During her treatment for cancer, Mary Anne Schwalbe and her son Will spent many hours sitting in waiting rooms together. To pass the time, they would talk about the books they were reading. Once, by chance, they read the same book at the same time-and an informal book club of two was born. Through their wide-ranging reading, Will and Mary Anne-and we, their fellow readers-are reminded how books can be comforting, astonishing, and illuminating, changing the way that we feel about and interact with the world around us. A profoundly moving memoir of caregiving, mourning, and love-The End of Your Life Book Club is also about the joy of reading, and the ways that joy is multiplied when we share it with others.
***
[We were nuts about the mocha in the waiting room at Memorial Sloan-Kettering's outpatient care centre]***
(@TwoRoadsBooks, 11 October 2012, 354 pages, ebook, #popsugarreadingchallenge 2020, a book about a book club, bought from @AmazonKindle)
***
***
This book punched a hole right into my heart. I'm struggling to breathe right now. This memoir has many layers. The backbone of the book is books and literature and how they can enrich and change your life and as proven here, bring comfort and light into your darkest moments. People who don't love books really don't get it. This is also a book about family and death. There are moments when I was deeply touched or moved to tears. Will's mother seems almost like a saint in the book and it's not clear whether she really was such a good, caring and compassionate person or whether this has been exaggerated somewhat because she's died. I like to think everything Will tells us about his mother was real. Otherwise, I was lied to for hundreds of pages. I'd like to think this isn't the case. Will and his mother seemed to have a great relationship. It reminded me of my relationship with my own mother. This is an enriching, life affirming book.
