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matthewwester 's review for:
The End of Your Life Book Club
by Will Schwalbe
I read this book in one sitting, most of which happened to be while sitting on a plane for 7 hours on the tarmac, waiting for the weather to clear up so we could take off. >-< How often can you say you read an entire book between entering a plane and taking off? Not often, thank goodness.
Even in that frustrating environment, I loved every second of reading this book. Or, well, hmm, maybe "loved" is not the best word because so much of this book was hitting close to home. My mother-in-law is dying of lung cancer and I just spent the holidays with her and the rest of the family. This book consoled me with true empathy -- I felt incredible relief, reading accurate descriptions of things that I haven't felt comfortable talking about with anyone (including my wife and her family because it's so raw, it's the reality they're living). And I know from the book that the author himself wasn't ready to talk so openly about some of the topics until later on in the grieving process. Thank you, Will Schwalbe, for writing a book that I desperately needed to read that day, in that place, in this season of life.
So should you read this book if you don't have a loved one dying of cancer? Absolutely. For a few, this book will really speak because it describes walking alongside someone fighting illness. But for the majority of readers, this book is actually a powerful story about a mother-son friendship, and the incredible ways that books weave in and out of our lives. As I quickly glance over the reviews on the back cover of the book, I see they're all about mother-son relationships and the love of books, not about cancer or illness. So there ya go, the book is definitely not a downer -- it's a celebration that you should pick up if you enjoy reading books (or haven't read a good, touching story about a mother-son friendship for a long time).
Finally, I just want to say that I jotted down many of the books mentioned throughout this book. The title doesn't mislead at all, this book doesn't skimp on the "book club" element of the story, yeah-ah.
Even in that frustrating environment, I loved every second of reading this book. Or, well, hmm, maybe "loved" is not the best word because so much of this book was hitting close to home. My mother-in-law is dying of lung cancer and I just spent the holidays with her and the rest of the family. This book consoled me with true empathy -- I felt incredible relief, reading accurate descriptions of things that I haven't felt comfortable talking about with anyone (including my wife and her family because it's so raw, it's the reality they're living). And I know from the book that the author himself wasn't ready to talk so openly about some of the topics until later on in the grieving process. Thank you, Will Schwalbe, for writing a book that I desperately needed to read that day, in that place, in this season of life.
So should you read this book if you don't have a loved one dying of cancer? Absolutely. For a few, this book will really speak because it describes walking alongside someone fighting illness. But for the majority of readers, this book is actually a powerful story about a mother-son friendship, and the incredible ways that books weave in and out of our lives. As I quickly glance over the reviews on the back cover of the book, I see they're all about mother-son relationships and the love of books, not about cancer or illness. So there ya go, the book is definitely not a downer -- it's a celebration that you should pick up if you enjoy reading books (or haven't read a good, touching story about a mother-son friendship for a long time).
Finally, I just want to say that I jotted down many of the books mentioned throughout this book. The title doesn't mislead at all, this book doesn't skimp on the "book club" element of the story, yeah-ah.