would pass it along.
A friend who was widowed last year gave me a book that has been very helpful. Tom Zuba wrote " Permission to Mourn - A New Way to Do Grief". The book and its style was not what I expected but once I started reading it I could not put it down. There is a rhythm to his writing. I am going to reread it this weekend. He has a Facebook page - Tom Zuba teaches A New Way to Do Grief.