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While my mother can use technology, the rate of change is a source of irritation (especially version upgrades giving her features she does not want or need). Also, her memory is not as good as it once was (a common trait in my family regardless of age) so I have her on my Amazon Kindle account to load books for her since the publishers like users to go through extra steps to load Kindle books from public library ebook collections. (Yes, I purchase ebooks for her too.)
The challenge has been finding books for her to read.
- She only reads a book once (she also only watches a movie once)
- Nothing too graphic or sad (she has seen both too much in her lifetime)
- Only some historical periods are of interest
- Nothing preachy (religious or technical)
- Must be well-written
- She reads very quickly
We ran through her current favorite authors quickly. For example, she wanted to complete the Jean M. Auel 's Earth Children series (Book 1: Clan of the Cave Bear through Book 6: The Land of Painted Caves) and was very happy to read it on the Kindle due to the weight of the library's hard copy (ranging from 400 pages to over 700 pages).
We tried cozy mysteries with mixed results. (I agree, the dead body theme gets old.) So we tried humor. Better luck with observational humor if not too modern in tone. Remember, she is older and has experienced life over many decades so today's commentary without historical observation just sounds like gossip to her. So I made some recommendations.
Imagine my surprise when my mother calls me (she almost never calls) with delight in her voice to tell me about the book I loaned her. It was Bill Bryson's The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America. She had traveled through many of those areas and could relate to the humorous observations. Not all of his books appeal to her but this one struck a chord.
So now is the challenge to find more books with similar tone. Any recommendations?
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