Being a nurse, I feel a little heartless by giving this book one star, but I did not connect with Jai. I understand loss on both a personal and professional level. I guess it is not my business to critique how Jai handled her devastating loss (but she did write a book). I think she is a self-motivated and strong woman. I admire that strength through the ordeal of watching her husband die. I admire that she took it to the next step and became involved with the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and More...

After reading her husband Randy's memoir, The Last Lecture, I followed his progress and ultimately, his death from pancreatic cancer. He was a brilliant man, and Jai's biography not only picks up where he leaves off, giving a rounding out to the family's experience, but it offers great insight into the role of the caregiver. Jai made sacrifices no person should have to in order to care for her very ill husband. She chose to live in another state while he sought treatment, leaving her children wh More...

I wanted so much more and so much less from this book. The "more" I wanted was what was promised in the forward. "To shine a spotlight on the person in the treatment room who is so often overlooked, along with his or her needs and abilities." What Pausch delivered was a spotlight on herself and her journey. The "less" that I wanted was her take on the information presented in "The Last Lecture." Clearly her husband (author of "TLL") wanted his children to learn of him through that book and now t More...

This depressing book proves that some things are better left unsaid. The wife of The Last Lecture guy pulls back the curtain on what life was really like, and in so doing reveals a very different picture of the "perfect husband and father" that Randy Pausch wanted to be remembered as. It's hard to understand why she would write this--she tells things about him that are so private and demeaning that they tarnish his memory. Her new husband (her third) certainly must not feel good by how she state More...

I would maybe give this 3.5 if possible.

Pausch is a good writer so that works in her favor. I haven't read the last lecture so I went into this with minimal background knowledge. I think this book will become a standard for oncologists to recommend to patients and caregivers. Her experience is invaluable in that regard as it is a pretty honest look into her life taking care of her husband and family.

Without belittling her experience, I think some caregivers may find it a little...too much(?). More...

This is an authentic book about living and dying. It is truth undisguised and it may be very hard for many people to understand or relate to. I found it refreshing and honest. Yes it was heartbreaking and I felt her pain every step of the way but I also felt like this was a human book, a book about true living and death and if you are doing it right it can be one hell of mess, with uncomfortable situations, consfusing emotions, embarrassing moments and great great saddness that knows no limits. More...

This is a memoir of Jai Pausch, the wife of Randy Pausch, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburg. Shortly after they had their third child, Randy was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Randy told his story about his fight against cancer, and his blueprint for living your childhood dreams in his book The Last Lecture. Now, Jai tells what it is like to be a caregiver to someone with a terminal illness while being a mother to three young children with help from friends, family, and a More...

In my mind, if there ever was a book that should receive six stars it was Jai Pausch's new book--Dream New Dreams. It isn't often in one's lifetime that they get the chance to live their life throught the pages of a book. That was the case with this book. Randy Pausch was a friend of mine for over 12 years. I never had the honor of meeting hsi wife, Jai, but I knew much about her due to Randy's obvious love for her. I learned about their children the same way.

When Randy's cancer was discovered i More...

Tidak ramai orang mahu memperkatakan tentang kehidupan seseorang yang sebahagian hidupnya menjaga orang yang sakit. Apabila menziarahi orang sakit, selalunya tumpuan pastilah tersorot kepada orang yang sakit. Jarang sekali kita mengambil perhatian apakah perasaan orang yang menjaga pesakit. Kita juga mungkin sering membayangkan penjaga orang sakit itu tentulah baik-baik sahaja kerana bukan dia yang sakit.

Buku ini memberikan padangan yang tulus lagi luhur tentang perasaan seorang 'caregiver' ata More...

By Jai Pausch. Grade: A+

Randy Pausch, wrote The Last Lecture when he was fully aware of his approaching death. He was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University and in September’06 he was told he had pancreatic cancer. Working behind him as his support, for virtually his lifeline, was Jai, his wife. The Last Lecture (now also a book by Randy Pausch) went viral on Youtube and led Randy Pausch to give appearances on several shows like Opera and Good Morning America.

