Macmillan Cancer Support 89 Albert Embankment London SE1 7UQ

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Introduction

We have produced the Core Books List to help public libraries improve the quality and reliability of the cancer material they stock. The list includes books about cancer itself and people’s experience of living with cancer. All the books on the list meet key quality criteria including having been reviewed favourably by our book review panel. This list is not prescriptive but intended to help libraries to make informed choices between the very wide range of books available, which can be of variable quality and accuracy. We review and update the list annually and welcome suggestions for how we might improve the content, including adding books that deal with subjects not currently included on the list. The electronic version is available on our website here: Core Book List. A list of Mood Boosting Books is also available to download on the Reading Well website. These are books chosen by people affected by cancer and which they have found uplifting. The books are novels, non-fiction and poetry and complement the core books. We also add reviews to the Directory of information materials for people affected by cancer so that people affected by cancer can see what others in a similar situation think about a book. Reviews are also featured in the Community News Blog on the Macmillan Online Community.

Please note: Reviews are not the views of Macmillan Cancer Support and inclusion in this list does not imply endorsement by Macmillan Cancer Support.

Feedback

If you have any comments, please email Sue Hawkins, Information Materials Researcher at Macmillan Cancer Support.

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Living with cancer

Cancer is my teacher (2014) O’Donnell L. London: Quartet Books, 2014. 168pp. ISBN 9780704373648. £12.99.

Average star rating 4.3

The fabulous woman’s guide through cancer. A lifestyle guide to help you through (2016) Bourne N. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016. 2nd edition. i, 181pp. ISBN 9781514315583. £8.99.

Average star rating 4.0

Tea & chemo. Fighting cancer, living life (2015) Buxton J. Urbane Publications Limited, 2015. 208pp. ISBN 9781910692394. £7.99.

Average star rating 4.6

Thirty things about cancer: a guide to getting through (2015) Goldsmith M. Grammaticus Books, 2015. 72pp. ISBN 9781508549918. £5.00.

Average star rating 4.0

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Treatment

Going into hospital? A guide for patients, carers and families (2015) Warren O, Dean Franklin B, Vincent C. Eastdown Publishing, 2015. Ix, 298pp. ISBN 9780993312205. £14.99.

Average star rating 4.0

Diet and nutrition

Chemo cookery club (2013) Ericson P. Metro Publishing (John Blake Publishing), 2013. 286pp. 9781782193623. £14.99.

Average star rating 4.0

How to eat well when you have cancer (2012) Freeman J. London: Sheldon Press, 2012. 176pp. ISBN 9781847091413. £8.99.

Average star rating 3.9

The living well with cancer cookbook. An essential guide to nutrition, lifestyle and health (2016) Warde F, Zabilowicz C. Bantam Press, 2016. 288pp. ISBN 9780593075753. £16.99.

Average star rating 4.1

The Royal Marsden cancer cookbook (2015) Shaw C. London: Kyle Books, 2015. 256pp. ISBN 9780857832320. £19.99.

Average star rating 4.5

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Symptoms and side effects

How to feel better. Practical ways to recover from illness and injury (2013) Goodhart F and Atkins L. London: Piatkus, 2013. 280pp. ISBN 9780749958213. £9.99.

Average star rating 4.6

How to live well with chronic pain and illness. A mindful guide (2015) Bernhard T. Somerville, MA, USA: Wisdom Publications, 2015. xiv, 338pp. ISBN 9781614292487. £14.99.

Average star rating 4.0

Recognise yourself. Beauty despite cancer. A practical guide

to maintaining your appearance and well-being as you go through surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or experience hair loss (2015) Young J. Lotus Publishing, 2015. 288pp. ISBN 9781905367597 £14.99.

Average star rating 4.2.

After treatment/survivorship

The cancer survivor’s companion. Practical ways to cope with your feelings after cancer (2013) Goodhart F, Atkins L. London: Piatkus, 2013. 288pp. ISBN 9780749954901. £9.99.

Average star rating 4.6

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The cancer survivors club (2015) Geiger C. Oneworld Pubs, 2015. 276pp. ISBN: 9781780747262. £8.99. www.thecancersurvivorsclub.com.

Average star rating 4.5

Rise. Surviving and thriving after trauma (2016) Williams S. London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 2016. xiv, 318pp. ISBN 9781474602686. £18.99.

Average star rating 4.6

Thrive. The Bah! guide to wellness after cancer (2012) Butland S. London: HayHouse UK Ltd, 2012. xxvii, 202pp. ISBN: 9781848509665. £10.99.

Average star rating 4.3

Personal experience

Probably nothing. A diary of not-your-average nine months (2014) Tristram M. London: Viking (Penguin imprint), 2014. [94pp]. ISBN 9780241004159. £16.99.

Average star rating 4.2

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Books for carers and family

The selfish pig’s guide to caring (2009) Marriott H. Piatkus, 2009. 400pp. ISBN 9780749929862. £9.99.

Average star rating 4.3

What can I do to help? 75 practical ideas for family and friends from cancer's frontline (2005) Hutton D. London: Short Books, 2005. 252pp. ISBN 9781906021566. £7.99.

Average star rating 4.6

Advanced cancer, end of life

Cellmates. Our lessons in cancer, life, love and loss (2012) Wilson C. Glasgow: Saraband, 2013. 216pp. ISBN: 9781908643179. £9.99.

