Need a nice book for an older lady - no curse words

[Patiod]

She loves Mary Higgins Clark and likes Maeve Binchy. Most other books a give her get the reaction "well, it was very okay, but there were a lot of bad words."

She's 83 and I'm not going to challenge or change her, so I'm looking for something clean that she might enjoy. It's tough, because there's not much out there that's squeaky clean AND a good read.

Oddly enough, someone gave her "Kite Runner" and she loved it.

[Tyler Durden]

1. The "All Creatures Great And Small" series...any one of them.

[Patiod]

2. Excellent suggestion, but one of the few she's read

She reads the newspaper, but not many books, but damned if she hasn't read the All Creatures series.


Edit: No!! We have a winner!!! I just talked to her, and she HASN'T read any of them. "All Creatures" it is then!!

[dropkickpa]

3. Is she a dog person?

Marley and me: tales of the worlds worst dog was a really good book!

[Patiod]

6. I bought that for her sister who had a bad Golden

And my dad bought a copy for her for Christmas (the author used to write for our local paper - The Phila Inquirer).

She enjoyed it - so a good suggestion.

[dropkickpa]

18. Darn it, I was feeling so smart!

Does she like mystery books at all? I really like Charlotte MacLeod's Professor Shandy and Sarh Keller series.

[Patiod]

20. She loves mysteries - are the MacLeod books squeaky clean?

If so, I'll write that down for birthday and Christmas.

[dropkickpa]

25. Super squeaky

They are sometimes classified as young adult, but I think that's mostly because they AREN'T filled with tons of blood, guts, sex, and swearing.

Ask her if she's read any of The Cat Who series by Lillian Jackson Braun, those are good, too.

[RebelOne]

10. You beat me to it. I was going to suggest that. Great book.

[ruiner4u]

4. the Mrs. Pollifax series...

Its actually quite cute....


http://www.amazon.com/Elusive-Mrs-Pollifax-Dorothy-Gilman/dp/0449215237

[Patiod]

7. Excellent! Saving that one for her birthday!

Which is 2 weeks from now. They are good, and they're sort of funny, too.

[EFerrari]

5. The Year of Magical Thinking, Didion.

I believe that was clean and the writing is amazing and it's all about thinking through family connections.

[Patiod]

9. Oh Good God No

My Dad is really ill right now and has had a few "near misses" -- NOT a good choice right now!

HOWEVER, a "young" friend of mine was widowed at 45 and she made our book club read it (we didn't want to), and I'm really, really glad she did.

As you said, amazing and wonderful about family connections. Was also helpful to understand what our friend was going through and why she was behaving "crazily" (although Joan Didion didn't start sleeping with one of her old boyfriends five weeks after her husband's death, thus prematurely aborting the grieving process, but that's a another story entirely.....)

[EFerrari]

13. Sorry. Is this for a friend of his? I'm confused. n/t

[Patiod]

15. It's for my mom - I see I was not at all clear about that

She's way too worried about my dad's health to consider a book about widowhood -- it would set her over the edge.

But it IS a great book, and provided me a look into what happens when someone loses a beloved spouse.

[EFerrari]

17. Ah! I see now why that's be exactly the wrong choice!

What does your mom like to do?

[Patiod]

19. Mostly just being Catholic

Her church is the central thing in her life. But I've bought her every "cute" or "fun" Catholic book I can think of. And she likes dogs, but the detective series starring dog owners that someone recommended had "bad words" in it - who knew? She also has a dollhouse she works on, but that's not very helpful.

It's tough - after 47 years I still can't figure out her tastes.

So we're going with "All Creatures Great and Small", which I just found out she HASN'T read (although I could swear I've seen it around her house, and there aren't a lot of books there)

[EFerrari]

22. There are some great biographies of Catholic women

like Mother Seton. She might enjoy them although, I'm so lapsed I don't have a title but I bet you could find one on Amazon.

That's so kind of you to do this for her. :)

[OzarkDem]

38. Another good book for Catholics

Death Comes For the Archbishop by Willa Cather.

Though the title sounds grim, its actually a very inspiring book about the faith and devotion of priests who established the missions in the Southwest US during the 17th Century. Very much about the love of the Church. I'm not even Catholic and I was inspired

One of Time Mag's top 100 novels. Anything by Willa Cather would be enjoyed by older women.

http://www.time.com/time/2005/100books/0,24459,death_comes_for_the_archbishop,00.html

[EFerrari]

42. Christy isn't a book about Catholics but in line with much of the

doctrine. The author is Catherine Marshall.

