A Bittersweet Season: Caring for Our Aging Parents—And Ourselves by Jane Gross (4.5 stars)
I wish I had read this book sooner.
Jane Gross details her and her brother’s experiences with her aging mother. Their
story is both sweet and bitter. Gross describes the tender moments and does not
avoid the unpleasant ones. Somehow, she manages to do that while letting
through the humor that her family shared during those years. Gross also manages
to put in lots of details about things as varied as the intricacies of spending
down money to become eligible for Medicaid, the legal issues of parents in
another state, and the flaws in how our medical system treats disease. Gross is
Jewish and notes that the Bible does not describe the long slow path to death
that most elderly now experience. Much of what she writes was familiar to me
such as the chapter on therapeutic fibs—the little lies we end up telling our
parents to get through awkward situations. That might mean telling your parent
that a drug helps enhance appetite rather than that it is an antidepressant
because the parent is of an age that does not acknowledge the existence of
depression. After all, they lived through the real Depression. I have lived,
and am living, through much of what she describes with my father and now my
mother. I really wish I had known in advance about more of what she relates in
her book. I recommend this book to anyone who has aging parents, especially
ones still in good health. That will change at some point and the farther in
advance you can prepare for that change, the better.And the Mountains Echoed: A Novel by Khaled Hosseini (3.5 stars)
The latest novel by Khaled
Hosseini once again looks at the harsh life in Afghanistan. I don’t think this
book matches the standard set by his excellent two previous works, The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns. Hosseini tells the story of an
intertwined group of people all linked by a single event. At the risk of giving
away too much, that event is of a father giving away his daughter in order for
the rest of his family to survive. The story is well told, the images are
gripping, and I quite enjoyed the book, at least partially because I’m fascinated
by Afghanistan. This novel was one of the few books of fiction that I allowed
myself to read this year and as such I was a little disappointed. It is
possible that my expectations for it were too high. I would recommend this book to
folks that liked Hosseini’s previous novels. But if you have not read them yet,
I think one of those two would be a better choice. The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore (3.5 stars)
Wikipedia describes Wes Moore as an American author, businessman, and US Army veteran. He was a
Rhodes Scholar and by most definitions is very successful. He grew up in
Baltimore, just a few blocks away from another Wes Moore of similar age who currently
is in prison serving a life sentence for murder. Moore spent a lot of time
interviewing the “other” Wes Moore in prison as well as other members of both
their families. His book looks at the similarities and differences between
their lives based on that research. He examines what made one Wes Moore a
success and the other a convicted murderer. The book is a fascinating and
uncomfortable exploration. While I’m not sure of the conclusions (nor do I think
that he is), the book is worth reading for anyone interested in the lives of
children and young adults in the inner city. Makers: The New Industrial Revolution by Chris Anderson (3.5 stars)
In this book, Chris Anderson (the
former editor of Wired, not the head of TED) gives an interesting account of the
maker movement. Makers are people who are using the latest technology, such as
3D printers like the MakerBot Replicator 2, to create physical objects, both
for themselves and to sell to others. Makers are both taking hobbies to a new
level and creating businesses based on mass customization. He shows how the
combination of the Web, software tools, and relatively low-priced devices like
3D printers and CNC machines are changing the shape of manufacturing. Anderson
uses experiences such as his grandfather’s invention of improvements to lawn
sprinkler equipment and his own personal DIY drones experience to explain the
changes. He does most of this by looking at examples. Though little of the
information in Anderson’s book was new to me, he does a good job of pulling it
together. I came away from the book itching to try my hand at some sort of
manufacturing business. I recommend this book to both those interested in
participating as a maker or to those wanting to know about some important
trends in the 21st Century. I have more books to finish reading and a few more to finish writing quick reviews on. Stay tuned!
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