BOOKsmARTS

reading-as-breathing:

(by Anita Jamal)

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This post is bit more serious, and a bit more personal. Working in a library affords me the opportunity to come across many books I probably wouldn’t otherwise, and I like to notice trends in new books that come across my desk. One trend I have noticed more of lately, even in the fiction world, is the subject of dementia, specifically early onset. As many of you know, this topic effects me personally, because my dad is one of the half a million Americans that suffer from it. My intent is not to make light of this topic, but simple to bring awareness about it. Dementia is a sad and awful disease, no matter what age it strikes. But the common misconception is that is only strikes the elderly. With the baby boomers reaching their 60’s, we are seeing more and more early onset cases, and by the middle of the century, the numbers are expected to triple in size. So I think it is a good thing that authors are tackling this subject, if for no other reason that to make people more aware of this increasing epidemic. I myself have not read these books, as the topic hits a little too close to home. But the reviews paint a picture of intricate plot lines told about people in unique and complicated situations, such as the one my family is in. Like I said earlier, dementia is tragic at any age, but early onset brings even more challenges with it, and has devastating effects on the younger family members as well. It puts many things in peril, such as relationships and marriages, careers and self concepts. These issues make for heartbreaking stories. Unfortunately, many people experience these effects in real life. But I believe that for the people that are fortunate enough to avoid these situations in real life, books such as these shed some light on the often dark and overlooked topic of early onset Alzheimer’s and dementia. Here are a few titles to check out if you are interested:

Turn of Mind by Alice LaPlante

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

The Bird House by Kelly Simmons

This was one of my favorite books as a child. I especially loved the images, and they inspired me to want to be an illustrator of children’s books when I grew up. I took as many art classes as I could, and really enjoyed it. I even was going to be an art major in college. As an art major, they make you take art history classes. I grumbled about it at first, but then I realized I really enjoyed learning the history behind and context around works of art, and about the lives of the artists. So I switched my major to art history. But my favorite part about art history was still books. I love the medieval classes I took where we studied illuminated manuscripts, and the vis com classes where the history of the printed book played an important part. I also happened to have part time jobs in the campus libraries, which I loved. Now I am in the process of getting my Master’s degree in Library Science, and hope to utilize my love and knowledge of both books and art. So, in a way, I’m not far from that little girl who wanted to work with both art and books.

librarianista:

Bones

prettybooks:

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