Recommended Reading from Senior News

Chicagoland Senior News

Recommended Reading

The Roadmap to 100: The Breakthrough Science of Living a Long and Healthy Life, by Walter M. Bortz II and Randall Stickrod. Dr. Bortz and co-author Stickrod make the case that aging does not have to be synonymous with illness and poor quality of life. The right lifestyle choices will allow anyone to take control of their health.

The Roadmap to 100 suggests we can mitigate the effects of aging by taking a proactive role in our own health. The authors provide compelling data and useful recommendations for improving the length and quality of life.

How to Succeed at Aging without Really Dying, by Lyla Blake Ward. Wisdom comes with age, and apparently, so does a humorous outlook on life. Ward, with 60 years of publication, channels her insights on aging in a youth-oriented world, keeping up with technology, and the quest for wellness through a collection of wry commentary. Her book covers whimsical and serious topics. Recommended reading for all ages.

You Don’t Have to Learn the Hard Way: Making It in the Real World, by J.R. Parrish. Crediting his successful career to the influence of remarkable mentors, Parrish offers the kind of sound and heartfelt advice that can make a real difference in the life of today’s young people. Parrish, now retired from his real estate brokerage empire, built his business and career on his belief in fair and respectful relationships. Since his retirement, he has focused on channeling the wisdom gained over a lifetime to today’s youth. His philanthropic efforts, like his books, focus on benefitting young people.

Spiritual Color Dictionary, by Tori Hartman. Intuitive counselor Hartman has spent the last decade empowering others and helping them create the life of their dreams. Her new manual is the reference she uses when working with clients. Color conveys a message and carries particular energies, which we can harness and direct in our efforts to reach goals.

Hartman’s previous book, Fabulous You, made it to the #2 position on Amazon.com.

Spend Joyfully, by James W. Stone

Spend Joyfully! Is an easy to read guide that explores the basics of money. The book, by Northbrook author James W. Stone, will change the way people spend and save.

Written in part as a result of Stone’s own struggles with debt, provides tools, principles and practices to help the reader get out of debt, stay out of debt, and live within their means. Stone leads the reader through an exploration of their attitude and behavior toward money, which ultimately empowers individuals to spend money joyfully, responsibly, and without guilt or regret.

Stone learned this lesson the hard way, rising out of years of financial debt. He reversed this downward trend and now maintains a healthy financial lifestyle through attitude, budget and cash flow.

Tom Jones: From the Valleys to Vegas, by Gwen Russell - Throughout almost 50 years in the music business, Tom Jones sold over 100 million records and topped the charts. Gwen Russell’s biography traces the performers journey, beginning with his first gigs as a unsigned front man, through his emergence as an international solo superstar and later, his popular cabaret-style Vegas shows.

The book is a fascinating and thorough account of the life of an award-winning singer whose soulful voice and unadulterated sex appeal captured the hearts of several generations.

Feeding Penny Pig, by Jeannine Fox - Jeannine Fox, a financial planning professional in Houston, believes good fiscal health begins with early education. Her book, Feeding Penny Pig, is a picture book about financial responsibility. The story teaches children important lessons that will help them avoid common financial mistakes in later life.

Her concept is sound. According to the Council for Economic Education, children who are exposed to finance and economics when they are young are more likely to develop positive behaviors toward money.

Fox, hopes grandparents will use the book to help children learn about financial responsibility and making saving fun.

Stop Ripping Me Off! By Karl Evald Auleciems - Construction Advisors (CA) are non-biased advocates who oversee the construction of a new home or remodeling of an existing home. These objective professionals work for the homeowner and oversee the work of subcontractors, ensuring that the homeowners gets more value for less money. They ensure that the job is done right, that the best materials are obtained for the lowest cost, and that the homeowner receives the kind and quality of service from subcontractors that they are paying for.

The author explains the advantages of advocation in the context of the construction process. The book is based on Auleciems’s experience as a CA and founder of Castle Construction Advisors, Inc.

