Our Library
We have many books on diagnosis, treatment, and
coping with cancer as well as Macmillan brochures.
Welcome from the Librarians!
Our library, open and available for all:
patients, carers, volunteers, peer supporters, counsellors, therapists and more.
If you need any help finding information please contact us at library@cancersupport.ch. We are available to help you.
Irene Bertrand and Sandra Oakley, ESCA CS librarians
Our Catalogue
We have a collection of some 300 books in English at the Drop-in Centre to cater to the needs and interests of those touched by cancer. Books cover a variety of subjects and are arranged on the shelves by the broad subject categories listed below.
There are two lists to help you find individual titles: one is arranged by the subject and the other by the author. We also have books for children as well as a small collection of DVDs.
Come to the library to browse and borrow any one of them (see library procedures). Please feel free to recommend any titles you would like added to the library. If you are interested in reviewing any of these titles, please contact either Irene Bertrand or Sandra Oakley at library@cancersupport.ch.
Book categories:
- General Health
- Types of Cancer
- Nutrition, Holistic and Complementary Therapies
- Self-help
- Coping with Cancer
- Care and Families
- Grieving and Bereavement
- Life Journeys
- Spirituality
Our Resources
We have a collection of Macmillan Cancer Support brochures. This UK Charity develops publications specifically for people with cancer and their carers.
Among the various resources that we offer, we have translated into English and made freely available a guide, from the Hôpitaux Universitaires Genève (HUG), that provides patients, friends and family assistance during chemotherapy treatment.
Online Resources
We’ve also compiled an Online Resource list of reliable and up-to-date cancer information websites for patients, families and carers below.
Book Reviews
Several book reviews written by members are available online for you to enjoy. If there is a particular book you are looking for, don’t hesitate to contact the librarians at library@cancersupport.ch.
Library Procedures
Books may be borrowed for an initial period of six weeks. On request, loans may be renewed for a further period of six weeks by sending an email to library@cancersupport.ch. Four books and/or Macmillan brochures may be borrowed at one time.
Borrowing Library Books
(1) Take the library card from the back of the book and enter name, date and telephone number.
(2) File the card in alphabetical order by name of author in the small file box marked LIBRARY BOOKS on loan.
Returning Library Books
(1) Take the library card from the small file box and cross out the name.
Return the card to the back of the book.
(2) Shelve the book according to the catalogue number or, if unsure, leave it on the table to be processed and shelved by one of the librarians.
New Books
Caring Through Cancer
Caring Through CancerS. Stokes and L. Woodward
This excellent little book tells the personal experiences of two ladies caring for their husbands both with incurable cancer. They met through the Macmillan online carer support forum and decided to write a book about their own experiences but only met up when their husbands had died.
Each chapter covers a different practical theme such as Passing on the News, Managing at Home During Treatment, At the Hospice etc. Each author writes about her experience under each theme and sometimes there are joint notes about what they had learnt. The book covers the personal element as well as practical advice for those in similar situations.
Coping with cancer, carers’ guides [ 6 STO ]
At Death Do Us Part:
At Death Do Us Part:A Grieving Widower Heals After Losing His Wife to Breast Cancer
Frederick Marx
This book is in fact more about the life of the author, a writer/director of documentary films and then his late marriage when he was in his mid-forties. His future wife had already been diagnosed with cancer so this is the honest story of their 13-year marriage. The last third of the book covers his life after the death of his wife and his spiritual path towards peace.
Grieving, bereavement and death [ 8 MAR ]
Prostate Cancer Breakthroughs: The New Options You Need to Know About
Prostate Cancer Breakthroughs: The New Options You Need to Know AboutJay S. Cohen
“If you or someone you know is one of the thousands of men diagnosed with prostate cancer each year, this book is must reading. In Prostate Cancer Breakthroughs, best-selling author Dr Jay Cohen provides new information on PSA testing, targeted biopsy, and ground-breaking prostate cancer treatments.”
Concise and easy to understand, Prostate Cancer Breakthroughs focuses on the information that all patients need to know. It offers a step-by-step look at the entire diagnostic process, up to and including the diagnosis…and describes twelve different treatment choices that may be considered.
Although this book is based on recent practice in the USA, I am sure it will prove very useful for patients who are newly diagnosed in Geneva, Vaud and neighbouring France.
Prostate Cancer [ 2P COH ]
NCCN Guidelines for Patients. Melanoma 2018
NCCN Guidelines for Patients. Melanoma 2018NCCN National Comprehensive Cancer Network
“From the medical leaders of 27 leading cancer centers united under the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®), comes this essential guide to melanoma. Adapted from clinical treatment guidelines used by physicians and oncology professionals around the world, these NCCN Guidelines for Patients® are packed with the latest information, treatment innovations, and resources. Each patient-friendly chapter prepares patients and caregivers to talk with their doctors and make treatment decisions.”
