eileen_critchley 's review for:

The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe

4.0

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I had not planned to read this book, as it sounded too sad. It was sad, of course, but also a documentation and reflection on a life well lived. I read Will Schwalbe's other book a couple of years ago (Books for Living) and enjoyed it so decided to give this one a go too. He has a very gentle style of writing. What made me pick up this book now was to find a book mentioned in another book, a prompt for a reading challenge I am attempting this year. My dad passed away four years ago after a battle with Alzheimers. Prior to his illness, we would often share books and discuss what we were reading. I still think of him when I am reading a book I know he would enjoy (or watching a show, hearing a song, etc). I'm sure Will Schwalbe thinks of his mother in the same way now, too.

Books I have already read mentioned in this book: {I pulled this list from the appendix in the book}
Little Women
March
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The Year of Magical Thinking
The Pillars of the Earth
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
Lord of the Flies
The Kite Runner
A Prayer for Owen Meany (one of my favorite books!)
Harold and the Purple Crayon (lol)
Interpreter of Maladies
The Namesake
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Color of Water
The Tender Bar
Where the Wild Things Are
The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency
Olive Kitteridge
Night
Pretty sure I read Housekeeping at some point?? but it's not on my GR so it must have been before 2008.

Books I may pick up after reading this book (for the prompt or otherwise TBR):
A Fine Balance
The Great Santini
In Other Rooms, Other Wonders
On Chesil Beach
Something from Marilynne Robinson

Three keywords/phrases: love, books, family

{library, audio}