pickOh, this feels weird. I've certainly read other books by people who have already passed, and even one or two by people who knew they were dying, but I'm not sure I've encountered one where the act of dying was so much the focus. Critiquing a dying man's words feels...wrong.
For the most part, I'm not certain what might be viewed as a critique is anything more than a difference in option on two points. 1/?
Context provides a lot of the punch, but this is definitely the phrase that caught my attention today.
pickI always feel odd reviewing memoirs - like I‘m judging their life, not their writing. But this one is excellent living and writing. Like The Last Lecture it is full of positive but real sentiments/ philosophy, not trite, pat answers. I respect an author who respects his readers.
I quickly realized this is not a read-in-public book, unless I want concerned looks and for my winged liner to be destroyed by tears. Good thing I always come prepared with several reading options. 🙃
pickI feel like most people I‘ve talked to have already read this, I‘m late to the game.
There is a lot of very specific scientific info about cancer, which was interesting. Also the author‘s experience of med school and residency to become a neurosurgeon. Descriptions of surgeries (may be tough for the squeamish). But the main focus is on the author‘s diagnosis of lung cancer and how he chose to live his life knowing it would be terminal.
One of the most beautiful and unforgettable books I‘ve read 💗💔🩷
#WithAPhysician
#ItTakesAllKinds
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
This book reminded me a lot of Lily and the Octopus. I will always think of cancerous growths as octopi from now on. I asked AI for an image a man with an octopus sitting on his chest and this is what it gave me. I suppose it fits. Brown skin, and the octopus seems to be spreading itself everywhere.
pickThis is a raw, heartbreaking and beautiful story about a neurosurgeon becoming the patient when he is diagnosed with cancer. He chose to keep going and meet it head on, living authentically until he took his last breath. His wife wrote such a beautiful epilogue in addition to the story he wrote of this journey. A book about courage, loss, death, and living. Highly recommend.
pickRaw and honest account of what happens when the doctor becomes the patient. Inspirational read, even if the end left me sobbing on a plane #pick
pickWhat a story! A doctor‘s transition from doc to patient and the emotional turmoil that caused. Beautifully written and heartbreaking. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
pickA young neurosurgeon‘s memoir after a devastating cancer diagnosis.
I forgot just how much this moved me the last time I read it, & so I just ended up crying throughout the epilogue at work. This is a powerful examination of finding priorities while dealing with a terrible disease. Kalanithi‘s writing is moving, while also being frank with the more difficult aspects of his ordeal. 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗
It‘s officially Christmas in our house and this is the newest addition to our decorations. I 💜 ⛄️!!
pickI never give books 5 stars but this one 💙💙💙💙
pickDr. Kalanithi was in the unique position of having been both a neurosurgeon in training and a patient at the hospital where he helped save lives but sadly lost his own. Kalanithi was an incredible human even before his diagnosis but after he was somehow able to write this beautiful, reflective memoir. I think his perspective could be helpful to doctors, patients and anyone interested in ruminating on what makes life worth living.
30 book recommendations in 30 days...
Day 16: An absolutely heartbreaking, yet beautiful, book. I honestly don't know if I could read this again now as I'm still struggling to accept the reality of my cousin's young children growing up without their mother (due to cancer), however I am glad that I read this when I did. Perhaps it would help me to reread it and gain perspective. I can say that although rough, it is so meaningful. #30recsin30days
pickSuch a wonderful and powerful book. Autobiography of Paul Kalanithi as he became a neurosurgeon and then realized he had terminal cancer. This is his honest and vulnerable sharing of his experience. Sad but hopeful. Brave and a witness.
so-soWhile I got the point of this story, it was very much a wordy memoir that really wasn‘t my type of book to enjoy, and I didn‘t know that going in. I found it filled with too much doctor and science jargon for my personal taste, although towards the end, the story itself took on a touching note.
pick⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A must read. But a warning that this book is an emotional roller coaster!! I could not put it down. I'm convinced it'll give you a deep and serious perspective of life.
#nonfiction #medical #bestseller
Starting the morning off with the deep and heavy stuff. This book really forces you to ponder life. And what better way to ponder life than with coffee? ☕️ 🤔
#nonfiction #coffee #Starbucks #medical
"The fact of death is unsettling. Yet there is no other way to live."
