Tag Archives: reading

December 12, 2024 · 8:46 am

Give the gift of books

When I was cleaning out my parents’ condo, I came across so many books! I’d donated many books to the local library over the years, so I couldn’t believe how many books were still left when I did the final cleanout. Most of the books belonged to my father, who had a deep interest in WWII history, as he lived through the bombing of his hometown of Belfast when he was a child.

Reading was my father’s passion. He was a voracious reader and always had a book or two on his nightstand or coffee table. He sparked my love of reading, and some of my happiest childhood memories are Saturday afternoons spent with Dad in the library. I still enjoy physical books, but I do most of my reading now via e-books. It’s just more convenient and I’m at a point in life where I want to downsize, beginning with my possessions.

With that being said, books can make wonderful gifts this time of year so I want to let you know about Smashwords 2024 End of Year Sale. I’m a participating author in this sales event so you can get e-book versions of The Reluctant Caregiver and CBD for Caregivers for half off from Dec. 12 through Jan. 1, 2025. Use the code SEW50 at checkout.

Digital books can make ideal gifts for those who live far away or for last-minute gift ideas. If you are gifting a book to a caregiver, you may wonder, do caregivers have time to read? It really depends upon the individual circumstance, but reading can be a source of respite, a way to whisk away to another world, even if one only has time to read a page or chapter at a time. A great resource for books that are curated by and for dementia caregivers can be found at AlzAuthors. Their collection includes everything from memoir to self-help to children’s books.

Speaking of children’s books, my tale about my senior rescue dog, Slow Dog, is also still available.

Murphy posing with his book.

Hope you get to enjoy the gift of a good book this holiday season.

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July 1, 2024 · 10:00 am

Summer reading recommendations for caregivers

It has been sweltering in Atlanta for the past month, and summer just began. When it’s too hot to be outside for long, I’m going to turn to one of my favorite pastimes that often gets pushed to the side: reading. I read all day as part of my job, but reading for pleasure is something that I wish I did more. My Kindle is full of books I haven’t started yet, and I have plenty more on my wish list. Reading is something that makes me feel close to my dad, and I feel I inherited my love of books from him.

I could write a book about the many amazing books available for dementia caregivers, but here are my top recommendations:

I’m honored to have “At the Crossroads,” a poem about my father, included in Poetry for the Dementia Journey: An AlzAuthors poetry Anthology. This new collection was published in June and is available on Amazon. Check out AlzAuthors for a large and impressive library of books that inform and support dementia caregivers.

I’m participating in the Smashwords Summer/Winter sale. Get the e-book version of my award-wining collection of personal essays, The Reluctant Caregiver, for half-off (just 99 cents!) during the entire month of July. Enter the code SSW50 at checkout.

If you’d like to honor the memory of dementia awareness advocate Wendy Mitchell, who died earlier this year, consider one of her books. One Last Thing is aptly titled as her final work. Somebody I Used to Know is her best known and highly acclaimed book.

Finally, another shameless plug: Chicken Soup for the Soul: Living with Alzheimer’s and Other Dementias is a wonderful collection that captures the highs and lows of the dementia caregiving journey. I’m honored to have a story about my father, “French Toast,” included in this edition.

What books are on your summer reading list?

For more suggestions beyond books, check out my Caregiver Product Recommendations page, with a list of products that I used while caring for my parents.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Image created by Microsoft Copilot.

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August 18, 2012 · 8:15 pm

What Dad was reading

I came across a receipt for a book that Dad checked out from the library in July 2010. That was just a few months before he became sick and then went to live in the memory care unit of the assisted care facility. His dementia had progressed quite far by this point; he was wandering and unable to accomplish many simple tasks.

The book was “Children of the West: Family Life on the Frontier” by Cathy Luchetti. Despite the disease progression, he picked a book that was in one of his all-time favorite genres: history. It’s a bit of a relief to know he wasn’t checking out unauthorized biographies on Justin Bieber, ha!

Still, I wonder if he actually read any of the book or if he just looked at the photographs. Did he comprehend any of it at all, or was checking out a book just a vaguely familiar task that he still was able to indulge in? I guess I will never know. I do know he never read at the care center he ended up in, at least that I know of. The staff asked us what his hobbies were, and reading and walking were really the only things we could come up with.

Sadly, the ability to read is stripped from many of those afflicted with dementia. So instead, Dad wandered up and down the hallway of his memory care unit, a man who had lost one of the greatest pleasures of his life.

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