“What are you reading?”
That’s the question Will Schwalbe asks his mother, Mary Anne, as they sit in the waiting room of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. In 2007, Mary Anne returned from a humanitarian trip to Pakistan and Afghanistan suffering from what her doctors believed was a rare type of hepatitis. Months later she was diagnosed with a form of advanced pancreatic cancer, which … cancer, which is almost always fatal, often in six months or less.
This is the inspiring true story of a son and his mother, who start a “book club” that brings them together as her life comes to a close. Over the next two years, Will and Mary Anne carry on conversations that are both wide-ranging and deeply personal, prompted by an eclectic array of books and a shared passion for reading. Their list jumps from classic to popular, from poetry to mysteries, from fantastic to spiritual. The issues they discuss include questions of faith and courage as well as everyday topics such as expressing gratitude and learning to listen. Throughout, they are constantly reminded of the power of books to comfort us, astonish us, teach us, and tell us what we need to do with our lives and in the world. Reading isn’t the opposite of doing; it’s the opposite of dying.
Will and Mary Anne share their hopes and concerns with each other–and rediscover their lives–through their favorite books. When they read, they aren’t a sick person and a well person, but a mother and a son taking a journey together. The result is a profoundly moving tale of loss that is also a joyful, and often humorous, celebration of life: Will’s love letter to his mother, and theirs to the printed page.
This eBook edition includes a Reading Group Guide.
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“We’re all in the end-of-our-life book club, whether we acknowledge it or not; each book we read may well be the last, each conversation the final one.” p.281. This is a beautiful summation of this tribute to one writer’s mom.
Mary Anne Schwalbe did so much good in her life, especially for refugees. She was a college admissions dean for Harvard and Radcliffe; she was a teacher, and a volunteer. She traveled the world, working to improve it for refugees and for women. When she returns home from a trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2007, she was diagnosed w/ a weird hepatitis that never improved. She was finally diagnosed w/ Stage IV, inoperable pancreatic CA; usually this diagnosis includes six months’ more of life or less.
Mary Anne lived nearly two more years, time to have deep discussions w/ her loved ones, especially about books. This whole book is a love letter to books, not just to Will’s remarkable mom. I’d read a bunch of the books they read or discussed during their last two years together; heard of more of them; and learned about some new ones. I also learned that I have definite deficits in my choice of genres!
I admit to sobbing out loud in the last couple of chapters; it is so easy to put myself in Will’s place, as my mother is elderly and yes, I will lose her sooner rather than later. I hope it is much, much later! I give this one around 4.7 stars, b/c I admit to it dragging when it talked about books I wouldn’t like, but am happy to round it up to 5 stars.
Took great solace reading Will Schwalbe’s The End of Your Life Book Club. A lovely tribute to his mother, and the importance of books and reading during a time of loss and grief.
Sad and not in an interesting way.
What a remarkable woman. This is more than a book about books or bookclubs or even mother son relationships. It is the story of a remarkable woman’s life told by her son in the most thoughtful and loving way. I often miss reading bestsellers when they first come out…as is the case here. But I’m so glad I finally read this one. What a wonderful book.
This book recounts the interactions, usually based on shared books, the author has with his mother following her terminal diagnosis. His love and respect for his mother comes through clearly. Some of the books they chose to share with each other toward her end are interesting, as to the choice, and instructive in how this family bond informs us all.
A book about the profound love of books, reading, and the lifelong relationships we have with them, I found it apropos to read THE END OF YOUR LIFE BOOK CLUB while at the Vortext Writers Workshop at Hedgebrook on Whidbey Island. Author Will Schwilbe’s engaging “voice” gently pulls readers into the pages and makes them part of the book discussions he and his mother had during the last two years of her life.
An unexpected bonus is that by the time you turn the last page you’ve acquired an amazing, widely varied reading list!
Layers of flavor, Read this book!
This was a book club selection. I LOVED IT! It was inspiring and heartwarming and about more than the bond between the mother and the son and her dying of cancer. It is a book about books and what they can mean in a persons life. I wrote down so many great quotes and thoughts. My favorite for us book nerds, “No matter where mom & I are on our individual journeys, we could still share books… Books bridge differences.” That is so true, when I look at my book club members we are all so different, but books allow us to discuss anything and everything creating unlikely friendships.
If you love books, or people who love books, or have lost someone you love…
Memoirs are usually not my thing but this one left me uplifted and inspired and wishing I had known her myself. Such a tribute to a lady who lived a privileged life but left a legacy of love and compassion.