book List
Welcome to the Health Through Cancer bookshelf! Here you'll find a list of books meant to inspire, explore, and help you grow. Health Through Cancer is a big fan of sharing books, thrifting books, and utilizing the public library system. If you prefer to purchase your books, Health Through Cancer is an Amazon Associate and earns an affiliate commission for any purchases through product links (underlined and in blue font). All the profits from affiliate links are donated to breast cancer research and cancer support services.
Books on Joy and Emotion
The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World by His Holiness Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu with Douglas Abrams. This book is a telling of the meeting of these two friends who just happen to be men of great faith as they gather to celebrate the Dalai Lama’s 80th birthday. The book details the nature of joy, obstacles to joy, and the eight pillars of joys as told through the duo’s challenges as a political refugee, leader against the oppression of apartheid, and cancer patient, and how they have found and cultivated joy despite these unimaginable hardships. The final section of the book contains Joy Practices, and invaluable collection of meditations, journaling prompts, and prayers to help the reader remove obstacles to joy and embraces the pillars of joy. In their own words, “Lasting happiness cannot be found in pursuit of any goal of achievement. It does not reside in fortune or fame. It resides only in the human mind and heart, and it is here that we hope you will find it.”
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The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo - Tidying expert Marie Kondo recommends removing things that no longer serve a purpose in your life, allowing you to embrace the things that are truly important. Time is the only true currency, and our objects end up owning us if we do not curate them mindfully. This philosophy goes so much beyond just objects. Letting go of nonfunctional or painful relationships, stressors, trauma and free the precious storage space in your mind, body, heart, and soul. In one part of the book, she speaks about bras that no longer spark joy flying out of the closet. 6 months after I read that passage, I no longer had a need for bras in my closet since I went flat from a double mastectomy. Life changes, things we used to need no longer serve us. Feel the emotions, honor and thank the object, let them go, and breathe into the new space in your life.
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The Gratitude Diaries: How a Year Long Looking on the Bright Side Can Transform Your Life by Janice Kaplan This book is a year long experiment for journalist Janice Kaplan on mindfully and purposefully embracing gratitude every day in various aspects of the author’s life: marriage and love, parenting, money, career, stuff, heath, coping, caring, connection. Each chapter focuses on a different source of gratitude as she explores the topic with experts learning about the benefits of choosing gratitude. The chapters that resonated the most for me were Chapter 9 on “Vitamin G” where she elaborates on health benefits and Chapter 12 on “Making Bad Times Better” on finding gratitude despite terrible life circumstances.
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Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience by Brené Brown is an exploration of the most common human emotions (87 to be exact) that she categorizes, defines, and illustrates. By reading it, I found words and explanations for emotions that I was feeling but didn't fully comprehend. Her work is a beautiful dictionary of the language of our hearts and so important in understanding ourselves and our interactions with others.
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Happier Hour: How to Beat Distraction, Expand Your Time, and Focus on What Matters Most by Cassie Holmes is a optimization of your time to create that you truly want. Holmes is UCLA professor of happiness so she examines how to savor and optimally spend your time, avoid distractions, and provides simple tools to help implement changes in your day.
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Books on Mindfulness
The Awakening by Mark Nepo by Mark Nepo. The author, a cancer survivor and poet, created this beautiful mindful daily guide containing reflections on a daily topic, quote, or thought that is linked to a meditation. It is a chance to savor, reflect and notice the beauty of life unfolding around us while still feeling and processing the difficulties of life. I find this book incredibly insightful and healing, and it continues to guide and center me beyond my active treatment.
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Stillness is the Key by Ryan Holiday. This book provides the blueprint for a mindful, present life grounded in stillness or steadiness. The author utilizes Stoic, Buddhist, and Christian as well as modern and historic figures like Fred Rogers, Anne Frank, and Winston Churchill to illustrate the importance of certain virtues and practices to create a balanced mind, spirit and body. He shows us how we can all use stillness to find meaning, happiness and excel in the modern world.
