NEA Big Read (Garner 2023) - SER

These books have been selected to accompany Roz Chast's graphic memoir "Cant's We Talk About Something More Pleasant?" They support topics related to the emotions, memories, and practical challenges of planning and preparing for aging parents’ final years.

Showing 1 - 13 of 13  There are a total of 53 valid entries on the list.
Book cover for "Bettyville"
Star rating for Bettyville
Average Rating:
3.5 stars
Description:
"When George Hodgman leaves Manhattan for his hometown of Paris, Missouri, he finds himself--an unlikely caretaker and near-lethal cook--in a head-on collision with his aging mother Betty, a woman of wit and will. Will George lure her into assisted living? When hell freezes over. He can't bring himself to force her from the home both treasure--the place where his father's voice lingers, the scene of shared jokes, skirmishes, and, behind the dusty...
Book cover for "Caring for a loved one with dementia"
Star rating for Caring for a loved one with dementia
Description:
Caring for a loved one with dementia can be extremely stressful. This essential guide provides skills for dealing with the accompanying emotional and physical stress, and offers tools to help you manage your own needs, in addition to the needs of your loved one.
Book cover for "Chicken soup for the soul"
Star rating for Chicken soup for the soul
Average Rating:
5 stars
Description:
Navigating eldercare can be overwhelming, especially when dealing with dementia. You'll find what you need in these pages, with great advice from families who have been there, done that!
Book cover for "Connecting in the land of dementia"
Star rating for Connecting in the land of dementia
Average Rating:
5 stars
Description:
"Finding the connection with a loved one afflicted with dementia is a challenge millions of people face: One in ten Americans has a family member with Alzheimer's, and one in three knows someone with the disease. This book offers care partners practical, hands-on ideas for meaningful, creative activities they can do with their patients, family members, or friends who have dementia. It also includes creative tips for busy care partners, offering quick...
Book cover for "Downsizing the family home"
Star rating for Downsizing the family home
Average Rating:
5 stars
Description:
"It's a rite of passage almost no one will escape: the difficult, emotional journey of downsizing your or your aging parents' home. Here, nationally syndicated home columnist Marni Jameson sensitively guides readers through the process, from opening that first closet, to sorting through a lifetime's worth of possessions, to selling the homestead itself. Using her own personal journey as a basis, she helps you figure out a strategy and create a mindset...
Book cover for "The end of your life book club"
Star rating for The end of your life book club
Average Rating:
4 stars
Description:
A profoundly moving memoir of caregiving, mourning, and love between a mother and her son—and about the joy of reading, and the ways that joy is multiplied when we share it with others.
“A graceful, affecting testament to a mother and a life well lived.” —Entertainment Weekly, Grade A

During her treatment for cancer, Mary Anne Schwalbe and her son Will spent many hours sitting in waiting rooms together....
Book cover for "How to care for aging parents"
Star rating for How to care for aging parents
Average Rating:
3.5 stars
Description:

"The bible of eldercare"—ABC World News. "An indispensable book"—AARP. "A compassionate guide of encyclopedic proportion"—The Washington Post. And, winner of a Books for a Better Life Award. How to Care for Aging Parents is the best and bestselling book of its kind, and its author, Virginia Morris, is the go-to person on eldercare for the media, appearing on Oprah, TODAY, and Good Morning America, among many other outlets.

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Book cover for "I'll be seeing you"
Star rating for I'll be seeing you
Average Rating:
5 stars
Description:
"When her parents began to age, Elizabeth and her siblings are placed in the difficult position of taking over more and more supportive roles and tasks. They fix their parents' home, negotiate finances, eventually weather the back and forth of will they or won't they move into a nursing facility--finally they do. Berg ... takes readers through navigating the emotional and physical challenger of guiding parents through the final stages of life"--Publisher...
Book cover for "Knocking on heaven's door"
Star rating for Knocking on heaven's door
Average Rating:
3 stars
Description:
"An exquisitely written, expertly reported memoir and expose; of modern medicine that leads the way to more humane, less invasive end-of-life care based on the author's acclaimed New York Times Magazine piece. This is the story of one daughter's struggleto allow her parents the peaceful, natural deaths they wanted and to investigate the larger forces in medicine that stood in the way. When doctors refused to disable the pacemaker that caused her eighty-four-year-old...
Book cover for "Meaningful connections"
Star rating for Meaningful connections
Book cover for "Mothercare"
Star rating for Mothercare
Average Rating:
5 stars
Description:
"When a mother's unusual health condition renders her entirely dependent upon you, your sisters, caretakers, and companions, the unimaginable will become daily life. In Mothercare, Lynne Tillman writes an honest and straightforward account of doing the impossible: handling her mother as if she were a child; navigating the unnavigable medical world, and confronting her own emotions regarding a suddenly, forever changed relationship to mother and care....
Book cover for "My parent's keeper"
Star rating for My parent's keeper
Average Rating:
5 stars
Book cover for "When your aging parent needs help"
Star rating for When your aging parent needs help
Description:
"Provides practical and flexible steps that move concerned families toward effective elder care action, while respecting a parent's dignity and autonomy"--