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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
I would give this 3.5 stars. I found myself skipping over most of the passages about the books they were reading but was moved by the author's descriptions of his mother.
I cannot say enough about this book. The way the author expresses their love of words and books. The connection between the mom and son. The connection between the books they read and the world around them. The way Mary Anne dealt with illness, but moreso, the way she lived her life. It was inspiring and horribly sad, uplifting and just plain horrible. I will buy this book and read it again and again. I highly recommend it.
A beautiful tribute to a mother, to books, to reading.
I was inspired not only by Mary Anne Schwalbe's love of books and her understanding of the power of reading, but by her lifetime of giving and caring and serving others. She truly touched so many lives.
Highly recommended.
I was inspired not only by Mary Anne Schwalbe's love of books and her understanding of the power of reading, but by her lifetime of giving and caring and serving others. She truly touched so many lives.
Highly recommended.
I don't purposely choose a book to read that is going to make me cry. This was read for the Book Club to which I belong.
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
I really enjoyed this! It's a combination of three types of writing I enjoy: first, a discussion of books and how they impact and interact with our lives; second, a memoir of Schwalbe's experience seeing his mother deal with, and eventually die from, pancreatic cancer (with Being Mortal-esque reflections on longevity vs. quality of life); and finally, a biography of sorts of Schwalbe's mother, both her remarkable life and her philosophy of living. Mary Anne Schwalbe was a trailblazer and a tireless advocate for the needs of refugees and those living in war-torn countries, particularly women and children, as well as a Christian, an involved parent, and a friend to everyone. The descriptions of her proclivity to chat up strangers everywhere she went, as well as her selflessness laced with steel, reminded me strongly of my own grandmother.
The criticisms of this book are fascinating to me because they seem to depend on what the reader expected to get from the book: either the book had too many detailed descriptions of the books they read, or not enough description, or too much medical information, or not enough, and so on. Having gone in with no expectations, I was delighted by the way no one part outweighed any other, and they all tied together, so the discussions of books framed both what was happening with Mary Anne's cancer treatment and how her son reflected on her life. There are some wonderful passages in which mother and son discuss service, philanthropy, and quality of life: How can you ever feel like you're doing enough for others when there's always more you can be doing? How do you justify spending money on your own quality of life when there are others in need?
The discussions of books were somehow written so that if I hadn't read the book in question, I didn't feel anything was spoiled, but if I had, I could get a pretty comprehensive idea of what aspects the Schwalbes liked or didn't like. Just like I enjoy participating in book clubs and reading others' reviews, I like hearing other people's thoughtful reflections on books I've read, even when I don't agree with them. I thought the incorporation of book discussions into what is otherwise a memoir and biography was well done, and the discussions themselves were carefully written in a skillful way.
The audiobook narrator for this book was fine, except that he had odd pronunciations for certain words, places, and names that occasionally distracted me from the text. I did appreciate how he adopted a different tone or accent whenever reading a passage quoting from a page, so it was almost always clear where the quotation ended and the main narration resumed.
I'm not sure if this is a book I will come back to, but I very much enjoyed the experience of reading it and will probably find myself thinking back on some of its themes in the future.
The criticisms of this book are fascinating to me because they seem to depend on what the reader expected to get from the book: either the book had too many detailed descriptions of the books they read, or not enough description, or too much medical information, or not enough, and so on. Having gone in with no expectations, I was delighted by the way no one part outweighed any other, and they all tied together, so the discussions of books framed both what was happening with Mary Anne's cancer treatment and how her son reflected on her life. There are some wonderful passages in which mother and son discuss service, philanthropy, and quality of life: How can you ever feel like you're doing enough for others when there's always more you can be doing? How do you justify spending money on your own quality of life when there are others in need?
The discussions of books were somehow written so that if I hadn't read the book in question, I didn't feel anything was spoiled, but if I had, I could get a pretty comprehensive idea of what aspects the Schwalbes liked or didn't like. Just like I enjoy participating in book clubs and reading others' reviews, I like hearing other people's thoughtful reflections on books I've read, even when I don't agree with them. I thought the incorporation of book discussions into what is otherwise a memoir and biography was well done, and the discussions themselves were carefully written in a skillful way.
The audiobook narrator for this book was fine, except that he had odd pronunciations for certain words, places, and names that occasionally distracted me from the text. I did appreciate how he adopted a different tone or accent whenever reading a passage quoting from a page, so it was almost always clear where the quotation ended and the main narration resumed.
I'm not sure if this is a book I will come back to, but I very much enjoyed the experience of reading it and will probably find myself thinking back on some of its themes in the future.
Interesting premise and I came away with a list of titles that I would like to read. I also felt like this was an extremely privileged family, regardless of his mother's humanitarian efforts.
A loving tribute to the author's mother and how books were a vehicle for them to talk about anything and everything.