Books for senior with short attention span and dwindling comprehension

[Anonymous]

My dad always read a lot. Nothing big brain - mostly James Patterson and other popular authors. He has been suffering from early stage dementia, and my mom says he doesn't read anymore. We suspect he can't remember what was going on or confuses characters or otherwise can't easily follow what's going on. I was thinking young adult books might be better - shorter, less complicated plot, etc. But I don't know how to suggest this without being patronizing. I was thinking I could just leave some books there next time we visit saying 'We read these and thought they were good.'

Does anyone have good suggestions for easy reading? I also think graphic novels would be good for him, but he's from the generation where comics were for kids. Also I know James Patterson writes some kids books, so I thought these might be easy to slip in unnoticed as long as the covers aren't too kid-oriented.

[Anonymous]

Nothing comes to mind immediately but what about re-reading old favorites? Or the Agatha Christie short stories?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nothing comes to mind immediately but what about re-reading old favorites? Or the Agatha Christie short stories?

I agree with this. They lose new memory, but old memory stays for a long time so that might be more enjoyable for him. If you are looking into brain exercising jigsaw puzzles are supposed to be great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nothing comes to mind immediately but what about re-reading old favorites? Or the Agatha Christie short stories?

I agree with this. They lose new memory, but old memory stays for a long time so that might be more enjoyable for him. If you are looking into brain exercising jigsaw puzzles are supposed to be great.

Jigsaw Puzzles are great for older people. Word searches were good for my grandparents too.

[Anonymous]

Young adult fiction is very diverse. I am sure that some is simpler/shorter, but that’s probably independent of its status as YA. I read a lot of YA and in my experience, it is comparable to traditional fiction geared for adults, but with younger protagonists.

I think you might have better luck with short stories. You can probably find them in any genre and by definition, they’d be shorter and more manageable. You might also consider humor books, etc.

You might also want to consider a survival type story - ex. Call It Courage, Last of the Breed by Louis Lamour, or Hatchet (I haven’t read Hatchet, but I think it’s the same genre and generally well-liked). These stories generally only have one main character to keep track of, and it isn’t as much a plot driven story to remember, but a series of physical challenges to overcome and possibly the character’s accompanying mental and emotional struggles.

My father recently had some health problems that impaired his mental processes. Thankfully, he’s gradually recovering, but one of the things he liked was having the Reader’s Digest read to him. There are blurbs ranging from sentence quips to a maximum length of a few pages, predominantly upbeat.

[Anonymous]

I found that my mom liked to read biographies of people who were her peers and who she already knew quite a lot about.

[Anonymous]

As a senior myself, I'd scratch the YA idea.

Agatha Christie is a good suggestion.

A friend with a brain tumor really enjoyed the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series.

Another idea is to try books for adult beginning readers. I found this list by googling. It's suggestions from a library. I've no idea if they are good, but it's a place to start. https://ocpl.overdrive.com/collection/1084450 Hope the link works. If not, google "Books for Adult Literacy Learners."

You might also try audible if reading is hard.

[Anonymous]

OP, I'm sorry your Dad has this disease. Will he read newspapers or magazines?

[Anonymous]

Are you sure he can read? My millose all ability to read with dementia

[Anonymous]

Has he tried audiobooks? You can get them for free from the library on the Libby app. It might be easier for him to listen to a story rather than read it.

[Anonymous]

OP here - these are all excellent ideas. Thank you so much!!!

[Anonymous]

I second the idea of audiobooks. If you want to explore easier books that are like James Patterson, try the middle grade authors James Ponti and Stuart Gibbs. I listened to them with my kids and they clip along at a good pace. He won’t be bored.

[Anonymous]

Audiobooks is a great idea. Also short story anthologies or novellas might be good -- he can read them in a single sitting so no need to remember what's happening from one day to the next.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nothing comes to mind immediately but what about re-reading old favorites? Or the Agatha Christie short stories?

I agree with this. They lose new memory, but old memory stays for a long time so that might be more enjoyable for him. If you are looking into brain exercising jigsaw puzzles are supposed to be great.

Jigsaw Puzzles are great for older people. Word searches were good for my grandparents too.

My Mother in Law takes those books of word searches with her for when she has to wait at the doctor's office or somewhere like that.

[Anonymous]

Short stories. Try the Hemingway Nick Adams stories. They should appeal to an older guy and it doesn't really matter if you remember one to the next