e-Versions of "Good Reads"
The following titles are available in e-book and/or audio book format through various sources - several of which have been abbreviated as follows:
SPL= Spokane Public Library
SCLD = Spokane County Library District
To locate e-books or audio books you will first need to search the title in the source catalog:
Spokane Public Library Catalog
Spokane County Library District Catalog
Amazon - Some titles are available as audio books through Amazon's free 30-day Audible Trial
Barnes & Noble
To "checkout" audio or e-books from either SPL or SCLD, you will need to have a current library card at the ready. Click the links to each library below for more info on how to sign up for a library card. Each library offers online registration.
If you prefer print copies of books to read, all titles listed in the following columns on this guide should be available for purchase through Amazon, B&N and other book vendors.
Blindsided by Publication Date: 2005Downloadable Audio-book: Amazon
Diving Bell and the Butterfly: A memory of life and death by Publication Date: 1997e-Book: SCLD
e-Book Kindle: Amazon
Don't Leave Me This Way by Publication Date: 2007e-Book Kindle: Amazon
I'll Carry the Fork! A recovering a life after brain injury by ebook Kindle: Amazon
downloadable audio book: Amazon
Left Neglected: A Novel by downloadable audio book: SCLD
e-Book Kindle: Amazon
My Stroke of Insight by Publication Date: 2008e-Book: SCLD
downloadable audio book: SCLD
e-Book Kindle: Amazon
Out of My Mind: a novel by Publication Date: 2012e-Book: SCLD and SPL
downloadable audio book: SCLD and SPL
e-book Kindle: Amazon
audio book: Amazon
Over My Head: a doctor's own story of head injury from the inside looking out by Publication Date: 2000e-Book Kindle: Amazon
Until I Say Good-Bye by Publication Date: 2013e-Book: SPL and SCLD
downloadable audio book: SCLD
e-Book Kindle: Amazon
Where is the Mango Princess by Publication Date: 2000e-Book: SCLD
e-Book Kindle: Amazon
Lisa Genova - Alzheimer's
Author of Left Neglected and Still Alice, Lisa Genova talks about the effects of Alzheimer's on her family.
My Stroke of Insight
Print Versions of "Good Reads"
The books on this reading list provide insight into the lives of people dealing with serious diseases, traumatic injuries, and disorders. Many of these titles are available to checkout from SFCC or SCC Library. If a book is available only at SCC Library, please contact the SFCC Checkout Desk at 509-533-3805 so we can arrange for you to pick it up at either library.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
- Until I Say Good-Bye by Call Number: 616.83 SPENCERISBN: 9780062241450Publication Date: 2013A moving and inspirational memoir by celebrated journalist Susan Spencer-Wendel who makes the most of her final days after discovering she has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Alzheimer's disease
Jan's Story by Call Number: 362.1968 PETERSEISBN: 9781933016443Publication Date: 2010-06-15Acclaimed CBS News reporter Barry Petersen, writes about hearing the unimaginable: what it meant, what it still means, what he did--and didn't do--and how this beautiful love story needs to be read by the thousands of families who have already heard that same devastating diagnosis, "early onset Alzheimer's."
Asperger's syndrome
All Cats Have Asperger Syndrome by Call Number: J 618.9285 HOOPMANNPublication Date: 2006There is a great deal of truth in humor. If you have only just begun to discover why someone with Asperger's syndrome is different, this book will inform and entertain you. The descriptions provide an accurate balance between the qualities and difficulties associated with Asperger's syndrome.
Look Me in the Eye by Call Number: 618.9285 ROBISONPublication Date: 2008At age 40, while Robison was running a successful business, a therapist correctly diagnosed him as having Asperger's. In the end, Robison succeeds in his goal of helping those who are struggling to grow up or live with Asperger's to see how it is not a disease but a way of being that needs no cure except understanding and encouragement from others.
Autism
Autistic Brain: thinking across the spectrum by Call Number: 616.8588 GRANDIN 2013Temple Grandin reports from the forefront of autism science, bringing her singular perspective to a thrilling journey into the heart of the autism revolution.
Emergence: labeled autistic by Call Number: 616.8982 GRANDINPublication Date: 1996Emergence is the first-hand account of a courageous autistic woman who beat the odds and cured herself. As a child, Temple Grandin was forced to leave her "normal" school and enroll in a school for autistic children. This searingly honest account captures the isolation and fears suffered by autistics and their families and the quiet strength of one woman who insisted on a miracle.
Finding Lina: A mother's journey from autism to hope by Call Number: 618.9285 HJALMAR 2013Publication Date: 2013Follows the author's quest to help her autistic daughter engage with the world around her, exploring special schools, restrictive diets, sensory stimulation, relationship-based therapy, and other treatments.
Brain injury
Head Cases: stories of brain injury and its aftermath by Call Number: 617.481 MASON 2008ISBN: 9780374134525Publication Date: 2008A series of vivid glimpses into brain science, the last frontier of medicine, and explores fragility of the brain and the sense of self, life, and order that resides there- Over My Head: a doctor's own story of head injury from the inside looking out by Call Number: 362.1974 OSBORNPublication Date: 2000The author, a 45-year-old doctor and clinical professor of medicine, describes the aftermath of a brain injury eleven years ago which stripped her of her beloved profession. Her progression from confusion, dysfunction, and alienation to a full, happy life is told with restraint, great style, and considerable humor.
- Where Is the Mango Princess? by Call Number: 362.1961 CRIMMINPublication Date: 2000Humorist Cathy Crimmins has written a deeply personal, wrenching, and often hilarious account of the effects of traumatic brain injury, not only on the victim, in this case her husband, but on the family.
Cerebral palsy
- Out of My Mind: a novel by Call Number: SFCC Fiction DRAPERPublication Date: 2012Melody is not like most people. She cannot walk or talk, but she has a photographic memory; she can remember every detail of everything she has ever experienced. Melody refuses to be defined by cerebral palsy. And she’s determined to let everyone know it…somehow.
Multiple sclerosis
Awkward Bitch by Call Number: 362.1968 PARMLEEPublication Date: 2009At 32, Marlo was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, the most common neurological disease amongst young adults today. From diagnosis her attitude has been 'forget MS, I still look hot!' She has worked with the MS Society and charities such as Attitude is Everything to raise awareness for MS and other disabling conditions.- Blindsided by Call Number: 362.1968 COHENPublication Date: 2005In this moving and engrossing memoir, veteran television news producer Richard Cohen relates a life spent dealing with multiple sclerosis, first diagnosed when he was 25 years old and just getting started in the competitive world of broadcast journalism.
Stroke
- Don't Leave Me This Way by Call Number: 362.1968 GARRISOPublication Date: 2007A personal memoir of the author's struggle to regain control over her life and her body following a devastating hemorrhagic stroke.
- My Stroke of Insight by Call Number: 362.1968 TAYLORPublication Date: 2008Jill Bolte Taylor got a research opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: She had a massive stroke, and watched as her brain functions -- motion, speech, self-awareness -- shut down one by one.
Look up for Yes by Call Number: 362.4309 TAVALARPublication Date: 1997Julia Tavalaro woke up from a coma to find herself almost completely paralyzed by two strokes that had also left her unable to speak. Slowly, methodically, she regained her ability to communicate aided by technological and therapeutic developments.