“Experience is what you get when More...

I never read The Last Lecture, but I remember seeing snippets of it on Oprah. Everyone knows Jai's husband's story, but I didn't know that she had three little kids when he was dying. Having three little kids is a chaotic time in one's life, then throw in a husband dying over the course of a few years of cancer and I don't know how this woman didn't break down every night. What made the story so touching to me was her honesty. She didn't try and sugarcoat what the stress did to their relationshi More...

I received this book as a Goodread’s First Reads selection. At first I was a little unsure of what to expect, thinking it was going to be a "self-help" book. Instead I read the powerfully candid story of a wife who fell in love with a wonderful man, then stood by his side as a was diagnosed with cancer, took on the role of caregiver as he battled it, and eventually had to grieve for him after he passed away. I would imagine those who have to care for sick family members would find comfort in her More...

This was a wonderful book of hope. You might remember the author's husband, Randy Pausch who was a full professor at Carnegie Mellon University. He gave the poignant speech called "The Last Lecture" which he gave as he was dying from cancer. He gave it to his students and a huge audience but it was specifically for his very young children who he knew would grow up without him. Dream New Dreams was written by his widow 4 years after Randy's passing. It was her side of the story - their courtship, More...

A remarkably frank, deeply moving, and inspiring memoir by Jai Pausch, whose husband, Randy, wrote the bestseller The Last Lecture while battling pancreatic cancer.

"Jai is such a giver that she often forgets to take care of herself," Randy Pausch wrote about his wife. "Jai knows that she’ll have to give herself permission to make herself a priority."

In Dream New Dreams, Jai Pausch shares her own story for the first time: her emotional journey from wife and mother to full-time caregiver, shuttlin More...

I was among those who watched Randy Pausch's last lecture on YouTube and bought the book when it came out. It was the story of an inspirational man who loved the life he built for himself, learned things along the way, and died too soon.

Jai Pausch's book provides another angle on the story, one no less valid. Her tale of being a caregiver is heartbreaking, and inspiring in its own way: taking a role you never wanted and would have done anything to avoid, but doing it to the best of your ability, More...

Having read Jai Pausch's husband's beautiful story on childhood dreams, "The Last Lecture" I was more than willing to give "Dream New Dreams" a chance. Jai's story follows her trials as caregiver to her husband as he suffered through pancreatic cancer and eventually died. Her story is heartfelt and the pain that she and her family went through is excruciating. Jai masterfully recounts her experiences prior to, during, and after her husband's battle with cancer. She reaches out to the heart of ev More...

This book is the flip side of Jai Pausch's late husband Randy's lecture and subsequent book called The Last Lecture. This isn't a heartwarming book; but it is a heart-warning book. The caregiver's role is unsung and unknown territory for most, and there are few road maps for the caregiver to follow. This book serves as a pretty good road map of one family's impossible experience. It is beyond difficult to be someone's chosen care giver, but to also parent a brood of young children, and to learn More...

I never imagined when I read The Last Lecture several years ago that my husband, whom I had not even met yet, would also be diagnosed with cancer and lose his battle while we were still newlyweds and brand new parents. (My husband of two years passed away two months ago after a year long battle with leukemia; our son was only 13 months old at the time of his father's passing.) I often thought of The Last Lecture and Randy Pausch during my experience with my husband's cancer, so as soon as I hear More...

I won this book in a First Reads giveaway a couple of weeks ago and I'm so glad I did. My father past away back in September and I strongly believe fate stepped in to bring this book to my life. I can relate to a lot of the things she went through while grieving and it makes me think about things that have happened in my own life. It also gives me an appreciation for the caregivers of cancer patients who so often get overlooked during such a difficult time in their lives.
Dream New Dreams is th More...

This memoir recounts the experiences of a caregiver while her young husband struggles through and eventually dies from pancreatic cancer. Adding to the story is that her deceased husband (Randy Pausch) is the best selling author of The Last Lecture, a memoir encouraging readers to live their dreams. Jai provides a very frank and honest look at the struggles of a cancer patient's caregiver both throughout treatment and after their death. Throughout the book, Jai shares the lessons she learned thr More...

