Seattle Public Library
The Great Moment Reading List
The Great Moment: Beyond the Theater
Librarians at Seattle Public Library created this list of books and films to enhance your experience of the show!
Happy Family
A Novel
by Barone, Tracy
Book - 2016
A former cop-turned-disgruntled academic struggles to come to terms with her adoptive and biological families as she attempts to become pregnant herself.
Transitions (40th Anniversary) : Making Sense of Life's Changes
by Bridges, William
Book - 2019
A guide to coping with change, Transitions describes approaches for handling major transitions, and provides advice designed to move into a hopeful, meaningful, and productive future.
Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?
by Chast, Roz
Graphic Novel - 2016
A New Yorker cartoonist depicts the final years of her aging parents’ lives in a graphic memoir that reflects an adult child’s struggles with caregiver decisions and challenges.
Chicken Soup for the Soul
My Crazy Family : 101 Stories About the Wacky, Lovable People in Our Lives
Book - 2018
In this collection of stories about embarrassing, annoying and dysfunctional families, contributors humorously and lovingly share those special moments that have become cherished memories.
The Descendants
DVD - 2012
An indifferent husband and father examines his past and embraces his future after his wife suffers an accident, leading to re-engaging with his daughters while making decisions about a family legacy.
Blue Nights
by Didion, Joan
Book - 2011
Didion's lyrical memoir of her daughter Quintana Roo's long illness and death just twenty months after her husband's fatal heart attack is both devastating and moving.
The Year of Magical Thinking
by Didion, Joan
Book - 2007
In this wrenching memoir, Didion describes her attempts to cope with the sudden death of her husband shortly after their daughter was placed into an induced coma to help her survive complications after pneumonia.
They Left Us Everything
A Memoir
by Johnson, Plum
Book - 2016
A memoir of navigating family, aging, and death offers an intimate look at familial and especially mother-daughter connections in an affirmation of human relationships and the cycle of life itself.
Your Dad Stole My Rake and Other Family Dilemmas
by Papa, Tom
Book - 2018
This humorous book uncovers the most hysterical and surprisingly meaningful aspects of our lives as it explores how we deal with our inescapable relatives and their bizarre behavior.
Making Toast
A Family Story
by Rosenblatt, Roger
Book - 2010
After his adult daughter's sudden death, the author and his wife moved in with their son-in-law and grandchildren, becoming re-accustomed to small children while helping the family to grieve and get on with life.
Daring
My Passages : A Memoir
by Sheehy, Gail
Book – 2014
The author of the classic "Passages" recounts her challenges and victories as a groundbreaking female journalist, reflects on ambition, and shares her own major life passages.
Passages
Predictable Crises of Adult Life
by Sheehy, Gail
Book – 2006
In this classic road map of life, author Sheehy traces the inevitable changes in personality, sexuality, and circumstance that adults experience over time along with opportunities for creative change.
The Rhythm of Family
Discovering A Sense of Wonder Through the Seasons
by Soule, Amanda Blake
Book - 2011
Following the course of a year through passing of the seasons, families create connections and memories by living with the cycles of nature, providing a rhythm in tune to the earth.
Necessary Losses
The Loves, Illusions, Dependencies, and Impossible Expectations That All of Us Have to Give up in Order to Grow
by Viorst, Judith
Book – 2002
In an affirming work, Viorst shows that growing and changing through the losses that are an inevitable and necessary part of life can help us gain perspective, maturity, and wisdom.