The information is clearly presented and very accessible for newly diagnosed patients and their families.
Specific Cancers [ 2S NCC ]
Grief, Day by Day: Simple Practices and Daily Guidance for Living with Loss
Grief, Day by Day: Simple Practices and Daily Guidance for Living with LossJan Warner
In Grief, Day by Day, the author draws on her own extensive experience, offering hope in its most practical form. “This book does not look to offer a solution to grief. Rather it provides supportive, useful guidance to help you create a life in which peace can co-exist with grief.”
Death, Grieving and Bereavement [ 8 WAR ]
The Complete Guide to Breast Cancer: How to Feel Empowered and Take Control
The Complete Guide to Breast Cancer: How to Feel Empowered and Take ControlProf. Trisha Greenhalgh and Dr. Liz O’Riordan
Both the authors are outstanding medical practitioners who have their own personal experiences of living with breast cancer. After hearing Dr O’Riordan speak on You, Me and the Big C, I was sure that this book would be of immense interest to all the ESCA members who are living through their own breast cancer journeys.
This book is “packed full of all the things the authors wished they’d known when they were diagnosed and tips on how to cope with surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and beyond.”
It is warmly recommended by Macmillan Cancer Support.
Breast Cancer [ 2b GRE ]
F*** You Cancer: How to Face the Big C, Live Your Life and Still Be Yourself
F*** You Cancer: How to Face the Big C, Live Your Life and Still Be YourselfDeborah James
“Deborah James’s life with her husband and young children was thrown upside down at the age of 35 when she was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer.”
This book was featured on the inspiring and thought-provoking podcast: You, Me and the Big C. In this very accessible book, Deborah James will guide you through every twist and turn which follow a difficult diagnosis, showing “how you can still live your life and be YOURSELF with cancer.” She has been a co-presenter of You, Me and the Big C, since the outset.
Life Journeys [ 9 JAM ]
All that Followed
All that FollowedEmma Campbell
“Emma Campbell bravely and honestly offers heartfelt thoughts on what happens when cancer becomes an unwelcome guest at an already crowded party. She shares her own terror and pain, mixed with the heartwarming and unexpected. The extraordinary kindness of people and the gritty detail of battling a life-threatening illness, all while being a single mum to four children. She opens up about her angels and demons, losing and then finding love again, a constant fear of death mixed with the joy and relief of living, the anxiety of cancer returning – then facing it when it does.”
Life Journeys [9 CAM]
How to Grieve like a Champ
How to Grieve like a ChampLianna Champ
“Packed with inspirational words and advice on how to improve our relationship with death, dying and loss……
In this compassionate accessible handbook, grief recovery specialist and funeral professional, Lianna Champ, explains how you can start to grieve positively and move forward with your life.”
Death, Grieving and Bereavement [8 CHA]
Loving Your Friend Through Cancer
Loving Your Friend Through CancerMarissa Henley
Marissa Henley is a devout Christian and her faith permeates her book. A cancer survivor herself she knows what it feels like and what your friend truly needs. She prepares the reader to support the friend with both knowledge and compassion, in a practical and spiritual way.
Coping with cancer: care and families [6 HEN]
Lung Cancer: A guide to diagnosis and treatment
Lung Cancer: A guide to diagnosis and treatmentWalter J. Scott
This is the third edition of a very easy-to-read little book, which explains all aspects of the disease to new patients or their loved ones. It is a simple straightforward guide, which is highly recommended.
Lung Cancer [2L SCO]
The Cancer Survivor’s Guide: Foods that help you fight back!
The Cancer Survivor’s Guide: Foods that help you fight back!Neal Barnard
The strong link between nutrition and cancer has been proven over the last decades and research confirms that a healthy diet can indeed help prevent the risk of cancer. The authors of this book, which contains the latest nutritional and scientific information (with references), advocate a plant-based diet, reducing or eliminating meat and dairy products i.e. vegan. There are plenty of recipes to complement the nutritional information.
Food and Nutrition [3 BAR]
Fast Facts: Prostate Cancer
Fast Facts: Prostate CancerRoger Kirby
Part of the “fast facts” series on different medical conditions, this
slim volume is intended primarily for the medical profession.
However, its concise and clear style gives the informed layperson a
brief up-to-date overview of all aspects of this cancer, including the
epidemiology, diet and lifestyle, prognosis, management of treatment etc.
Prostate Cancer [2 P KIR]
Prostate Cancer : A New Approach to Treatment and Healing
Prostate Cancer : A New Approach to Treatment and HealingDr Emilia Ripoll
This is a very complete and thorough hands-on book, a recommended
source for men diagnosed with prostate cancer. The “toolbox” is the
interactive part of the book with checklists and worksheets allowing you
to hone in on the most relevant information for your situation. There
is also a “digging deeper” section that expands on certain topics with
references to the latest research.
Prostate Cancer [2 P RIP]