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Mindfulness: An Eight-Week Plan for Finding Peace in a Frantic World by Dr. Danny Penman and Mark Williams. Utilizing Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, this book reveals the benefits of having a daily mindfulness practice and provides practical steps to creating your own practice. The authors help the reader look at life’s events and thoughts with less judgment and more compassion and practice mindfulness for 10-20 minutes each day. The book includes links to online audio meditations.
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Raising Good Humans by Hunter Clarke-Fields. Author Clarke-Fields uses practical advice and gentle parenting techniques to cultivate mindfulness in daily interactions with children. This book shows how to be calm instead of stressed and how to stop the automatic reactions that have been passed down through generations, stopping the cycle of generational trauma.
Books on Nourishment
Cancer fighting Kitchen by Rebecca Katz catapulted me on my path of agency and wellness during my initial diagnosis and chemotherapy. This book provides practical tips for eating wisely and healthily during chemotherapy and beyond. Her recipes and meal preparation tips make eating during chemotherapy more manageable. My favorite section is in the beginning of the book where you can find a list of herbs, seeds, plants and why they are cancer-fighting. It is incredibly empowering to make yourself a meal and think about how you are supporting your cancer fight and making healthy choices. Two favorite recipes are Magical Mineral Broth and Stir-fried Baby Bok Choy with Shiitake Mushrooms.
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How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease by Dr. Michael Greger, MD. This book is a detailed description of the evidence on what to eat to prevent or combat the 15 most common causes of death in America as well as his “Daily Dozen” foods which we should all incorporate daily into our lives to optimize our bodies. I especially love his simple stoplight approach to food: green light (unprocessed plant foods), yellow light (process plant foods or unprocessed animal foods), and red light (ultra-processed plant foods or processed animal foods). You can download his Daily Dozen App for free. The app tracks the 12 daily foods he recommends eating for health and disease prevention. Many of the pointers offered in this review are found in Dr. Granger's book.
Dr. Greger also runs the website NutritionFacts.org, a nonprofit organization (there are no corporate sponsons). The website offers free nutritional information on a whole food plant-based diet, wellness, disease prevention, healthy weight loss and longevity through easily digestible short informational videos (more than 2,000 and a new one every day), blogs, podcasts and info-graphics.
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Forks Over Knives―The Cookbook: Over 300 Simple and Delicious Plant-Based Recipes to Help You Lose Weight, Be Healthier, and Feel Better Every Day by Del Sroufe. Forks Over Knives first started as a documentary (which you can watch online for free) that highlighted the benefits of a whole food plant based diet. The brand expanded to offer a whole foods plant based cookbook as well. Check out their website for healthy vegan recipes, meal plans, cooking classes, and a quarterly magazine full of recipes. The Forks over Knives recipes are truly whole food plant based and do not used processed ingredients (so they do not use cooking oils or vegan imitation cheese or meats).
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Oh She Glows: Over 100 Vegan Recipes to Glow from the Inside Out and Oh She Glows Every Day by Angela Liddon. Almost a decade ago and way before cancer, Oh She Glows was my first foray into vegan cooking. Liddon's vegan recipes are straightforward, created from common pantry ingredients, easy to make, nutritious, filling, and delicious. Our family loves the Life Affirming Nacho Dip, Marinated Lentils, Vegan Shepherd's Pie, and Banana Muffin Tops to name a few. Her website OhSheGlows.com contains additional recipes.
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Love and Lemons Every Day: More than 100 Bright, Plant-Forward Recipes for Every Meal by Jeanine Denofrio offers plant-based meals (recipes can be adapted for vegan diets) that are bright, nutritious and delicious. The book contains useful charts for how to roast vegetables, prepare grains, and dressings. You can check out her website Loveandlemons.com for further recipes.
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Books on Spirituality
Peace in the Face of Cancer by Lynn Eib - Long time colon cancer survivor, patient advocate, and cancer support group facilitator beautifully shares Bible verses, inspiration and laughter from her personal trials and examples from her patient work in support groups. She illustrates how to find Peace, laughter, hope, strength, and perspective through God in the setting of cancer. Here are her words, “We get peace when we become realistic optimists who view earth’s trials through the lens of hope.”
