Community for Conscious Aging
ReADING rESOURCES
From book reviews to reading recommendations, our community
has curated meaningful inquiry from diverse perspectives related to conscious aging!
Many of these books can be found at The Jung Center Bookstore & Library!
The Grieving Brain:
The Surprising Science of How We Learn from Love and Loss
A Book Review by Beth Quill
“Grief is a problem for the brain to solve,” (p.5) notes Mary-Frances O’Connor of her quest to understand grief in this compelling read. The author articulates her motivation for this book as one of curiosity: Why does grief hurt so much? Why does death of a loved one result in such devastating feelings? (p. x).
Watch the author's Ted Talk below!
Books on Aging:
A List of Recommendations!
from The Community for Conscious Aging
The Road Map to Senior Care by Stephen Andriko Senior care expert, Stephen Andriko, provides a concise, down to earth, non-judgmental approach to navigating the confusing maze of senior care options.
The End of Old Age – Living a Longer, More Purposeful Life by Marc E. Agronin (New York, NY: Da Capo Press, 2018). A call to no longer see aging as an implacable enemy and to start seeing it as a developmental force for enhancing well-being, meaning and longevity”. The focus is on what so what does this mean for me and my family? Provides an action plan to help us age better by improving how we value the aging process.
How We Age, A Doctor’s Journey Into The Heart of Growing Old
by Marc E. Agronin (New York, NY: Da Capo Press, 2011). Drawing on moving personal experiences – those of his patients and their families, as well as his own – and on in-depth interviews with pioneers in the field. A look at what aging means today: how our bodies and brains change over time and how even the very way we understand aging is changing too.
Books on Dealing with Mortality:
A List of Recommendations!
by The Community for Conscious Aging
You Only Die Once – Preparing for the End of Life with Grace and Gusto by Margie Jenkins (Balcony Publishing, Georgetown, TX, 2002) All about end of life planning and communicating
My Personal Planner – for use with You Only Die Once by Margie Jenkins, (Balcony Publishing, Georgetown, TX, 2009)
Who Dies – An Investigation of Conscious Living and Conscious Dying by Stephen Levine. (Anchor Books/Doubleday)
Being Mortal by Atul Gawande (2014)
Jung and Aging: Possibilities and Potentials for the Second Half of Life by Leslie Sawin et.al.,(2014)
Books on Relational Aging:
A List of Recommendations!
Casting Indra's Net: Fostering Spiritual Kinship and Community by Pamela Ayo Yetunde. (Shambhala, 2023). A heartfelt call and primer for community-oriented models of wellbeing in our age of polarization and turmoil. Activist, counselor, and Buddhist teacher Ayo Yetunde creatively unpacks this condition through the metaphor of Indra’s Net—a universal net in which all beings reflect each other like jewels.
Wise Women: Myths and Stories for Midlife and Beyond by Sharon Blackie. (Shambhala, 2023). Unparalleled inspiration from fierce grandmothers, misunderstood witches, glamorous fairy godmothers, and hairy-chinned hags. Compiling many years of research, Sharon Blackie has reclaimed these tales, presenting them in evocative prose that will resonate with women of all ages.
Books on Spirituality:
A List of Recommendations!
Ageless Soul, The Lifelong Journey Toward Meaning and Joy by Thomas Moore. (New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press, 2017). Convinces us that we age best when we embrace our age, live agelessly and remember every day to find the endless joy nestled inside our souls. Argues for a new vision of aging: as a dramatic series of initiations, rather than diminishing experience – one that each of us has the tools to live out.
On the Brink of Everything, Grace, Gravity And Growing Old by Parker J. Palmer.(Oakland, CA: Barrett-Koehler Publishers Inc. 2018). A book of reflections on what we can learn as we move closer to “the brink of everything.” Not for elders only – written to encourage adults of all ages to explore the way their lives are unfolding. Not a how-to-do-it book on aging, but a set of mediations refracting new light at every turn.
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Books on Caring & Helping:
A List of Recommendations!
by The Community for Conscious Aging
How Can I Help?
by Ram Dass & Paul Gorman. (Knopf, 1985).
Discover how giving of yourself can lead to some of the most joyous moments in your life—in a book that “deserves a special place on that shelf reserved for truly practical wisdom" (Harold Kushner, author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People).
The Conscious Caregiver: A Mindful Approach to Caring for Your Loved One Without Losing Yourself by Linda Abbit. (Adams Media. 2019). Linda Abbit, founder of Tender Loving Eldercare and a veteran of the caregiving industry, shares her advice on taking care of an older parent or loved one and how to handle everything that goes along with this dramatic life change.