Average star rating 4.1

The end of your life book club (2012) Schwalbe W. London: Two Roads, 2012. 352pp. ISBN 9781444706369. £9.99.

Average star rating 4.3

Gift of time (2013) Maclean R. London: Constable & Robinson, 2013. 224 pp. ISBN: 9781780332338. £7.99.

Average star rating 4.3

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The iceberg. A memoir (2014) Coutts M. London: Atlantic Books, 2014. 264pp. ISBN 9781782393504. £14.99.

Average star rating 3.9

In gratitude (2016) Diski J. London: Bloomsbury, 2016. 250pp. ISBN 9781408879900. £16.99.

Average star rating 4.3

Late fragments. Everything I want to tell you (about this magnificent life) (2014) Gross K. London: William Collins, 2014. 256pp. ISBN 9780008103453. £9.99.

Average star rating 4.3

A life turned upside down (2015) Hastings N. Little Knoll Publishing, 2015. £7.99.

Average star rating 4.1

Mortality (2012) Hitchens C. London: Atlantic Press, 2012. xv, 106pp. ISBN: 9781848879218. £10.99.

Average star rating 4.1

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There's something I've been dying to tell you (2014) Bellingham L. London: Coronet (Hodder & Stoughton imprint), 2014. vii, 275pp. ISBN 9781473608566. £16.99.

Average star rating 3.9

Until further notice, I am alive (2012) Lubbock, T. London: Granta Books, 2012. 128pp. ISBN 9781847085313. £12.99.

Average star rating 3.9

When breath becomes air (2016) Kalanithi P. London: Random House, 2016. 256 pp. ISBN 9780812988406. £12.99.

Average star rating 4.5

When I die. Lessons from the death zone (2012) Gould P. London: Little Brown, 2012. 228pp. ISBN 9781408703984. £10.99. (Paperback also available: ISBN 9780349139111. £8.99.

Average star rating 4.5

Bereavement

60 postcards (2014) Chadwick R. London: Simon & Schuster, 2014. 285pp. ISBN 9781471134302. £12.99

Average star rating 4.1

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Mum’s list. A mother’s lesson to the husband and sons she left behind (2012) Greene, St John. London: Penguin, 2012. 334pp. ISBN 9780718158330. £6.99.

Average star rating 4.2

Breast cancer

Breast cancer. Your treatment choices (2013) Priestman T. London: Sheldon Books, 2013. vii, 112pp. ISBN 9781847092687. £8.99.

Average star rating 4.3

The breast cancer cookbook (2015) Keshtgar M. Quadrille Publishing Ltd, 2015. 176pp. ISBN 9781849495561. £20.00.

Average star rating 4.2

Emotional support through breast cancer. The alternative handbook (2013) Galgut C. Oxford: Radcliffe Publishing, 2013. 70pp. ISBN 9781846199363. £5.99.

Average star rating 4.2

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Personal experience

B is for breast cancer: From anxiety to recovery and everything in between - a beginner's guide (2014) Hamill C. London: Piatkus, 2014. 240pp. ISBN 9780349401348. £12.99.

Average star rating 4.3

Bald is better with earrings. A survivor’s guide to getting through breast cancer (2015) Hutton A. New York: HarperCollins, 2015. xiv, 206pp. ISBN 9780062375650. £10.99.

Average star rating 4.4

The c-word (2010) Lynch L. London: Arrow Books (Random House), 2010. viii, 294pp. ISBN 9780099547549. £7.99.

Average star rating 4.8

My cancer journey. A rendezvous with myself (2015) Banka P. Balboa Press (USA), 2015. xxiv, 278pp. ISBN 9781504327404. £13.10.

Average star rating 4.0

Talk to the headscarf. A memoir (2013) Hannigan E. London: Piatkus, 2011. 288pp. ISBN 9780749956486. £9.99.

Average star rating 4.2

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Colon and rectal cancer

The c list. How I survived bowel cancer (2014) Bown R. London: Watkins Publishing, 2014. 256pp. ISBN 9781780286792. £10.99.

Average star rating 4.5

Lymphoma

Love for now (2012) Wilson A. Exeter: Impress Books, 2012. xv, 261pp. ISBN 9781907605352. £6.99.

Average star rating 3.9

Prostate cancer

Embroidered cancer comic (2016) Shefrim SE. London: Singing Dragon, 2016. 32pp. ISBN 9781848192898. £7.99.

Average star rating 4.3

Skin cancer

A series of catastrophes and miracles. A true story of love, science, and cancer (2016) Williams ME. Washington, DC: National Geographic, 2016. 304pp. ISBN 9781426216336. £17.99.

Average star rating 5.0

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You may have cancer, but you are still you. Macmillan is here to help you get on with your life no matter what. We can give you the practical, emotional, and genuinely personal support you need to hold on to who you are and what’s important to you. We can be there for you during treatment, help with work and money worries and we’ll always listen if you need to talk. We’ve helped millions of people through cancer and we can do the same for you. Life with cancer is still your life and we will help you live it. From the moment you’re diagnosed, for as long as you need us, you can lean on Macmillan. Call us free on 0808 808 00 00 or visit macmillan.org.uk Life with cancer is still life – we’ll help you live it. © Macmillan Cancer Support, May 2017. Macmillan Cancer Support, registered charity in England and Wales (261017), Scotland (SCO39907) and the Isle of Man (604).