Also, Except for Me and Thee -- about a Quaker family. Charming, great writing and inspirational, too. The author is Jessamyn West.

:)

[irish.lambchop]

8. Bill Bryson's

"The Life and Times of The Thunderbolt Kid" - awesome book! He also wrote "A Short History of Nearly Everything".

[Patiod]

12. Bryson books make great gifts

I gave "A Sunburned Country" to a friend who was transferred to Australia, and she loved it. The Appalachian Trail one was great too. Will have to look into "Thunderbolt Kid"...

[Zookeeper]

11. I'm reading, "The Devil in the White City," by Erik Larson

which is a true story about the building of 1893 Chicago World's Fair, with a parallel (true) story of a serial killer finding his victims among the people drawn to the Fair.

It is a well-written and totally engrossing story. No swear words, but the killer did have some gruesome habits. She might enjoy the look into the history of the time.

It was a winner of the Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime.

[Patiod]

14. A good story, but a tad gruesome for her tastes

Although if it were set in Philadelphia (rather than them just catching the guy there) she might overcome her squeamishness.

One of my girlfriends is an engineer who supervises the construction of new buildings, and she said the World's Fair part was way more terrifying to her than the serial killer part, because she could so relate to the story of people trying to get something built under impossibly tight deadlines!!!

[Zookeeper]

30. Do you remember the story of the woman...

who designed the Women's Building, then had a nervous breakdown from dealing with the meddling from the society matrons?

[EFerrari]

33. I do! That's a fantastic book, grue and all. n/t

[Zookeeper]

49. Her story had a very striking irony.

It is a riveting book. My 12 year old read it before I did and finished it in a night!

:hi:

[huskerlaw]

16. If she liked Kite Runner,

She'd probably like Khalid Hosseini's new book, A Thousand Splendid Suns.

Also, The Time Traveler's Wife. And anything by Jodi Picoult.

[BOSSHOG]

21. THE OLD FARMERS ALMANAC FOR 2008

Its paperback "For Farmers and City Folk." Not the original Almanac but its chock full of interestng short stories and all kinds of astrological stuff telling you what planets will be visible and when and recipes and puzzles and such. I love it; although the print is rather small. Surely large print editions are available. And not a bit of it is racy.

[Debi]

23. I enjoyed The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Life-Bees-Monk-Kidd/dp/0142001740

I don't remember swearing in it, although she may not like the story line. d.

[SouthoftheBorderPaul]

24. Bridges of Madison County?

[Tian Zhuangzhuang]

26. Juliette and Justine.

both by the same author some old French duke or something.


:evilgrin:

[mitchum]

48. My grandmother said those books beat anything else out there

[lizziegrace]

27. Murder With Peacocks

Donna Andrews. The books are funny and charming.

[coffeenap]

28. Sue Grafton's early ones. Elder friendly, too. nt

[ceile]

29. What about Agatha Christie?

She may appreciate the time period given her age. And who doesn't like Miss Marple or Poirot?

[Bucky]

31. The Poetry of Andew Dice Clay

:)

[MrScorpio]

32. So I guess "The Story of O" and "Fear of Flying" are out of the question

Same goes for "Tropic of Cancer" too, I imagine

[Lyric]

34. "Dinner at the Homesick Cafe" - Anne Tyler

It's a good'un

[gmoney]

35. The novelization of "Reservoir Dogs"

Oh, maybe not... i thought you wanted nothing BUT curse words.

[HEyHEY]

36. Hmm, so "A Queer and pleasant stranger" is out?

[OzarkDem]

37. MIL also likes Dominic Dunne

His murder mystery novels are usually based on true events. Interesting to read because they're about wealthy influential people and a little bit gossipy.

She also likes Maeve Binchy, etc.

Might also suggest Truman Capote's short stories, Grass Harp, Music for Chameleons.

[yellowdogintexas]

39. Carole Nelson Douglas, Midnight Louie and Irene Adler mystery series

and of course The Cat Who series

another interesting series: #1 Ladie's Detective Agency and its sequels. . these are such gentle, humerous and wise books! I just love them.

I also liked the series by Brock and Brodie Thoene:
The Zion Covenant 9 books in all pre WWII Jewish/refugee/resistance/escaping/etc. wonderful
Begin with Vienna Prelude, and if you are not hooked then this is just not your kind of book.

The Zion Chronicles
continuing in the early days of Palestine, some characters from first series

Zion Legacy, which I have not read yet.

