If your care giving duties allow you time to read.....................I'm interested in what book you are in the middle of or just finished or have waiting on your bedside table.
I'm reading "Total Control" by David Baldacci
It's a crime/thriller drama. Quite compelling.
If you can't find the time to read, you should try. It helps to escape from it all in a good book.
"As the senaors exit and the House members resume their usual places, I look to my left and see the Democrats and to my right I see the Republicans. I recall a conversations I have with a Republican colleague, Rep. Clay Higgins of LA., once when we were sitting on the floor.
'What do you see when you look out over our side, and then over your side'? I asked Clay, who is a good- natured man with an awesome Cajun accent.
"He looked at me and said 'you tell me first'.
'When I look at our side', I said 'I see America today in all its glory; black, white, hispanic, asian-American, LGBTQ, straight, gay, women, men, immigrants, native-born. And when I look at your side I see America in the 50s.'
(Clay replied) 'When I look at your side, he said, I see the Coasts, New York and California. When I look at my side I see the heartland'.
End of quote from this book.
Really, if we could just think and talk to the "other side", how much we could learn about the differences we all feel, see, believe. And how much more alike we might admit to be in our thinking than the rhetoric we are forced into when forced to "choose" those sides? How much better might we be?
Both interesting and so nice to focus on something other than health issues, work conflicts, and world events.
I just finished We Are The Brennans by Tracey Lange, and it’s one of the best books I’ve read in a very long time. A solid family drama with a bit of suspense mixed in. I wish all books were that satisfying. I’m curious to know how many have read it and feel that way 🙂
He'll allegedly complete his presidency in 2036.
https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/505807-vladimir-putin-becomes-russias-president-for-life
Also started reading lots of sci-fi & fantasy again after my Dad got sick. Good mental health treatment for me!
What a great question :)
Louise Collis
Oh, this is a unique book. It is not exactly an easy read. But certainly takes my mind off of dementia care at the end of the day and into a very different world of the medieval striving for sainthood.
I initially resisted reading the books because all the brainy nerds loved them and in my experience anything with popular appeal doesn't appeal to me. I can't remember my first impressions because I've reread the trilogy in part and as a whole dozens of times since then, but I do know that the deeper I dived into Tolkien's world the more enchanted I became.
I had to look it up. I have never read it and tried only once.
I started a yawner, supposed to be the story about Twin Peaks called Murder at Teal's Pond. I just stop trying this one.
As for TLOTR - it's not supposed to be true to Norse mythology, it's a fantasy not a history book.
Pollyanna lived with her impoverished minister father (her mother and siblings in heaven), dependent on ‘missionary barrels’ for most of her clothing etc. She sent word that she would love a doll, and when the barrel arrived there was no doll, just a pair of child-sized crutches. Her father invented the Glad Game, where you had to find something to be Glad about, even if it was a challenge. It started with Pollyanna being Glad that she didn’t need to use the crutches. She then brought joy and happiness to a surprising number of people, as you can perhaps imagine.
Many people now might say ‘Pass the sick bag, Alice’, but I find the books both soothing and interesting. They are themselves a piece of history, and a glimpse into the minds of people in the past – what people thought and enjoyed, why stories were popular (eg miraculous recoveries from paraplegia). Sometimes the genuine background facts are a surprise to learn.
For me TLOTR is unreadable at any age, a complete waste of time. It’s not even ‘true’ to Norse mythology, why bother? Pollyanna is at least short!
I'm coming back to add - one of my pet peeves is that I think giving kids books that are beyond their reading ability and/or with themes beyond their comprehension ruins the story for them, especially if they have access to a film version and skip the reading altogether. Back in my school days we began with "readers" and moved on to short novels as ability allowed, I still remember the thrill of reading and rereading Charlotte's Web, The Big Wave, Call it Courage.
I am not sure if you are looking for a reading list or something to do with caregiving.
But here are my recommendations:
*Angela's Ashes (Frank McCourt) Pulitzer Prize Winning Author
*Tis (the sequel to to the above mentioned)
*Starbucks Saved My Life (great read about a businessman who loses his job and triumphs--funny, funny, funny!)
*The Bible (Dennis Prager has interpreted the bible in layman's terms) excellent when you have major decisions to make--very informative a lot I was unaware of
*A Caregiver's Guide to Lewy Body Dementia (Helen Buell Whitworth & James Whitworth) there is also a second edition
*The New Times Book Review on a Sunday has the latest releases and a brief bio
*I order all of my books online and have them transferred to my local public library
Hope this helped! Nothing like a good book, comfortable reading chair, good reading lamp and a nice decorative cup of hot tea!
I am puzzled by Katie and Pollyanna’s terrible accidents. They sounded as if they had spinal injuries and were then paraplegic, but both of them recovered. Does anyone know how? Perhaps Lydia Pinkerton's Medicinal Compound did the trick.
Thanks! I have experience in both of those subjects.
and
Keener, Craig S.. Miracles Today