Build Your Own Brand, by Doug Dvorak

This introductory guide to branding presents a thorough business strategy that can be easily adapted to any type of industry, and it’s a must-read for “SeniorPreneurs”. Marketing guru Doug Dvorak exposes tips and tricks commonly used by public relations firms. Quizzes, history and humor are combined to simplify the vast undertaking of brand development. Demonstrating simple, affordable and effective ways to maintain a brand, the author takes you step by step from building a reputation and designing a website to generating a continual buzz in the media.

Your product, your service, and your personality deserve a prominent place in the public eye, and establishing a strong brand will make you stand out among the competiton. Dvorak shows you how in this accessible and compact manual.

The Simplified Handbook for Living with Heart Disease and Other Chronic Diseases, by Warren Selkow and Donna Selkow

Chronic diseases often lead patients into a world for which they are not prepared, and their partners into a role for which they have not been trained. Husband and wife team Warren and Donna Selkow co-authored The Simplified Handbook for Living with Heart Disease and Other Chronic Diseases to serve as a guide for patients and their caregivers.

Warren’s writing, from the perspective of a patient, is candid and straight-forward. In addition to definitions of medical terminology and explanations of procedures, he provides a first-hand perspective on dealing with heart disease, from diagnosis through recovery. Knowing what to expect, he maintains, removes a great deal of the fear and trauma that many patients experience.

Equally important is the information on caregiving, provided from Donna’s perspective. Based on her experience caring for Warren, she shares essential tips on how to best support the patient at each stage of the process. Most vital, though, is taking care of yourself so you can better care for your loved one.

Recovery begins at the moment you receive the diagnosis, they stress, and their book is filled with actionable steps you both can take throughout the process and beyond.

Making Weight Control Second Nature: Living Thin Naturally, by Susan Burke March

In this holistic approach to weight control, author Susan Burke March asserts that weight control results from making everyday choices with intention. The book begins where the struggle with weight control must first be won: inside your head.

Susan shares her own struggle with obesity and explains the process that allowed her to achieve and maintain a healthy, stable weight. She outlines the behavioral changes that make this possible and offers practical guidance based on proven methodologies to help readers make weight control an achievable and permanent goal.

Ultimately, the secret ingredient in this book is the revelation that being thin and healthy, eating what you like yet liking yourself, and controlling your weight without fixating on it for the rest of your life is not about natural gifts, but about the gift of knowing how.

What Should I Do with the Rest of My Life: True Stories of Finding Success, Passion, and New Meaning in the Second Half of Life, by Bruce Frankel.

Noted journalist and author Bruce Frankel explores the lives of people who, at 60 or older, decided to follow their dreams.

These stories are not just examples of successful aging, Frankel said, but inspirational in the truest sense as they defy prejudice and misconceptions aobut age, and pursue unlikely passions with courage, creativity and discipline. Age does not of itself limit or enable us, he said. The choice is ours.

Frankel takes his subject seriously. He should. At age 50, he left his career as a prize-winning investigative reporter to pursue his true passion: poetry. He received his MFA from Sarah Lawrence College at age 53 and has since published poetry in major venues.

Scientific and sociological research may convince you this subject is noteworthy. Reports have proliferated newspapers and TV show on how people over the age of 60 are re-inventing what it means to be older. This is a story about grabbing the bull by the horns and making the most out of life.

Heal Your Mind, Rewire Your Brain: Applying the Exciting New Science of Brain Synchrony for Creativity, Peace and Presence, by Patt Lind-Kyle

Memory loss and lack of mental control are two of the most feared symptoms of aging. The good news, promises therapist and author Patt Lind-Kyle, is that maintaining a healthy, active mind is largely within your control. In her new book and companion CD, she teaches readers how to consciously explore and redirect brain patterns, a process that has been scientifically proven to be effective.

