tildafin16's reviews
596 reviews

Dementia from the Inside: A Doctor's Personal Journey of Hope by Louise Morse, Jennifer Bute

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emotional hopeful informative fast-paced

3.75

Very focused on the religious aspect , not that this was hidden and for me it was a really valuable insight into how someone who believes can harness that to find a way of living hopefully with dementia. I wish more folk were able to do so in the early stages and that we would pour the money into this that it deserves! 
Moby-Dick: Or, the Whale by Herman Melville

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Absolutely brilliant. Strange, challenging, exciting, sad, tense, hypnotic / I don’t think I’ve ever thought so many terms apply to one book. Off to start it again !
Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie

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adventurous challenging emotional funny sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Dear Alzheimer's: A Diary of Living with Dementia by Keith Oliver

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informative reflective slow-paced

3.5

It’s always moving to read personal accounts of any illness but particularly dementia which is often not well recognised or understood in its early stages, when people can still talk about it and plan activity and occupation to help . The best bit of this book for me was the initial part where Keith talked about having to adapt his plans and dreams in accordance with a totally unexpected diagnosis. Later, though interesting and admirable, became almost like a list of details of groups and meetings and I think even just a tiny bit more of Keith himself and how things were affecting him might have been useful. However what he has accomplished is amazing and his YouTube video and other articles are so helpful
Shakespearean: On Life & Language in Times of Disruption by Robert McCrum

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informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.0

A biographical and literary reflection on Shakespeare and his impact on how we understand ourselves and his continuing relevance. I find McCrum a bit hard to read at times , disappears a bit into himself here especially in the somewhat repetitive end sections - but I learned things here and enjoyed the read 
In Gratitude by Jenny Diski

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challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

First Jenny Diski I’ve read, I immediately loved her voice and simple prose for complex , dark issues. Will seek out her earlier work 
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë

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dark emotional funny reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I adore this book, I read it regularly and it feels like an old friend . Depending on what age I am when I read it I view things slightly differently - Helen can be too pious for her own good and Arthur Snr a sadder figure to me these days rather than simply a monster - and yes it’s a bit too long probably and too obvious in its didactic purpose - but to me it’s an astonishing psychological novel , feminist and insightful, all the more striking given Anne‘s own circumstances - and it deserves in my view much more Bronte love than it gets! 
Dementia: The One-Stop Guide: Practical advice for families, professionals, and people living with dementia and Alzheimer's Disease by June Andrews

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hopeful informative medium-paced

4.0

Great all round book by June Andrew’s on dementia , very positive in tone and encouraging of carers to get in there and advocate for their loved ones (a bit matronly in tone but she was a director of nursing at one point!) - my only quibble as someone who works in Scottish mental health law is that there are quite a few inaccuracies in the small sections on that area in the back of the book - the info about named persons, advance statements and how long it takes to get Guardianship isn’t quite right and could give a wrong impression. Other than that, great book 
Something to Answer for: The First Man Booker Prize Winner by P.H. Newby

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challenging funny mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Oh gosh I found this hard going. I liked parts , mainly the dry humour and the kind of farcical parts , and I actually liked the way the prose matched the idea of Townrow being a bit delirious and nothing being certain, but by 2/3 through I had had enough 😂 Leah was a character I enjoyed and the last twenty pages were very good I thought 
Macbeth by William Shakespeare

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0