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Everything Happens for a Reason and Other Lies I’ve Loved by Kate Bowler. 35 year old Duke University Theology Professor Kate Bowler was a young Mother and expert on the Prosperity Doctrine (she wrote a book called Blessed) when she was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. She explores her faith, mortality, and the meaning of life through challenges. I related so much to her experience of having her world fall apart, relinquishing her dreams of a future for herself professionally and in her family, and questioning her spiritual beliefs as she explored the questions of “Why?” and “What Next?” She learns how to let go of illusions of control and surrender to God’s will in the context of her new diagnosis. This book made me laugh (one chapter relates how she took up swearing for Lent!) and cry. I am incredibly grateful for her honesty and storytelling. “Life is beautiful. Life is so hard.”
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The Wisdom Codes: Ancient Words to Rewire Our Brains and Heal Our Hearts by Gregg Braden. Words are incredibly powerful. Our words can rewire our brains, how we see ourselves, and how we interact with the world. Through specific prayers, mantras, chants, songs that have been uttered for thousands of years through generations by different spiritual faiths (Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Native American) we can find healing, protection, comfort and hope. Braden teaches how to utter and feel the words to tap into a spiritual connection.
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Prayer in the Night: For Those Who Work or Watch or Weep by Tish Harrison Warren Author Tish Warren explores human vulnerability, suffering, uncertainty which begins with her own personal painful experience of miscarriage where she relied on praying Compline or Night Prayer. She writes so beautifully while delving into delves into deep and heavy topics of how to find comfort in a God who allows terrible things to happen to us.
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Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life by Tish Harrison Warren is the portrait of an ordinary day that looks at daily life through the lens of the liturgy. Each small habit from making the bed, brushing your teeth, losing your keys is a practice and habit in faith. The lessons of the liturgy can be found in small moments outside the walls of a church. My favorite part is when she is going through a hard time in her life and she goes to her pastor and asks what she should sacrifice for Lent during a season when she feels like her whole life is Lent. (I felt that beautiful statement to the core. ) Her spiritual advisor tells her that instead of sacrifice, to take a moment to enjoy time to herself through a small piece of life like a good cup of coffee.
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Anatomy of the Spirit: The Seven Stages of Power and Healing by Caroline Myss - Medical intuitive, mystic, and author Caroline Myss creates a framework for understanding how different religions and the energy fields of the chakras overlap and provide insights into illness, intuition and healing.
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Unshakeable: 365 Devotions for Finding Unwavering Strength in God’s Word by Christine Caine This Christian daily devotional uses personal stories and scripture verses to help guide one to a faith filled braver, stronger unshakeable life.
Books on Nature
The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel How They Communicate by Peter Wohlleben is a fascinating view into the secrets of trees and forests. The author, a former forester, details the science of how trees feel, communicate, share, "scream" when they're thirsty, and network to survive. Drunken trees exist in nature! It deepens one's respect and awe of the majesties and complexities of nature. I enjoyed the soothing voice and lovely accent of the audio book's narrator. Get the whole family involved by checking out the young readers book, Can You Hear the Trees Talking, for ages 8-10 years old. It includes information, fun facts, quizzes, and activities.
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Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer - This book is part memoir, scientific teachings, indigenous storytelling, and call to action. Indigenous author Robin Wall Kimmerer weaves together her Potawami heritage and scientific knowledge through beautiful prose to reveal a way of seeing and appreciating the beautiful world around us. "I want to stand by the river in my finest dress. I want to sing, strong and hard, and stomp my feet with a hundred others so that the waters hum with our happiness. I want to dance for the renewal of the world."
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Books for Healthcare PRofessionals
Kitchen Table Wisdom: Stories that Heal by Rachel Naomi Remen. A former pediatrician turned cancer counselor shares a collection of personal, professional, and patient stories about healing. Her stories helped me unlearn some of the teachings of western medicine and allowed me to be human and feel. A story that touched my soul, took my breath away, and stuck with me is that of a young cancer survivor who envisions himself as a cracked vase. He feels the anger at the loss of his leg and being broken, but later he realizes that the crack is what lets the light in.