Jai Pausch is the widow of "The Last Lecture" author Randy Pausch. I really appreciated Randy's book so was eager to read Jai's. She writes in the intro that when she was caring for Randy she was pretty much adrift in a sea of the unknown; there were no how-to books for caregivers of terminal patients. So her main purpose in this book is to pass on what she learned through the trials and errors of hard experience, in the hope that it would help people going through the same things now. She is br More...

Dr. Randy Pausch's the last lecture is an absolute must lecture to watch (so is his "Time Management"--both available for free on youtube), and his book with the same title "The last lecture". It made me interested in knowing what did his wife and family suffered through and how did they cope. Also, exactly what happened to Dr. Pausch. The book answered all my questions and now I have a desire to meet Jai. It is a very well written book talks candidly about what happened. I'm sure there are a mi More...

I really did not care for this book. Maybe I am missing the point? I read the Last Lecture, and enjoyed that. I found myself thinking, "what you need a Nanny, a baby sitter, and au pair to do the day to day things?" I can see how losing your husband would be such a great stress, but there are woman out there that do not have husbands and care and balance their lives with kids. Another part that bothered me, was the fact she left her children to go to Houston for months to be with her husband for More...

I met Jai once at the toy lending library in Pittsburgh. Just as being introduced to another mom whose kids were there playing. Only later did I read her husband's book The Last Lecture and realize something of what she was going through as a mom to three little kids whose husband is dying of pancreatic cancer. It certainly made me think about the hidden burdens of those I interact with. Reading this book is heart-breaking and inspiring, as well as sharing basic things that helped or didn't help More...

The foreword by the author of this book spoke to me, almost in each sentence...what valuable thoughts she shares and knowledge that I wish I would have had several years ago.Hindsight is always so interesting! Having been in a position of caregiver and support to several who were dying or had lost family members, I didn't realize at the time that the person in the caregiver/support role needs support too. I somehow thought I needed to carry it all in my own two hands so that those I loved who we More...

I am so glad that I won this book from the goodreads first reads give-away. It was a very heartfelt, poignant, honest, and inspring look at how Jai Pausch dealt with her husband's struggle with and ultimately his death from pancreatic cancer. She talks about the difficulty of being a caregiver to a dying loved one, the ifficulties, the pain, ups and downs, without romanticizing it. I was especially inspired by her decision not only to survive this tragedy, but also to thrive and find happiness a More...

When I flicked through this book in the library I thought that I would love this book as I am living the situation she was in. I have a husband with brain cancer and two very young children.

As much as I wanted to I could not connect with Jai.

Jai complained about everything when the reality is that although she was doing it tough it could have been a lot worse. She had no financial worries, had childcare available at all times and was able to leave her children to go with her husband. I would lo More...

Jai Pausch, wife of Randy Pausch who wrote The Last Lecture, offers her path to healing after the death of her husband. Provides good advice to people grieving, especially those with small children to care for. One point she makes is to find time for self-care, which seems like an impossible task at such a devastating time. My only disconnect with the book is that it could use a subtitle are parentheses stating "for people of means". Many of the solutions she found for self care - flying to Euro More...

Really wish I had not read this book. First, it did not really provide any insight into how to navigate the challenges of being a caretaker. Second, it seemed like a venting of resentment toward Randy Pausch, the authors husband and author of The Last Lecture. I can understand the resentment since he apparently was so focused on his quest to survive cancer he even forced the author to choose between him and their small children on many occasions. Facing a caretaker role, and having been in that More...

I loved Randy Pausch's The Last Lecture, one of the few book I've actually bought so I can reread whenever I want. I really liked Jai's book, until the last few chapters. What started out as a great book about the struggle caregivers go through as they watch their loved ones die, ended as a "poor me" book. Jai complains about caring for 3 kids & not having any me time, yet has the money for a live in nanny & does not have to work. She decides to go overseas traveling with a girlfriend b/ More...