Will I love With the End in Mind?

What if everything we thought we knew about death was wrong?

How should we prepare for the dying and saying goodbye? And how can understanding death improve our life? These are the questions posed—and answered—by Kathryn Mannix, palliative care pioneer and CBT therapist. ‘There are only two days with fewer than twenty-four hours in each lifetime, sitting like bookends astride our lives: one is celebrated every year, yet it is the other that makes us see living as precious.’

Death animates life and, in common with all the books selected, With the End in Mind really can change the way… show more.

My husband was diagnosed with lung cancer when he was hospitalized with Covid in 2021. Since then, various treatment side effects have produced more miserable days than happy, carefree days. This book by a British palliative care doctor offers beautifully told tales of her patients, their families, friends, and medical staff, and it has given my husband and me a different perspective on his situation.

Dr. Mannix says we have forgotten how to talk about dying and death in our time, and she gently opens up the conversation with her sensitive descriptions of how people face their endings.

We have… show more.

Mannix is a retired Palliative Care Consultant, and this wonderful book takes case studies from her long career and presents them as vignettes designed to reassure a readership who may be anxious about the process of dying. She relates each story with candour and humility, acknowledging how much she has learnt from her patients and their families whilst glossing over the enormous impact that she has evidently had on their care.

This is an incredibly useful book for those working with people at the end of life, but it is also a really lovely read for anyone fearful of death,… show more.

Dr. Mannix studied and practiced in palliative care for over thirty years. In her book she shares insightful stories, highlighting the value of approaching death with an open, clear understanding. She makes the case for forethought and preparation to meet death gently. Each unique story nudges the reader toward a greater appreciation for the depths of meaning of each special life.