October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month where people from all over the world strive to promote the importance of early detection, spread the word about mammograms, and provide support for those affected. To help, we’ve gathered 8 inspiring and informative books about breast cancer that anyone can benefit from.

Click for More Breast Cancer Awareness Reads.


Better by Amy Robach

“I have breast cancer.” When Good Morning America anchor Amy Robach revealed her shocking diagnosis on live television in November 2013, the seasoned news reporter embarked on the most difficult and illuminating journey of her life. In this intimate memoir she retraces the twelve months following her announcement and speaks candidly about how her illness affected her family life and her marriage, tapped into her deepest fears and strengths, and transformed her in ways she never could have imagined.

With honesty, humility, and humor, Robach connects deeply with women just like her who have struggled with any kind of sudden adversity. More important, she shares valuable wisdom about the power of the human spirit to endure the worst—and find the way to better.


The New Generation Breast Cancer Book by Elisa Port, MD

From an expert in the field comes the definitive guide to managing breast cancer in the information age—a comprehensive resource for diagnosis, treatment, and peace of mind.
 
The breast cancer cure rate is at an all-time high, and so is the information, to say nothing of the misinformation, available to patients and their families. Online searches can lead to unreliable sources and input from well-meaning friends and family, sometimes without knowing the details of their particular case, can leave even the most resilient patient feeling uneasy and uncertain. Elisa Port, MD, FACS, chief of breast surgery at The Mount Sinai Hospital and co-director of the Dubin Breast Center in Manhattan, offers an optimistic antidote to the ocean of Web data on screening, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment. Inside you’ll find information like the various scenarios when mammograms indicate the need for a biopsy; the questions to ask about surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and breast reconstruction; or the best resources and advice for those supporting someone with breast cancer.

Living as a breast cancer survivor, Dr. Elisa Port describes every possible test and every type of doctor visit, providing a comprehensive, empathetic guide that every newly diagnosed woman (and her family) will want to have at her side.


A Breast Cancer Alphabet by Madhulika Sikka

This A-Z guide to living with breast cancer goes where so many fear to tread: sex (S is for Sex—really?), sentimentality (J is for Journey—it’s a cliché we need to dispense with), hair (H is for Hair—yes, you can make a federal case of it) and work (Q is for Quitting—there’ll be days when you feel like it).  Madhulika Sikka draws an easy-to-follow, and quite memorable, map of her travels from breast cancer neophyte to seasoned veteran.

What Sikka didn’t foresee when initially diagnosed, and what this book brings to life so vividly, are the unexpected and minute challenges that make navigating the world of breast cancer all the trickier.  A Breast Cancer Alphabet is an inspired reaction to what started as a personal predicament.


The Cancer Vixen by Marisa Acocella Marchetto

The groundbreaking graphic memoir that inspires breast cancer patients to fight back—and do so with style.

“What happens when a shoe-crazy, lipstick-obsessed, wine-swilling, pasta-slurping, fashion-fanatic, about-to-get-married big-city girl cartoonist with a fabulous life finds . . . a lump in her breast?” That’s the question that sets this powerful, funny, and poignant graphic memoir in motion. In vivid color and with a taboo-breaking sense of humor, Marisa Acocella Marchetto tells the story of her eleven-month, ultimately triumphant bout with breast cancer—from diagnosis to cure, and every challenging step in between.


After Breast Cancer by Hester Hill Schnipper, LIC.S.W.

As women quickly discover, their life when treatment ends is very different from what it was before their diagnosis. Often exhausted, anxious, and emotionally volatile, they are beset by physical discomforts, fearful of intimacy, afraid for their children, worried about recurrence. Anticipating a return to “normalcy,” they discover that the old version of normal no longer applies.

There could be no more knowledgeable guide for women embarking on this complicated journey than Hester Hill Schnipper, who is herself both an experienced oncology social worker and a breast cancer survivor. This comprehensive handbook provides jargon-free information on the wide range of practical issues women face as they navigate the journey back to health.

Click to Read an Excerpt.


Living Well Beyond Breast Cancer by Marisa C. Weiss, M.D., and Ellen Weiss

What do I do now? Why am I still so tired? Am I really cured? How do I reduce my risk of recurrence? Is it safe for me to get pregnant? How do I get rid of the hot flashes so I can sleep?

This fully revised and updated second edition contains crucial information about these issues and more—including the revolutionary medical advances in follow-up testing, ongoing treatments, and recovery. With answers for everything from how to deal with hair loss and weight gain to finding online support groups and understanding healthy foods and supplements, Living Well Beyond Breast Cancer contains a greater depth and breadth of information in its enhanced chapters—plus all-new chapters that cover current treatment options and preventative tips for those at high risk for developing breast cancer.

With this book as your guide, you’ll have the tools not just to live beyond breast cancer, but to live well and well beyond this challenge in your life.

Click to Read an Excerpt.


Cancer Hates Kisses by Jessica Reid Sliwerski, Illustrated by Mika Song

Mothers are superheroes when they’re battling cancer, and this empowering picture book gives them an honest yet spirited way to share the difficult experience with their kids.

Author Jessica Reid Sliwerski was diagnosed with breast cancer four months after giving birth to her daughter. And through all the stages of treatment—surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, losing her hair—she thought about how hard it would be to talk to your child about cancer while coping with it. She wrote this picture book to give other parents and their children an encouraging tool for having those conversations—a lovingly upbeat book that is also refreshingly authentic and straightforward. With its simple text and heartwarming illustrations, Cancer Hates Kisses is relatable to any type of cancer.


Taking Care of Your Girls by Marisa C. Weiss, M.D., and Isabel Friedman

The real facts about your “girls” and how to take care of them.

Girls are as anxious and confused about their breasts as ever. That’s why Marisa Weiss, M.D., an oncologist and breast health specialist, and her teenage daughter, Isabel, decided to create Taking Care of Your “Girls.” Together, they polled more than three thousand girls and their moms and came up with a surprisingly huge list of worries and misconceptions. Based on their research, you’ll get answers to questions like how do I know when to get my first bra? Do big breasts have a higher risk of breast cancer than small ones? And how do I examine my own breasts?

A groundbreaking book for both mothers and daughters, Taking Care of Your “Girls” is a practical guide to breast care and a girl-to-girl conversation about the feelings and emotions that come with the territory.

Click to Read an Excerpt.

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