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The dialogue is sharp as a knife, and Kay and Cyril leap from the page, vivid and fully formed. It‘s a novel that asks big questions about what it means to be in control of your life, the dynamics of a marriage, familial duty and love and the toll it takes on our individual lives, the shape and purpose of a society and its role in our individual lives, and most directly about getting older, and how we navigate our own unravelling.

Another bail. But I don‘t feel the click with Shriver anymore, this is the second book by her that loses itself in details that I don‘t care for. Too bad because the premise is very intriguing: a couple decides to commit suicide together when they turn 80 buy when that day approaches will they still want to?

#WeeklyForecast 42/23

I hope to finally read this book, that‘s been on my forecast for weeks now. Fact is, that I‘ve read nothing during the past week. I am super distracted and worried and sad by what happened in Israel and what‘ll happen next. My escape has been binging a Dutch series. I hope I‘ll be able to read next week.

It is weird to tag you Cindy, in a bookish post while you world has changed completely. Thinking of you 🤍

#WeeklyForecast 40/23

I am reading the Japanese book solely for its cover 😍 and it is kind of fun. Next will be the Shriver, which I remember @Suet624 loved, and maybe another #Booker23 one, even though it didn‘t make the shortlist.

Interesting premise, but oh so dreary! Kay & Cyril make a pact to commit suicide when she turns 80.Cyril doesn‘t want to be a drain on society and Kay wants to avoid the devastating effects of dementia. Shrivel provides a number of scenarios in which one or both “stays or goes” at Kay‘s birthday. I spent most of the book disliking the couple and found the details of each death and life tiresome. It might be a good book to discuss, but ugh. 2⭐️s

My fiction reads were merely okay in April. The tagged book won, but was no match for “Lessons in Chemistry.” Which in turn was taken out by “The Latecomer” —which now moves seamlessly into the quarterfinal slot.

Kay and Cyrus make a pact in their 50s to end their lives at 80 so as to avoid the various financial, physical and emotional issues of old age. But then their 80th birthdays arrive. That‘s when this becomes a “choose your own death adventure” book. Each chapter depicts a different future depending on whether they do it or not. Shriver is a provocative writer—I don‘t always understand the point she‘s making, but I enjoy the intellectual challenge.

These two books both take different paths for a large choice in life. Should we stay is done well and pretty funny. I‘m worn out by Rose Napolitano by the end of her life story.

Shriver is so imaginative that she held my attention during a sometimes bleak view of future alternative realities for a couple who have committed to ending their lives at 80. Each chapter offers a different possibility if they choose to stay alive. This book was not an easy read for me because the subject matter required that I think of my own future. I felt a bit squirmy. However, I really appreciate Shriver tackling the subject of aging.

Maybe not the best book to read on the eve of a birthday, but I have always appreciated Shriver‘s thought process and writing. A couple decided years ago that 80 years of age would be the best time to die. Life after that age just involves pain and suffering. As the time approaches they revisit their choice. Loved the first chapter. Onward! (Photo from Shelburne Falls, MA)

I was intrigued by the premise of this book: after witnessing the havoc that Alzheimer‘s disease has on the lives of the elderly, two adults make a pack to enact agency over their lives and decide the day they leave this Earth. Something dragged about this book and I decided life was too short (apropos given the plot) to stick with a book that isn‘t speaking to me.