This bibliography was compiled by the librarians of the Adult Reference Department.
June is Alzheimer’s & Brain Awareness Month. Learn more with these books and movies about people living with Dementia/Alzheimer’s.
All gone : a memoir of my mother’s dementia. With refreshments
Witchel, Alex.
Just past seventy, Alex Witchel’s smart, adoring, ultra-capable mother began to exhibit undeniable signs of dementia. Her smart, adoring, ultra-capable daughter reacted as she’d been raised: If something was broken, they would fix it. But as medical reality undid that hope, and her mother continued the torturous process of disappearing in plain sight, Witchel retreated to the kitchen, trying to reclaim her mother at the stove by cooking the comforting foods of her childhood.
Memory’s last breath : field notes on my dementia
Saunders, Gerda.
“Based on the “field notes” she keeps in her journal, Memory’s Last Breath is Gerda Saunders’ astonishing window into a life distorted by dementia. She writes about shopping trips cut short by unintentional shoplifting, car journeys derailed when she loses her bearings, and the embarrassment of forgetting what she has just said to a room of colleagues. Coping with the complications of losing short-term memory, Saunders, a former university professor, nonetheless embarks on a personal investigation of the brain and its mysteries, examining science and literature, and immersing herself in vivid memories of her childhood in South Africa. ” — Provided by publisher.
Sum it up : 1,098 victories, a couple of irrelevant losses, and a life in perspective
Summitt, Pat Head, 1952-
Pat Summitt was only 21 when she became head coach of the Tennessee Vols women’s basketball team. For 38 years, she has broken records, winning more games than any NCAA team in basketball history. She has coached an undefeated season, co-captained the first women’s Olympic team, was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, and has been named Sports Illustrated ‘Sportswoman of the Year’. She owes her coaching success to her personal struggles and triumphs.
You’re looking at me like I live here and I don’t
Kirschenbaum, Scott, director.
“The first documentary filmed in an Alzheimer’s unit told from the perspective of an Alzheimer’s patient. In Danville, California, Lee Gorewitz wanders on a personal odyssey through her Alzheimer’s & Dementia care unit. From the moment she wakes up, Lee is on a quest– for reminders of her past, and her identity. A total immersion into the fragmented day-to-day experience of mental illness, ‘You’re looking at me like I live here and I don’t’ is filled with charismatic vitality and penetrating ruminations that challenge our preconceptions of illness and aging. Here is one extraordinary woman who will not let us forget her, even as she struggles to remember herself.”
Before I forget : love, hope, help, and acceptance in our fight against Alzheimer’s
Smith, B.
“I know where I’m going. I’m still myself. I just can’t remember things as well as I once did. So on short trips, I work hard not to be confused. I’ll say to myself, “What are we going to do? How long are we staying?” It’s like I’m talking to my other self–the self I used to be. She tells me, “This is what we need to buy–not that.” I’m conscious of that other self guiding me now.” Restaurateur, magazine publisher, celebrity chef, and nationally known lifestyle maven, B. Smith is struggling at 64 with a tag she never expected to add to that string: Alzheimer’s patient. She’s not alone. Every 67 seconds someone newly develops it, and millions of lives are affected by its aftershocks. B. and her husband, Dan, working with Vanity Fair contributing editor Michael Shnayerson, unstintingly share their unfolding story. Crafted in short chapters that interweave their narrative with practical and helpful advice, readers learn about dealing with Alzheimer’s day-to-day challenges: the family realities and tensions, ways of coping, coming research that may tip the scale, as well lessons learned along the way. At its heart, though, Before I Forget is a love story: illuminating a love of family, life, and hope”– Provided by publisher
The inheritance : a family on the front lines of the battle against Alzheimer’s disease
Kapsambelis, Niki.
“Looks at the story of a family of six siblings, five of whom have inherited early onset Alzheimer’s disease, and their participation in a groundbreaking worldwide study of the disease that holds hope for future treatments.”– Provided by publisher.
Mace, Nancy L.
Provides practical and legal advice on caring for those who can no longer care for themselves, including information on dealing with such daily problems as eating and exercising, and suggests ways to cope with mood swings and false ideas.