Although it sounds a bit grim, this is really a fascinating book about the "book club" formed by author Will Schwalbe and his mother Mary Anne in the last couple years of her life. Both were already avid readers. This is ostensibly about the power of books to change lives--no argument from me there--but is really more an homage to a remarkable woman. There were some things that really struck me about books in general, such as how physical books demand attention, whereas electronic books are essentially invisible; that is, a stack of books on your bedside or living room side table perpetually reminds you of what you intend to read. An electronic book disappears when you turn off the reader. I haven't made the leap to e-books although I gave my husband a Kindle Touch. I just added this to my reasons not to change ;-) Schwalbe also talks about the etiquette of dealing with someone who is dying--how you need to remember the past, celebrate the present and mourn the future all at the same time. How not to be intrusive or dismissive. There is, in fact, some discussion about books and what they took from their shared reading and discussion of them. The book includes a list of all the books discussed, although indexing this to the pages where the book was discussed would have been even better. A longer review from the NYT is here.
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