The Best Books for Breast Cancer Survivors

As strong as breast cancer survivors are, sometimes it helps to know that you’re not alone. Other women have gone through the struggle, the pain, the thoughts…and these books, in our opinion, are the best-of-the-best reads that will prove that you’re not a lone survivor. 

The Victoria’s Secret Catalog Never Stops Coming: And Other Lessons I Learned From Breast Cancer

From detection and surgery to reconstruction and recovery, Jennie gives readers a road map for a journey no one chooses to take. She details both the large and small lessons learned along the way: the importance of a child's birthday cake; the pleasure of wearing a beautiful, provocative red dress; and how to be grateful rather than guilty when someone brings lasagna to the door. 

Cancer Made Me a Shallow Person: A Memoir in Comics

Stricken with breast cancer at a young age, Engelberg turned to cartooning to cope; the resulting work is both powerful and very funny. She starts at the very beginning, while awaiting her diagnosis. The story follows the cancer trail all the way through surgery, chemo, support groups, wigs, the distraction of cartooning, moving house while completely nauseated and the horror of a second diagnosis. In contrast to the heavy subject matter, Engelberg's artwork is naïve to the extreme, though it has some charm.

Let Me Get This Off My Chest: A Breast Cancer Over-Shares

Tamoxifen hot flashes, mastectomy, reconstruction, breast cancer etiquette, Frankenboobs, bras with special attachments—Margaret Lesh shares all in her funny, heartfelt collection of essays, anecdotes, and life lessons from the perspective of a two-time breast cancer survivor. She’ll tell you when it’s okay to play the cancer card, what you should take to the hospital, and gives suggestions on how to cope in those dark moments of the soul.

Uplift: Secrets From the Sisterhood of Breast Cancer Survivors

Barbara Delinsky's 1998 bestseller, COAST ROAD, featured a heroine who was a breast cancer survivor. To this day, it is the book that generates more mail than any of her others. That fact, combined with Barbara's ongoing commitment to breast cancer research, led her to her first book of nonfiction. Not a medical book -- there is no discussion of the pros and cons of a particular treatment or hospital or doctor -- UPLIFT is rather a collection of hundreds of pieces of practical and inspiring tidbits collected from survivors and their take on everything from what kind of deodorant to use during radiation treatment to the best kinds of exercise.