Marion Agnew

So last night, I participated in a special signing and fundraising event at the Thunder Bay Chapters location. For every copy of my book that I signed, I gave an amount to the Thunder Bay chapter of the Alzheimer Society . For the purchases everyone made between 6 and 8 PM, the local store gave 15% to the local Alzheimer Society (at no extra cost to the consumer). It was fun! I signed some books! And I bought some things! And other people did, too! And we all raised some money for people in Thunder Bay who need support. Here's what it looked like from my side of the table. People came with stories, and I was extremely glad to have the Alzheimer Society present with lots of information about programs, communication, and even just lots of basics. I'm still processing other elements of the event. So more later. But yep, it felt pretty authory to be there and sign my name!

January is Alzheimer's Awareness Month. This year I've been sharing resources , as I did last year . I have also shared my own excitement about the upcoming book signing-fundraiser event  (happening next week!) for my book, Reverberations: A Daughter's Meditations on Alzheimer's . Today I'm pleased to be able to pass on link to a site we all need, even if we don't yet know it. That place is  AlzAuthors.com . As their website says, Whether you are a caregiver, family member or living with dementia, you’ll find the help you need from decades of caregiving within –  memoirs, caregiver guides, novels, children’s books, and blogs  – plus the encouraging real-life experiences behind these works. I would add this: If you currently don't fall into one of those categories--caregiver, family member, or person with dementia--you will. Sooner or later, dementia will touch all of our extended families. And we all have a lot to learn.  One reason I began takin...

It's exciting to announce this fun event coming up in just a couple of weeks! It's a book signing! It's a fundraiser! It's an OPPORTUNITY to BUY BOOKS! I would never counsel someone who's trying to manage spending to buy books just "for a good cause." But if you're going to buy books or lifestyle items anyway, why not choose a time that benefits others as well as yourself? On January 29, from 6 to  8 PM, I'll be at the Thunder Bay Chapters, signing copies of my book, REVERBERATIONS: A DAUGHTER'S MEDITATIONS ON ALZHEIMER'S. For each copy of the book I sign that evening, I'll donate $5 to the Alzheimer Society (minimum $100). You can bring books you bought before--that's cool. You can buy a book that night and I'll sign it--also cool. AND ALSO TOO! You can raise money for the Alzheimer Society just by spending money that night between 6 and 8 PM. Just mention it to the cashier and they'll donate 15% of your purcha...

January is Alzheimer's Awareness Month. Alzheimer's is important. It's of course important to me, not only because I have personal experience with it (and wrote a book). It's important to all of us, because it's a disease the Baby Boomers can't escape and science hasn't yet figured out. It might be tempting to think, "Oh, medical research will take care of it," blah blah, "breakthroughs," "potential vaccines," "genetic testing." But don't think those things and turn away. While medical researchers accumulate knowledge, people continue to get dementia. And many of the rest of us pretend people with dementia don't exist or "should be locked away," or we think "isn't is sad they aren't themselves," and their spouse/child/grandchild is a saint, and hoo boy aren't we glad it's not us. Surprise! It is us--of if not us, it will be, or it will be someone we love. Even i...

Disclaimer: I read, and I enjoy it, and I read for many different reasons. I have opinions about books, which I might share in person but will likely not reduce to stars on any of the popular platforms. From time to time, I share books. I don't share everything, which means I quite enjoy some books but don't share them here. I wrote a little more about reading, and books, earlier this month . Which includes links to other books I've written about. THAT SAID ... I may write more about books in 2020. Today, I'm saying something about two books that have stuck with me throughout 2019. They are The Cooking Gene and All Among the Barley . One afternoon when I was old enough to think of being with my parents as "visiting" them, but not late enough in the 1990s that visits were all about my mother's Alzheimer's, a mealtime conversation turned to family history. (We Agnews were a barrel o' laughs.) While we lingered at the table, my father pul...

A lot of things are going on in a lot of places. Out here in the wilds of Shuniah, we've been playing our seasonal game, "What stinks in the basement?" We ruled out garbage and dead "visitors." Also cardboard, which can take on surprisingly foul odors. My husband saw a wolf in our area this afternoon.* He was on his way back from town, where he'd talked to some people about furnaces and plumbing and whatnot, in his effort to diagnose the source of the smell. Good times. Or rather, bad times, with some consolations. But we've got a good life. In many other places, people have behaved badly and are continuing to deny it, while others try to hold them to account. Lots of places are melting or on fire, literally or figuratively. Children are in cages, their parents in detention. It's appalling. Wearying and worrisome. Plus we're getting a stretch of really cold days. Am I ready for the dark winter days? Or should I order more books?** ...

It's the "best books of" lists. I don't make those. I don't really review books. I feel squicky giving stars on Goodreads so I don't, so far. I enjoy a lot of books, and a lot of writers , and a lot of book businesses . And a lot of book-adjacent things , like book statistics , and when and why characters might name items . Sometimes I write about things here, and sometimes I don't. That said, here's another book I greatly enjoyed: Daughters of Silence , by Rebecca Fisseha. I hope it appears on lots of "best books of" lists. It should. It's challenging in the BEST ways. Relationships aren't what they seem. Some are more destructive, some are more delightful, all are deliciously complicated. Cultures clash, several times over: several cultures, none has the "right" answers, all make demands that while obviously conflicting, all seem reasonable. At first. Fisseha is somehow able to covey the weight of family exp...