#nonfiction #medical
"There is a moment, a cusp, when the sum of gathered experience is worn down by the details of living. We are never so wise as when we live in this moment."
#nonfiction #philosophy #medicine
A sobering reminder to have perspective about this life.
#nonfiction #medical
Trying to get a jump start on my 2023 reading goals now that I‘ll be stuck at home on COVID quarantine again to start this year. 🤒 Third times a charm.
#readinggoals #quarantine #covidreading #pulitzerprize
This was a tough read, especially seeing as my brother was dying of cancer.
RIP Greg Jan 7, 1974 - Aug 18, 2022
#12BooksOf2022 @Andrew65
It‘s been a number of years since I have read this book, but I sometimes think about the book, even if it is just to think about how such a small book can make such an impact. #letterw #alphabetgame
It's only through time that a life lost can make sense. We're lucky if that time ever comes to us. Mostly, we're just left with a hollow feeling that we have to learn to live with and millions of unanswered questions.
This memoir is so beautifully written that it broke my heart though I am not in the medical field.
Thanks for tagging me @eeclayton !
1. Tagged! Just, full on weeping.
2. Sci fi or fantasy! The sheer unlimited potential of someone‘s imagination. ❤️💙
3. Most recently, I really loved The Locked Tomb books, Gideon the Ninth and Harrow the Ninth.
#WondrousWednesday @Eggs
pickIf you ever feel low or think you are unlucky or feel that life‘s not fair to you, pick this book, read it and let me know if you don‘t come out stronger and inspired. Just amazing hearing someone so close to death being so brave and focused on giving a meaning to his life.
pickOh my heart… 💔
I was torn between finishing this in one sitting and taking my time in order to absorb every single word.
What an exceptional person.
I'm joining #MarvellousMarch #Readathon late but the app I use to read on my phone tracks my time. Nine days of reading. My goal is to read a minimum of ten hours without counting audiobooks. I normally would count them but but since the new year I've had a steady diet of audiobooks except for this one that I just finished. I want to keep reading text, so this goal will help me with that.
At the end of day 2, I'm at 2 hours 10 minutes.
@Andrew65
pickRequired reading for mortals. Especially anyone with a terminal illness or those of us who love someone with a terminal illness! I know my brother will live and die with as much integrity and grace as Kalanithi did. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The first book of 2022 for me not to be an audiobook. Hopefully Debbie's got her groove back.
My brother found out a week ago Friday that his his cancer is terminal. He got married on Wednesday (instead of waiting until October). This book is giving me a glimpse of how the next two years might look. I'm so grateful for his wife!
#hospital reminded me of this book which is still in my TBR
#savvysettings @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs
"Literature not only illuminated another‘s experience, it provided, I believed, the richest material for moral reflection."
pickIf you‘ve been dealing with grief of loved one, distress of death and meaning of life, or just the doubt of personal purpose…you‘ll find some strength and light in it.
Thank you Paul (and Lucy), for such a beautiful and profound story. Thank you ❤️
pickI‘m starting off my year of wanting to read more memoirs! I‘ve seen this one for so long and finally gave it a listen. It was dark and sad but also inspiring and hopeful.
pick"Life wasn‘t about avoiding suffering."
Paul Kalanithi, When Breath Becomes Air
This book is so very powerful raw and real. Having to watch my own father battle and lose his life to cancer, I have been searching for meaning in his quick and difficult battle with the terrible illness. This is a topic people struggle to share but it is the one thing we all will face, death. A very important book I felt honored to read. Thank-you .
Silo helped me with my audiopuzzling this morning. He had strong opinions about which areas of the puzzle I should concentrate on. (Or maybe he was trying to convince me to do something more productive, like sit on the couch so he could warm himself on my lap.)
When Breath Becomes Air | 
I am grateful for the epilogue written by Lucy, his wife's, point of view, because it provides the acknowledgement 6d
We can't experience death before our time, and another's experiences can only ever be a possible touchstone for our own approach to end of life, but it's still encouraging to know people who care, 6d
⚠️death, grief, descriptions of medical procedures and terminal illness 6d