The End of Your Life Book Club (2012) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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• Will Schwalbe: Author and son of woman suffering from pancreatic cancer forms a book club of two, he and his mother. The author becomes even closer to his mother as they share their thoughts on the books they mutually agree to read.

Quotes edit see section history

• “And if heathen prayers were indeed the best of all, then mine should count big-time.”

• “We were going to have to learn how to pace ourselves - which routines we could keep and which we had to jettison; what we could try to dram in and what we had to give up; which occasions we would be sure to celebrate no matter what and which we would ignore; which books we were still going to read and which we would abandon; and even when we would focus on her dying and when we would talk about anything but.”

• “When I was finished, I looked around at Mom and Dad's bedroom - and at Mom, resting relatively peacefully, but with that rasping breath that means there isn't much time left. She was surrounded by books - a wall of bookshelves, books on her night table, a book beside her. Here were...and the Bible. // They were Mom's companions and teachers. They had shown her the way. And she was able to look at them as she readied herself for the life everlasting that she knew awaited her. What comfort could be gained from staring at my lifeless e-reader? // I also noted a special pile of books. They were to be the next ones for our book club. There were in their own small stack, separate from the others.”

• “Next to Mom's bed was Daily Strength for Daily Needs, still with the bookmark in it marking the entry for Friday, September 11. I lloked in the book first at the Bible passage for that day. It was the shortest entry in the whole book, just three simple words: They Kingdom Come. // Then I read the rest of the page. At the bottom was a quote from John Ruskin: If you do not wish for His kingdom, don't pray for it. But if you do, you must do more than pray for it; you must work for it. // I believe those were the last words Mom ever read.”

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Series & Lists edit see section history

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Will Schwalbe (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: RC265.5 .S39 2012
• Dewey: 370.92

Notes for Parents edit see section history

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Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction › History & Criticism
• Books › Biographies & Memoirs › Family & Childhood
• Books › Biographies & Memoirs › Memoirs
• Books › Biographies & Memoirs › Specific Groups › Women

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• Guardian Newspaper: The obituary written by Mary Anne Schwalbe's firend referenced in the book.