Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
Beautiful story, hits a chord in that I often ask others "what are you reading?" But this story centers on an amazing generous selfless woman as she battles pancreatic cancer. She and her son start an informal book club of two as they go to doctor's appointments together etc. But this book is so much more than the last two years of this person's life. His mother was an incredibly inspiring human being working as a humanitarian volunteer around the world. Her two main focus areas were working with refuges and working on building a library in Kabul. An amazing woman, a generous spirit. This is a beautiful and inspiring story.
I found that I liked the book more for the thoughtful little anecdotes sprinkled throughout it than I did the story itself. He also had some pretty fantastic one-liners for book lovers in every chapter. You know--the kind that make you think and then makes you feel really smart because you can connect to them. Is this one in my list of favorite books? No. Am I sorry I read it? Not at all. It's great for when you're in one of those searching-for-the-meaning-of-life phases.
Not enough emotional connection to this book for me. :-(
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Emotional connection between a mother and son, but also a dive into a passionate woman fighting for refugee rights and the rights of other less fortunate than herself
Will's mom Mary Anne is dx with cancer. During her chemo treatments and many the hours she spends in waiting rooms they decide to start a book club. Through these books they both learn so much about each other. What a wonderful gift. After finishing the book I am sad that I never got to meet this extraordinary woman. I felt cheated. I am glad however that Will wrote about this experience and that they created a list of the books they read so that we may take the same journey through their books.
Welp, I cried. So it definitely hits the nail on the head with sentimentality and pulling on those heartstrings. It never perfectly found the right balance between a memoir of a mother and recitation of book discussions, so not a perfect 5 star read.
The title of this book put me off for sometime but I was pleasantly surprised to find it was not only a celebration of life, but also of the importance of books in our lives.
When I saw this on Amy M's list of best books from 2012, I knew I should check it out. I read it with my book club. Various members did not finish reading the book because they didn't want a "downer." As the title warns you of what lies ahead, I felt prepared for where the book was headed. I found it to be a wonderful read with a mix of sadness and uplifting moments, as well. I highly recommend it, and I got many ideas for what to add to my reading list.