Book recommendations for my grandma
December 29, 2016 5:28 AM   Subscribe

My 90 year old grandmother is a passionate believer in lifetime learning. Aside from using her free time to learn English and to navigate an iPad, she is convinced that the only way to slow her mental decline is to keep the mind engaged.

Recently she's taken a inclination toward biographies and has already read the Isaacson bio of Steve Jobs several times. She is also interested in the information age and big data and what it means.
What other biographies do I think might interest her?
posted by wallawallasweet to Human Relations (12 answers total) 8 users marked this as a favorite
 
Does it have to be a bio? If not, The Information, by James Gleick. If it does, maybe try Tuxedo Park by Jennet Conant.
posted by superelastic at 6:05 AM on December 29, 2016 [2 favorites]


If she enjoyed reading about one egotistical prick she might enjoy reading about another: try The Soul of a New Machine.
posted by flabdablet at 6:06 AM on December 29, 2016 [2 favorites]


I loved Nicholas Carr's The Glass Cage, on automation and its discontents; your grandmother might, too.
posted by Sheydem-tants at 6:23 AM on December 29, 2016 [2 favorites]


Response by poster: (no intention to thread sit---biographies are best- but not a must; and thanks for the suggestions so far--they're great!)
posted by wallawallasweet at 6:52 AM on December 29, 2016


Not a book recommendation, just a tip: Depending on where your grandma lives and what her situation is, she may qualify for service through the National Library Service, which provides free large-print and audiobooks for folks with visual impairments or physical impairments that make it difficult to hold a book. Along with the free books/free shipping of books to her home, libraries that operate this program usually have staff members whose whole job is to talk to library patrons and make book recommendations to them, based on what they like and are interested in. Just another option!
posted by nuclear_soup at 7:28 AM on December 29, 2016 [2 favorites]


Response by poster: We're not in the US, but I'll see if we have something similar here in Taiwan. If not, something great like this should be created here. Thanks!
posted by wallawallasweet at 7:40 AM on December 29, 2016 [1 favorite]


A few seemingly random recommendations:

It's a bit old, but I found Amanda Foreman's biography of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire to be FASCINATING.

She might also enjoy Rebecca Skloot's THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS which is one of the most riveting and informative pieces of nonfiction of the last decade.
posted by mynameisluka at 7:46 AM on December 29, 2016 [4 favorites]


Not a book recommendation, but I spotted this Coursera class on Internet History, Technology, and Security. It looks awesome and should be free.

My husband recommends Tubes: The History of the Internet for a similar topic. Both are probably less about big data and more about the Internet, but might be interesting.
posted by bananacabana at 8:08 AM on December 29, 2016 [1 favorite]


Although I haven't read it yet myself, I'm really excited by a recommendation made by a friend (who has great taste in books, particularly nonfiction) of American Prometheus, a biography of Robert Oppenheimer.

I also recommend Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software which I read because I am interested but it's not my field and I have no background. Just wanted to understand more.

The curiosity was inspired by Neal Stephenson's In The Beginning...Was the Command Line, which is a short and fascinating little book about operating systems. This was the book that cracked open computers for me.

Not about computers, and not actually a biography (although its subtitle is: A Biography of Cancer), but The Emperor of All Maladies was a page-turner for me. It's the history of cancer study and treatment and it really scratched an itch for understanding and for historical perspective.
posted by janey47 at 10:09 AM on December 29, 2016 [1 favorite]


I if your grandma would like to learn to code. There are plenty of apps and websites suitable for children that might suit and older learner also, otherwise maybe she could read a biography of Ada Lovelace. If coding seems too daunting there are still interesting intros to data-logical thinking that should stimulate the brain!
posted by Iteki at 12:32 PM on December 29, 2016 [1 favorite]


I know the Coursera class I've been fiddling with has subtitle options including Chinese. Looks like there are even some classes with Taiwan National University? You don't have to pay for Coursera classes, just opt to "audit" courses if you're prompted to pay.
TED talks have lots of sub options too.
posted by sacchan at 5:15 PM on December 29, 2016 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Picked up translated works of Nicholas Carr and James Geick today as a start - thanks people, this thread has been extremely helpful!
posted by wallawallasweet at 3:01 AM on December 30, 2016


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