Books Like...

The Undying by Anne Boyer is a memoir that delves into the author's experience with breast cancer, showcasing her journey through treatment and recovery. Through poetic prose, Boyer explores themes of pain, vulnerability, mortality, medicine, art, time, dreams, data, exhaustion, cancer, and care. The book offers a raw and intimate look at the author's emotions, thoughts, and the complexities of navigating the healthcare system in the USA while dealing with a life-altering illness. Boyer's writing style invites readers to witness her journey from a deeply personal perspective, making it a compelling and thought-provoking read.

Julie Yip Williams, a Harvard educated lawyer, shares her journey of being diagnosed with late-stage cancer in her late 30s and her subsequent battle with the disease. Despite her affluent life, she delves into her past of dire poverty in Vietnam and her struggles with congenital cataracts. The book highlights her determination to live life on her terms, facing her impending death with courage and honesty. Readers are taken through her emotional rollercoaster of treatments, family dynamics, and reflections on life and mortality.

"Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted" by Suleika Jaouad is a raw and emotional memoir that chronicles the author's journey through a rare form of acute myeloid leukemia at the age of 22. The readers are taken through the brutal realities of cancer, the mental anguish, and the impact it has on relationships. Suleika's writing style is described as introspective, inspiring, and thought-provoking, offering insights into her struggles and triumphs with courage and resilience. also delves into her 100-day road trip across the US to meet people who reached out to her during her illness, highlighting themes of hope, resilience, and the search for joy and creativity amidst adversity.

Barbara Ehrenreich's book 'Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America' delves into the pervasive culture of positive thinking in America and global business. The book exposes the harmful effects of blind optimism, showcasing how it can lead individuals to ignore real-world challenges and avoid critical thinking. Ehrenreich argues that enforced happiness can have negative consequences, as seen in the financial crisis, and challenges the notion that positivity is always beneficial.

Ehrenreich critiques the influence of positive thinking across various aspects of society, from religion and business to health and politics. Through a mix of personal anecdotes, historical analysis, and societal commentary, she presents a compelling case against the uncritical embrace of positivity. The book offers a thought-provoking examination of the dangers of excessive optimism and advocates for a more realistic and balanced approach to life's challenges.

The Bright Hour: A Memoir of Living and Dying by Nina Riggs is a poignant and intimate exploration of the author's final year living with metastatic breast cancer. The book chronicles Nina's journey through illness, treatment, and facing mortality with grace and humor, all while balancing the roles of a mother, wife, and daughter. Nina's writing style is described as beautifully written, meditative, and thoughtful, capturing the everyday moments of beauty and sweetness amidst the heartbreaking reality of her situation.

At the age of sixty, Cory Taylor is dying of melanoma related brain cancer. Her illness is no longer treatable, and as her body weakens, she describes the experience with vulnerability, strength, courage, and humility. She reflects on her feelings, memories of her parents' lives and deaths, and examines why she wishes to choose the circumstances of her death. Taylor's last words offer a vocabulary for readers to speak about the inevitable event we all will face. Written in a clear-eyed and unsentimental style, "Dying: A Memoir" is a deeply affecting meditation on death, as well as a funny and wise tribute to life.

Taylor writes frankly about her terminal illness and her desire to meet death on her own terms, even though it is not legal in her home country of Australia. She delves into her personal life, including the breakup of her parents' marriage and her relationship with her father, while also contemplating the taboo topic of death in society. The book explores the philosophical thoughts that arise when faced with death and offers a personal relay of memories and bloodline relationships, leading to a sense of peace, acceptance, and wonder at the events and people that shaped her.

'How to Be Sick: A Buddhist-Inspired Guide for the Chronically Ill and Their Caregivers' by Sylvia Boorstein and Toni Bernhard is a practical and insightful guide that combines Buddhist principles with personal experiences to help individuals cope with chronic illness. The writing style is clear and engaging, with practical examples and exercises that drive home important points. addresses the mental aspects of dealing with chronic illness, offering guidance on acceptance, finding inner peace, and living intentionally despite health challenges.

Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-first Century is a powerful anthology that brings together a diverse group of individuals with disabilities to share their personal stories and experiences. Through a collection of short essays, interview transcripts, articles, and creative prose, edited by Alice Wong, the book celebrates the universal nature of the disabled experience. Readers are taken on a journey that is raw, painful, beautiful, and inspiring, shedding light on the challenges, joys, discrimination, and resilience faced by those with disabilities in the modern world. The book is structured across four sections - Being, Becoming, Doing, and Connecting - each contributor leaving a piece of themselves within the pages, offering distinct voices and vivid experiences that highlight the intersectionality of disabled lives.

'Blue Nights' by Joan Didion is a beautifully written, sad, and poignant memoir that delves into the grieving period of the author after the death of her daughter, Quintana, closely followed by the loss of her husband. The book explores Didion's thoughts on aging, loneliness, vulnerability, and the struggles of growing old without immediate family. The writing style is described as melodic, reflective, and emotionally powerful, capturing the depth of a mother's love, the pain of loss, and the inevitability of aging with exquisite quality.

"Cancer Ward" by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is a poignant and powerful novel set in a Soviet cancer ward, offering a cross-section of society through the patients and medical staff. The story delves into the lives of various characters, each grappling with their past, present, and uncertain future shaped by Stalinism. Solzhenitsyn weaves together personal stories, political criticisms, and moral dilemmas, creating a rich tapestry of human emotions from shame to vindictiveness, friendship to solitude, and love to isolation. The novel provides a deep exploration of human character, societal issues, and the complexities of life under a totalitarian regime, all set against the backdrop of a cancer ward in the Soviet Union.

Solzhenitsyn's "Cancer Ward" is praised for its brilliant and beautiful storytelling, well-developed characters, and unflinching portrayal of life and terminal illness. offers a timeless analysis of the human condition, transcending its Soviet setting to explore universal themes of connection, survival, knowledge, and hope. Through a diverse cast of characters and thought-provoking narratives, Solzhenitsyn creates a masterpiece that resonates with readers across cultures and generations, leaving a lasting impression with its profound insights and multilayered storytelling.