15. Book Review: End of Your Life Book Club (2014)

The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe

Synopsis

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.

Review

 I started this book skeptically wondering if it was going to be sappy or super sad only to discover it was neither of those. The author is one part chronicling the life and last years of his mother's life and one part reviewing and discussing books. It's a book about mothers and sons and about books and about family. The relationship between the author and his mother was extremely moving and inspiring. I love to read about books and this book talks about books in a deep and meaningful way - that is, how books because entwined in our lives and our own personal stories.  Most of the books that the author read with his mother were not books I had read already.  I found this book to be a delight to read and finished it quickly… by the end I had a warm feeling about familial love and specifically mother and son relationships - not too mention a few new books on my "to read" list!

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