Even prior to my mother's dementia diagnosis, I sought books on that topic. I suppose it began with a book club selection, Still Alice. Many in my book club could relate to the story by Lisa Genova. I did not know I would one day be able to relate as well. Although it can be a quite depressing topic, it is not without hope. Some of these books are non-fiction. Some are fiction. Each offers something to hold on to in order to get through the darkness. Here are 15 books I have read and reviewed (in chronological order to when I read them, earliest to most recent):
- Still Alice by Lisa Genova - novel
- Dancing With Rose by Lauren Kessler - memoir
- The Patient's Playbook by Leslie D. Michelson - non-fiction
- Brain Maker by Dr. David Perlmutter - non-fiction
- Switch by Ingrid Law - middle-grade novel
- Before I Forget by B. Smith and Dan Gasby - memoir
- Where the Light Gets In by Kimberly Williams-Paisley - memoir
- The Forgetting Time by Sharon Guskin - novel
- Goodbye Vitamin by Rachel Khong - novel
- The Aging Brain by Dr. Timothy Jennings - non-fiction
- The End of Alzheimer's and The E. of A. Program by Dr. Dale E. Bredesen - non-fiction
- How to Forget by Kate Mulgrew - memoir
- Walking Through Twilight by Douglas Groothuis - memoir
- Four Umbrellas by June Hutton and Tony Wanless - memoir
- Biohack Your Brain by Kristen Willeumier, PhD - non-fiction
We decided to watch Still Alice on Saturday night. Given all of my recent brain blunders and speech slips, it was hard to watch. Just yesterday, I was trying to say "egg shell" and could only get out "egg thingie." My siblings have asked if I will take the genetic testing to see if I'm a carrier of the Alzheimer gene, but frankly that terrifies me. I'd rather not know. Plus, the movie indicated if one tests positive, it is a 100 percent chance the individual will present with dementia at some point in the future. To be given that finality is, perhaps, more than I could bear. Whatever happens, it is in God's hands.
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