Our current Progressive Book Club title, with a scheduled discussion day of April 17, 2013, is The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe.
More information can be found at the website, if you’d like to pursue it further, or if you’d like to join in and don’t have the book, it is on Kindle Library loan (limited) and at Amazon (ships from Los Angeles).
I have put it on hold through Kindle, but also ordered it through Amazon because it’s just one of those books I want to own. Here’s hoping to receive one of them soon! I checked it out through Kindle a couple of months ago to see if it was PBC appropriate and got a quarter of the way through before the loan expired. It’s truly an excellent piece of work and one I highly recommend owning if you’re into memoirs as much as I am.
The book description at Amazon details this as follows:
“What are you reading?”
That’s the question Will Schwalbe asks his mother, Mary Anne, as they sit in the waiting room of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. In 2007, Mary Anne returned from a humanitarian trip to Pakistan and Afghanistan suffering from what her doctors believed was a rare type of hepatitis. Months later she was diagnosed with a form of advanced pancreatic cancer, which is almost always fatal, often in six months or less.
This is the inspiring true story of a son and his mother, who start a “book club” that brings them together as her life comes to a close. Over the next two years, Will and Mary Anne carry on conversations that are both wide-ranging and deeply personal, prompted by an eclectic array of books and a shared passion for reading. Their list jumps from classic to popular, from poetry to mysteries, from fantastic to spiritual. The issues they discuss include questions of faith and courage as well as everyday topics such as expressing gratitude and learning to listen. Throughout, they are constantly reminded of the power of books to comfort us, astonish us, teach us, and tell us what we need to do with our lives and in the world. Reading isn’t the opposite of doing; it’s the opposite of dying.
Will and Mary Anne share their hopes and concerns with each other—and rediscover their lives—through their favorite books. When they read, they aren’t a sick person and a well person, but a mother and a son taking a journey together. The result is a profoundly moving tale of loss that is also a joyful, and often humorous, celebration of life: Will’s love letter to his mother, and theirs to the printed page.
To join, click the link below and follow the instructions. If you’ve previously been with us and want to continue, do nothing, and if you must pass on this book, leave a comment in the section below and I’ll remove your link, no problem at all. Hope to see you on the 17th!
Also: If you have ANY suggestions for future PBC titles, PLEASE go to the Progressive Book Club tab up top. A drop box will appear, then choose “PBC Suggestions.” I want you to feel free to play an active part in our choices.
Peace,
ML Swift
M.L. Swift, Writer 
I’m going to skip this month because of my hiatus. I might participate in May. Still thinking about it…
Glad you’re feeling better. 🙂
I understand completely, Melissa. Enjoy your time away. Unfortunately, my sporadic attendance on my own blog was forced, so the time away wasn’t always pleasant. I’ll remove your name and you can add it back anytime. Thanks for letting me know.
Good to hear from you, ML! We’ve missed you.
I have truly missed you folks, too. Thanks, Alex.
Got it read. Loved it. Oops– I’ll save the editorial comments for my post. 🙂
Save it! Yes! I’m waiting with baited breath.
I have it. It’s queued up in the pile right after the books I’m supposed to be reviewing on Tuesday and Wednesday :p
Not only is the A to Z challenge making me write more (at least on the blog), it’s making me read more, and faster. Which means I’ve not played any solitaire on my computer for days! (This can only be good).
YAY, Rebecca! So glad you’re continuing on. It’s a wonderful book, and the A-Z is definitely a motivator for writing. It’s those “small assignments” that Anne Lamott writes about in Bird by Bird.
My dear friend, it is time to scratch my name from the list, I beg you. I don’t have that book nor time to read right now.
It is great to hear from you again. I send you my very best!
Bummer, Al, but I truly understand. I hate that you can’t join us for the memoir, but your plight did give me an idea. I think I’ll do a giveaway for either May’s book or June’s. Gotta look into the details, but yes, I think that’s what I’ll definitely do. Give away five of them. Thanks!