BOOKS: CANCER OR ILLNESS-RELATED
- Bauby JD. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: A Memoir of Life in Death. New York, NY: Vintage Books, Random House, Inc.; 2007
- Bolte-Taylor, J. My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey. New York, NY: Viking Press; 2008 (YouTube video)
- Bridges W. Transitions. Making Sense of Life’s Changes: strategies for coping with the difficult, painful, and confusing times in your life. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Books; 2004. (This fabulous book about transitions is highly relevant to individuals and loved ones coping with cancer diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship. Bridges divides transitions into 3 phases: letting go, the neutral zone, and the new beginning.)
- Bridges W. The Way of Transition: Embracing Life’s Most Difficult Moments. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Books; 2001. (After Bridges had been a world expert on transitions for many years, he had to undergo a personal transition, losing his wife to cancer. In this book, the author alternates chapters between descriptions of transitions theory and then his own personal experience, when after talking the talk he had to walk the walk.)
- Genova, L. Still Alice. New York, NY: Pocket Books, Simon & Schuster, Inc.; 2009
- Genova, L. Left Neglected. New York, NY: Gallery Books, Simon & Schuster, Inc.; 2011
- Gould SJ. Full House: The Spread of Excellence from Plato to Darwin. New York, NY: Three Rivers Press; 1996 (especially Chapter 4, Case One: A Personal Story, Where any measure of central tendency acts as a harmful abstraction, and variation stands out as the only meaningful reality, pp 45-56; note Figure 7 on page 55)
- Harpham WS. Happiness in a Storm: Facing Illness and Embracing Life as a Healthy Survivor. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc; 2005 (Website)
- Holland J and Lewis S. The Human Side of Cancer: Living with Hope, Coping with Uncertainty. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers; 2000
- Mukherjee S. The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster: 2010
- Pausch R with Zaslow G. The Last Lecture. New York, NY: Hyperion Books; 2008 (“We cannot change the cards we’re dealt, just how we play the hand.” YouTube video)
- Rosman, Katherine. If You Knew Suzy: A Mother, A Daughter, a Reporter’s Notebook. New York, NY: HarperCollins; 2010
BOOKS: OTHER
- Collins G. When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present. New York, NY: Little, Brown, and Co.; 2009
- Cunningham M. The Hours. New York, NY: Picador; 2000
- Daniell E. Every Other Thursday: Stories and Strategies from Successful Women Scientists. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press; 2008 (Book talk)
- Gilbert E. Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India, and Indonesia. New York, NY: Penguin Books; 2007 (Website)
- Kellaway L and Lukes M. Who Moved My Blackberry? New York, NY: Hyperion; 2006
- Kristof ND and WuDunn S. Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf; 2009
- Lamott A. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. New York, NY: Anchor Books, Random House; 1995
- Niles B. New York’s 50 Best Places to Take Tea. New York, NY: Universe Publishing; 2008 (If you’re not a New Yorker, get a similar book for your home town, and go!)
- Obama B. The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream. New York, NY: Crown Publishers, Random House; 2006
- Patchett A. Bel Canto. New York, NY: HarperCollins; 2001
- Quindlen A. A Short Guide to a Happy Life. New York, NY: Random House; 2000
- Rubin G. The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun. New York, NY: HarperCollins; 2009
- Skloot R. The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks. New York, NY: Crown Publishers; 2010
- Stone D, Patton B, Heen S. Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most. New York, NY: Penguin; 1999
- Wilkerson I. The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration. New York, NY: Random House; 2010
SHORT STORIES
- Carver R. Where I’m Calling From. New York, NY: Vintage Contemporaries; 1989 (or anything else by him)
- Hemingway E. The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway. New York, NY: Scribner Paperback Fiction, Simon & Schuster; 1998 (or anything else by him)
- Klass P. Love and Modern Medicine. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin; 2001 (or anything else by her)
- Lahiri, Jhumpa. Unaccustomed Earth. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf; 2008 (or anything else by her)
PLAYS
- Edson M. Wit. New York, NY: Dramatists Play Service; 1999
- Ephron N and Ephron D. Love, Loss, and What I Wore. (Adapted from the book of the same name by Ilene Beckerman.) New York, NY: Dramatists Play Service; 2010. (It’s worth reading or seeing this play just for the monologue about how your purse is the window to your soul! And then go clean your purse.)
- Linsay-Abaire D. Rabbit Hole. New York, NY: Dramatists Play Service; 2007 (One of the most beautiful writings I’ve ever read about dealing with grief and loss.)
- Loomer, Lisa. Distracted. New York, NY: Dramatists Play Service; 2007
- Wasserstein W. Third. New York, NY: Dramatists Play Service (unpublished manuscript)
- Margulies D. Time Stands Still. New York, NY: Theatre Communications Group, Inc: 2010 (This wonderful play, by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Dinner with Friends, addresses the topic of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder [PTSD] in two journalists returning from a war zone. PTSD is highly relevant to cancer survivors: recent studies suggest that the “trauma” of cancer treatment may lead to a form of PTSD in cancer survivors and their loved ones.)
POETRY
- Carver R. All of Us: The Collected Poems. New York, NY: Vintage; 2000
- Dickinson E. The Poems of Emily Dickinson: Reading Edition. Belknap Press; 2005
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