Name: The End of Your Life Book Club
Rating: 3.941176470588236 (17 reviews)
ISBN: 9780307594037

Will Schwalbe

Recounts how the author and his mother read and discussed books during her chemotherapy treatments, describing how the activity involved a wide range of literary genres, furthered their appreciation for literature, and strengthened their bond.

The End of Your Life Book Club

Melissa Palmer

#53 Book Read in 2012
The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe

This book details a very small book club, Will and his mother Mary Ann, who is dying of pancreatic cancer. The pair decide to use the time spent at the hospital during Mary Ann's chemo treatments to read and discuss books together. Their discussions bring them even closer together. This book also tells about the effect that Mary Ann had on the people who knew her. She was an important part in so many people's lives--personally and professionally. Mary Ann was a humanitarian who served selflessly for years. She instilled a care and charity into her children and grandchildren. 

This book was well written. I felt a loss at the end when the inevitable happened to Mary Ann. I was concerned about how her family would get through this. I enjoyed this book--the details about the family and the discussions about the book. 

I received this book from BookBrowse in exchange for a fair, honest review.

http://melissasbookpicks.blogspot.com

A profoundly moving memoir of caregiving, mourning, and love between a mother and her son—and about the joy of reading, and the ways that joy is multiplied when we share it with others. “A graceful, affecting testament to a mother and a life well lived.” —Entertainment Weekly, Grade A 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.

Ayesha ahmed

I don't know what to say about this book. Everything about it was much more than what I expected. 
Will's Mom, Mary Ann, made me realize how many people are ungrateful when they haven't even faced an ounce of what she has been through. I fell in love with her personality, her never-ending insistent determination to help everyone who needed help; even though she was not in a good condition herself. She never complained when she had every right to, but avoided all the negativities she was going through. I love everything about this woman.
I did not only love her, but her whole family, who were by her side when she was not feeling well, which shows how caring and loving they were. They're the kind of family I want to be part of, the way they look out for each other, support each other and communicate with one another is too profound for words. Their love for books was another thing that made me feel somewhat connected to them too, although I realized how I haven't read most of the books that were mentioned, which made me feel like I've got A LOT of reading to do. This is just a brief summary of my love for this book, but to be honest it doesn't not even reach 3% of what I really have to say. All book lovers must read this.

Sarah Ryan

Great book about the relationship between a mother and son who start reading the same books and discussing them during her last two years as she battles with cancer. The book is a wonderful tribute to his mother who seems to have been an extraordinary woman. It is also a love letter to books themselves. I’ve even added a few of the books mentioned in this book to my ‘to read’ list. Would recommend.

Tanya Sutton

Jeni Enjaian

I struggle finding words to adequately describe this book. Schwalbe created something amazing in this love letter to his amazing mother. I have read memoirs on similar topics before, The Unwinding of the Miracle: A Memoir of Life, Death, and Everything That Comes After, and even though I enjoyed it, I loved this one so much more. Schwalbe did not shy away from telling about the physical struggles that his mother endured yet he also did not make that the central focus of the memoir. He used the motif of books that he and his mother read throughout her 18+ month journey through terminal pancreatic cancer to paint the most beautiful love story from a son to a mother. I wholeheartedly recommend this book.

Jennifer Benner

Melissa Railey

Lindsy Rice

Pierke Bosschieter

Caitlin Hooker

Ionela Mucilenita

Lauren hughes 

Mandi Jayne

Jennifer Rittall

Lisa Miller

Andrea Henderson

Joshua Line

'A wonderful book about wonderful books and mothers and sons and the enduring braid between them.' - Mitch Albom, author of Tuesdays With Morrie 'a true meditation on what books can do.' - Edmund de Waal, author of The Hare with Amber Eyes Mary Anne Schwalbe is waiting for her chemotherapy treatments when Will casually asks her what she's reading. The conversation they have grows into tradition: soon they are reading the same books so they can have something to talk about in the hospital waiting room. Their choices range from classic (Howards End) to popular (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), from fantastic (The Hobbit) to spiritual (Jon Kabat-Zinn), with many in between. We hear their passion for reading and their love for each other in their intimate and searching discussions. A profoundly moving testament to the power of love between a child and parent, and the power of reading in our lives.

The End of Your Life Book Club

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