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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. This is the true story of a young woman named Henrietta Lacks whose cervical cancer cells were taken without her knowledge. Her cells, or HeLa cells, were the first immortal cells to be grown in culture. HeLa cells became crucial to many medical discoveries of vaccines, cancer, and in vitro fertilization. Through Henrietta's story, Skloot illustrates racial and gender inequality and the dangers of paternalism in medicine. It is a fascinating and eye-opening dive into our history.
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The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown. This book shares Brown's 10 guideposts for living life wholeheartedly by embracing our true selves and releasing ourselves from the constraints of expectations and perfection. "Authenticity is the daily practice of letting go of who we think we’re supposed to be and embracing who we are."
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Radical Remission: Surviving Cancer Against All Odds by Dr. Kelly Turner. Radical Remission is the product of over 100 interviews of cancer survivors and 1000 case reports of patients who have survived cancer despite the diagnosis of terminal cancer. She discovered 9 commonalities that survivors use to survive despite the odds. She highlights the survivor's stories and provides evidence based research behind why these techniques work. I highly recommend this book for inspiration and for guidance.
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The Brain that Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science by Norman Doidge - This book changed my view of my brain. I was taught that our brains have specific locations for certain senses, motor skills, intellectual actions and that these are static. This book revolutionizes our old thinking that the brain is fixed and unchanging. Elegant experiments and case histories exhibit how stroke patients regain faculties, the blind can see, phantom limbs fade away, a woman with half a brain rewires itself and how to improve your cognition. This book can be a bit scientific for those without a science background, but it is still accessible for all. The findings presented in the book are empowering especially when you are trying to change your behaviors or learn a new skill. Embrace the possibilities. Your beautiful brain can keep growing and changing with you!
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Set Boundaries, Find Peace: A Guide to Reclaiming Yourself by Nedra Glover Tawwab. Counselor and therapist Tawwab defines healthy boundaries and provides accessible ways for us to ask for and achieve healthy boundaries in all aspects of life. Her specific examples and phrases (especially using her narration in the audiobook version) make boundaries setting easier. She also provides relatable and easily digestible tips on her Instagram account.
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Books on Holistic Healing and Architecting Your Life
Ignite Your Light: A Sunrise-to-Moonlight Guide to Feeling Joyful, Resilient, and Lit from Within by Jolene Hart. This book provides rituals, recipes, healing techniques and insights into how to access the powers of our bodies, nature, and holistic therapies. She structures the book around times of day to harness our own rhythms and that of the sun and moon.
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Mind Over Medicine: Scientific Proof That You Can Heal Yourself by Lissa Rankin. Former Obstetrician and Gynecologist turned counselor helps you create a prescription to heal yourself. Through her own healing, she realized that her own teaching in western medicine had failed to recognize the important fact that our bodies innately can heal themselves. She provides practical instructions to architect your own life and health. Another book, The Fear Cure: Cultivating Courage as Medicine for the Body, Mind, and Soul is also an excellent read on how fear can make us ill, how to overcome fear and embrace courageous inner voice which she terms our "Inner Pilot Light".
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Radical Remission: Surviving Cancer Against All Odds by Dr. Kelly Turner. Radical Remission is the product of over 100 interviews of cancer survivors and 1000 case reports of patients who have survived cancer despite the diagnosis of terminal cancer. She discovered 9 commonalities that survivors use to survive despite the odds. She highlights the survivor's stories and provides evidence based research behind why these techniques work. I highly recommend this book for inspiration and guidance.
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Get Rooted: Reclaim Your Soul, Serenity, and Sisterhood Through the Healing Medicine of the Grandmothers by Robyn Moreno. This memoir and self-help book starts with the author's mid-life melt down or burnout. She embarks on a 260-day healing journey of reconnecting with her Mexican heritage, releasing personal and family trauma, and becoming a healer (curandera). I enjoyed her healing techniques, journal prompts, and meditations which throughout the book. She goes on a retreat and hugs and speaks to a tree. What's not to love?
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Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor. This book explores the history and science behind breathing and how breathing impacts our overall health and how we can harness our innate power everyday. It offers an interesting view of the many different ways and practices of breath work throughout the world. Read it while practicing breath work in an in-person or online class, a YouTube video, or through a wellness app like Insight Timer.