Mind training is a process that helps you focus on and become aware of each of the four types of brainwaves. Bringing the brain waves into synchrony is key to sharpening your mind, Lind-Kyle said. This is the process that triggers the neuroplastic function of the brain, which enhances concentration, memory, and positive emotional response.

Many of the effects of aging that are chalked up to the deterioration of the brain and body are actually not the result of natural run-down, Lind-Kyle said, but of an unconscious lack of mental discipline. Her book and CD explain the process and provide exercises to help you develop the necessary discipline to stay sharp, improve your memory, and respond to challenges with greater ease.

Toad Cottages and Shooting Stars: Grandma’s Bag of Tricks, by Sharon Lovejoy

Legendary gardener and horticulturist Sharon Lovejoy shares her passion through her latest book, a magical guide to 130 activities for grandparents to share with young people. These imaginative ideas will instill a true sense of wonder as readers learn how to create a pumpkin patch in a pot, make leaf rubbing, turn an aquarium into a worm hotel, and create a firefly lantern.

Lovejoy is a grandmother of four and author of numerous classic books on gardening. Filled with her own distinctive, delicate watercolors, the book provides innovative ideas and projects for grandparents who want to connect with the children in their lives.

Lovejoy has loved plants every since she was a little girl, gardening with her grandmother. Before the days of computers and video games, children had fun exploring, playing, discovering and interacting, always engaging their vivid imaginations. Toad Cottages & Shooting Starts helps grandparents bring that sense of creativity and excitement back to today’s plugged-in youth.

The Best of Everything After 50: The Experts’ Guide to Style, Sex, Health, Money and More, by Barbara Hannah Grufferman.

The essential handbook to being a healthy, happy and strong woman over 50, this book combines practical advice from Grufferman, with professional expertise from leading authorities in areas of concern to women.

The Best of Everything After 50 provides the answers women need, quickly and easily, to pressing issues affecting women in the second half of life.

Gardening for a Lifetime: How to Garden Wiser as You Grow Older

By Sydney Eddison. Gardening has been a daily part of life for Eddison for more than 40 years, witnessing the changing seasons and the author’s greatest joys and deepest sorrows. After widowhood and painful joints made it impossible to keep up with a large country garden, Eddison learned to embrace a new and simpler way of gardening. The memoir is an inspiring and moving journey full of heartfelt writing and practical advice for anyone who loves to garden, no matter what stage of life they are experiencing.

Eddison is author of numerous books on gardening and other topics. Gardening for a Lifetime is to be released in April. Pre-order using the link on the Book Nook page on our website.

Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Story Behind the Song

By Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Jo-Ann Geffen.

Musicians love to say that every song tells a story, but they are usually tight-lipped about the story behind the song. Chicken Soup for the Soul has partnered with veteran Hollywood publicist Jo-Ann Geffen, who tells the real story behind 101 of our favorite songs.

The book reflects on popular songs that trace our lives through music, including hits from Barry Manilow, Paul Anka, Smokey Robinson, Earth, Wind and Fire, Ray Stevens, Jim, Croce, Hall and Oates, Foreigner, and Melissa Etheridge.

Some stories bring laughter, others tears, but all are insightful and great reading for music fans, aficionados or any who likes a good story. Each of the tales is accompanied by a photo and the lyrics for the song that is discussed.

Next Steps: A Practical Guide for the Best Half of Your Life

by Jan Warner and Jan Collins.

Warner and Collins, America’s trusted experts on later life planning, and authors of the nationally syndicated column NextSteps, put decades of experience into helping you create a step-by-step plan to protect your assets, your family, your health and your personal autonomy in later life.

In Next Steps, you will learn how to build a team of trusted legal, financial, and medical professionals to protect your interest; what should be included in important documents such as wills and financial and medical powers of attorney; the pros and cons of living trusts and reverse mortgages; the basics of Medicare and Medicaid; how to avoid scams that target the elderly; how to live with adult children; and much more.

Next Steps is a practical and comprehensive guide that will help you build a strategy for coping with the unique legal, medical, financial and personal challenges of aging.