[Momgonepostal]

40. My mom is the same way, here are some suggestions

She loves the #1 Ladies Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith. He also writes some other series that are similarly tame, so anything by him should be safe. That series is actually pretty good, too.

There's another series of books by Jan Karon about a town called Mitford. My mom LOVED those books. I think the first may have been called Home to Harmony, or something similar.

Mary Stewart might be another author to consider. I haven't read her stuff in awhile, but I remember it being tame.

Good luck!

[Momgonepostal]

41. I wanted to add: Jennifer Chiaverini...

writes a series of books about quilters...all of them have some sort of quilt theme. I've read a couple of them and there not bad, but struck me as something an older lady might like.

[Whisp]

43. Empire of the Ants.

if she's into creatures big and small.
targeted mostly for younger audiences but I found it absolutely amazing.

[Orsino]

44. Marilynne Robinson's GILEAD.

Pulitzer winner, and a riveting read.

[triguy46]

45. Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns

[philosophie_en_rose]

46. I recommend the Isabel Dalhousie or Precious Ramotswe series

Isabel Dalhousie is the editor of philosophy journal. Precious Ramotswe is the proprietor of the #1 Ladies Detective agency. Both series are written by Alexander McCall Smith and, while they have mysteries in them, are mostly just about heartwarming people.

[Cabcere]

63. My mom loves the Mma Ramotswe series

:) She's 52, but I think those would probably be good for just about any age. :hi:

[mitchum]

47. "Last Exit To Brooklyn"...

heartwarming tales about life in the 50s
:)

[FloridaJudy]

50. The Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series

By Laurie R. King. Very prim and proper, but thrilling, action-packed mysteries. Also a discrete love story about two actual grown-ups (though Mary is a teen when the series begins).

The series:
The Beekeeper's Apprentice
A Monstrous Regiment of Women
A Letter of Mary
O Jerusalem
The Moor
Justice Hall
The Game

If she likes the first (the Beekeeper's Apprentice) you'll have quite a few to choose next.

[BlooInBloo]

51. It was on my mind earlier in the week... Something like "The Curious Incident of the Dead Dog"...

... or something like that. A very good read.

[FloridaJudy]

53. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

By Mark Haddon. Interesting book: the protagonist/narrator is an autistic teen, who "solves" the mysterious death of a neighbor's dog. Lots of devious plot twists, and an amazing glimpse into the mind of a high-functioning autistic. I don't recall there being any naughty words in it, but they've become part of the background noise these days, so I could be wrong.

[BlooInBloo]

54. I can never remember the name of it. Thanks!

[FloridaJudy]

56. Neither can I

But Amazon can!

[BlooInBloo]

57. The internet knows all.

[Momgonepostal]

58. I enjoyed that, but there was a lot of profanity nt

[FloridaJudy]

60. You're probably right

As I said, casual profanity/obscenity has become part of the back-ground noise these days. I do my best to avoid using it (some of my patients were elderly and/or very religious and easily offended), but unless it's truly foul I tend to tune it out when others indulge.

One of the books I enjoyed immensely was The Life of Pi, but I hesitated to recommend it because I couldn't remember if it included any words that would grate on sensitive ears/eyes. Maybe someone who's read it more recently than I have could help me out here.

On edit: check with your local library. Librarians are great at picking out appropriate choices if you know what the recipient has enjoyed in the past.

[Momgonepostal]

62. I loved The Life of Pi, too

I don't recall any bad language, other than when he described other kids making fun of his name and calling him "pissing."

I didn't recommend it my mom, not because of the language, but because I thought the plot would stress her out too much. She can't handle books where the characters go through anything too difficult. I know that sounds lame, but she over empathizes with the characters or something and gets really on edge and stressed.

I did pass it on to my 11 year old daughter who also loved it.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

52. My mother (age 85) LOVES Jan Karon's Mitford novels

They're about the quirky characters in a small town, centered on the members of an Episcopal church.

[Momgonepostal]

59. My mom loves those too...

in fact, she cried when she finished the series, becuase she didn't want it to end.

[KT2000]

55. Fannie Flagg books

I have the same problem finding books for a 94 year old woman.
She liked Red Bird Christmas by Fannie Flagg
Fried Green Tomatoes too
She has a new one - Can't Wait to get to Heaven (Costco had it too!) and a few others as well.

She liked the Mitford Series that someone else recommended but I found it unbearable (I read to her)

[Dora]

61. A Yellow Raft in Blue Water

Beautiful. Transportive.