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The Telomere Effect: A Revolutionary Approach to Living Younger, Healthier, Longer by Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn and Dr. Elissa Epel. Nobel Prize winner Dr. Blackburn and longevity researcher Dr. Epel share their fascinating findings on telomeres, the repeating genetic code at the ends of our chromosomes. When our cells replicate, the telomeres on the end protect the chromosomes from getting damaged, but with time and unhealthy lifestyle they can decrease which leads to illness. Telomeres are key in longevity and cellular health. It is fascinating and exciting to read how lifestyle interventions (eating a healthy diet, exercising, and managing stress) lengthen telomeres through the enzyme telomerase.
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Rising Strong: How the Ability to Reset Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brené Brown. Brown examines what happens when we fail, fall, or falter and how to process the loss and pick ourselves back up and start again with more wisdom and more wholeheartedly than before. She uses the catchy 3-phrase process of reckoning, rumbling and revolution to move beyond the fall.
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David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell. Beginning with the tale of David and Goliath, Gladwell shows how one can succeed despite all odds and indeed being the underdog can even have its advantages. He uses historical and modern day examples to uncover how we think and react to obstacles and adversity shapes our lives.
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Survival Stories
Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted by Suleika Jaouad. This is one young woman’s very honest and candid account of her leukemia battle including a bone marrow transport. After her treatment, she journeys across the United States connecting with others who have experienced cancer or hardship in order to rediscover her joy and creativity. Her clear voice speaks on the challenges of being a young adult cancer survivor and touches on the beautiful and heartbreaking friendships in her community of young cancer survivors. Recently, the home she shares with her musician husband was showcased in Architectural Digest Magazine. Suleika authored the article and speaks about living in cancer’s shadow and how redesigning their home took on a new focus acting as motivator and healer during her relapse. Stayed tuned for a documentary of their art, love and creativity in the documentary American Symphoma.
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Everything Happens for a Reason and Other Lies I’ve Loved by Kate Bowler. 35 year old Duke University Theology Professor Kate Bowler was a young Mother and expert on the Prosperity Doctrine (she wrote a book called Blessed) when she was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. She explores her faith, mortality, and the meaning of life through challenges. I related so much to her experience of having her world fall apart, relinquishing her dreams of a future for herself professionally and in her family, and questioning her spiritual beliefs as she explored the questions of “Why?” and “What Next?” She learns how to let go of illusions of control and surrender to God’s will in the context of her new diagnosis. This book made me laugh (one chapter relates how she took up swearing for Lent!) and cry. I am incredibly grateful for her honesty and storytelling. “Life is beautiful. Life is so hard.”.
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The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan. At the age of 36, Corrigan was diagnosed with breast cancer and then confronted with her father's own cancer diagnosis. This book is for those in the sandwich generation caring for young children and aging parents, who are faced with their own personal cancer crisis. Her voice is humorous and relatable, and her father is a larger-than-life lovable character.
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The Beauty of Dusk: On Vision Lost and Found by Frank Bruni. New York Times bestselling author Bruni relates his personal tale of sudden unilateral blindness and how he found gratitude, healing, and even optimism in the darkest of times. He delves into historical and personal narratives (such has a blind architect!) It will make you feel grateful and inspired. I hope you too can marvel at the resilience of the human body. Although his is not a cancer survivor story, his story is compelling and relatable.
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Magazines
Elephants and Tea Magazine is a young adult cancer magazine written by survivors and primarily targeted toward a young adult cancer survivor and caregiver audience, but many of the stories and topics are universal. They have wonderful resources listed in the back of their magazine including support groups and immersive cancer trips. The organization that creates this magazine, ElephantsandTea.org also offers virtual programming including yoga nidra, happy hour, conversations called "Perkatory", and an annual young adult cancer camp to create a community. As they put it, "The Elephant in the room is cancer. Tea is the relief conversation provides." The magazine is available online for free. At the back of the magazine is a very helpful list of resources for young adult survivors.
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Wildfire Magazine is a magazine written by young breast cancer survivors (diagnosed under the age of 50) to shed light on themes related to young survivorship. A subscription is required to access the magazine. The organization also created a breast cancer community called Wildfire Community.