Our Library
We have many books on diagnosis, treatment, and
coping with cancer as well as Macmillan brochures.
News from the ESCA CancerSupport Library
Sadly, the Drop-in Centre remains closed until further notice, because of the ongoing Covid-19 situation. Ever since the Centre was first closed in March, Irene Bertrand and I have continued to search for and purchase new books, which you will be able to borrow as soon as the library is accessible again.
For those of you who are, nevertheless, searching for information and support, I would like to recommend the Macmillan booklets, which you may already have had the opportunity to look at in the past. The booklets can be consulted and downloaded as pdf files on the be.Macmillan website: https://be.macmillan.org.uk
I would also like to recommend two podcasts, which you might find interesting, although they do not always make for easy listening.
The first is You, Me and the Big C, which has been broadcasting for more than two and a half years. There are more than 60 episodes available for downloading. All of them are informative, some uplifting, others incredibly sad, but you can easily choose the ones which are of interest to you. Recently the presenters recommended a second podcast.
Goodbye to all this is an intensely moving account of the impact of a cancer diagnosis on the family of the presenter, Sophie Townsend. She describes it as “A story about losing the man you love and going on without him; about raising two girls through grief, being alone and surviving- mostly intact.” It is uplifting and heart-breaking at the same time.
Irene and I are very much hoping that the library will soon be open for business, and are looking forward to being able to welcome you back. Until then we send Season’s Greetings and every good wish for 2021.
Sandra Oakley
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
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.
Our Newsletters
We send monthly e-newsletters full of information about our services, activities, upcoming events and those of related organisations.
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.
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 in 2021
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
Charlie Mackesy
Charlie Mackesy’s book has sold well over 1,000,000 copies. Images from the book appear on walls in schools and hospitals, hang from lampposts in places as far-flung as Los Angeles and Delhi, and are regularly posted on social media sites. The conversations between the boy and his animal friends speak so poignantly about the human condition, particularly during the ongoing Covid Pandemic, although curiously the book was first published in the autumn of 2019, when no-one knew what was coming.
A matter of death and life: love, loss and what matters in the end
Irvin D. Yalom and Marilyn Yalom
Internationally renowned psychiatrist Irvin Yalom had devoted his career to helping patients with their anxiety, grief and depression. Now in his mid-80s he has to face these same emotions when his wife, a feminist author, is diagnosed with cancer. After a long fulfilling marriage, with a loving family and a large circle of friends they face Marilyn’s approaching death together. In fact they wrote this book together alternating chapters and in the preface wrote “together we will write this journal of what lies ahead in the hope that our experiences and observations will provide meaning and succo(u)r not only for us but for our readers.
Older Survivors of cancer:
feeling understood by sharing experiences
Alice B. Kornblith
This book is a collection of narratives by older cancer patients and survivors of four different types of cancer and describes what they have been through physically and emotionally since their diagnosis. Improved cancer treatment has lead to a growing number of older cancer survivors and here we learn how cancer affected their lives in so many different ways, each person replying to questions such as treatment and treatment side effects, overall impact of having had cancer, relationships with family, friends and acquaintance, religion/spirituality, coping needs which were unmet etc. There is a noteworthy overall similarity in the shared reactions to the experiences. It was obvious that until you, yourself have had cancer you can’t understand what the person is going through. Many talk of the positive aspects of how American organisations equivalent to ESCA (the author is American) can make all the difference. It is the sharing of experiences which permit survivors to overcome loneliness.
Cross Everything
A personal journey into the evolution of cancer
Henry Scowcroft
Henry Scowcroft has worked as a writer for the charity Cancer Research UK since 2003. He says it was “his first proper job”, after completing a postgraduate degree in Science Communication. His interest in writing for Cancer Research UK has largely focussed on the scientific aspects of cancer and cancer treatment and making the information accessible for newly diagnosed patients and family members. A link to his blog can be found on the Cancer Research UK website.
Doctors get Cancer too: A doctor’s diary of life and recovery from cancer
Philippa Kaye
Dr Philippa Kaye is a GP with a particular interest in children’s, women’s and sexual health. She has written multiple books on topics ranging from pregnancy and fertility to child health and child development, and she has a weekly column in Woman magazine as well as contributing to other magazines and newspapers. She has regularly been seen broadcasting on radio and television in programmes such as This Morning and The Victoria Derbyshire Show.
Good Grief: Embracing life at a time of death
Catherine Mayer and Anne Mayer Bird
Mother and daughter Anne Mayer Bird and Catherine Mayer were widowed within 41 days of each other on the eve of the pandemic, then locked down alone. Their profound isolation was broken just once a week, when Catherine visited Anne to care for her, at distance and in a mask. Together they found ways to navigate their loss and the startling questions and challenges that confronted them.
New Books in 2020
Ticking Off Breast Cancer
Susan Liyanage
The author is a busy and well-organised wife, mother and part-time lawyer. Describing her life from the moment of diagnosis through treatment and further, her book is full of thoughtful and helpful advice every step of the way and packed with helpful to-do-checklists at the end of each chapter.
9 LIY (Life Journeys)
The First Cell
Azra Raza
This excellent book by a leading oncologist in the USA, makes the argument that trying to search for the last cancer cell in the body and eliminating it has not resulted in much progress since the “war on cancer” was declared in the early 1970s….. The author believes that more research funds should be directed towards developing strategies for early detection of cancer.
2 RAZ (General Cancer)
Dear Life
Rachel Clarke
This is an honest and thought provoking book by a compassionate young doctor who, already in training, questioned what she saw as the lack of empathy for the patient by some medical and teaching staff in the overworked environment of the NHS. She queried whether the overriding principle to save lives with sometimes painful and lengthy treatments is always appropriate. That she decided to specialise in palliative medicine and work in a hospice was not surprising.
8 CLA (Grieving, Bereavement, Death)
The State of Disbelief
Juliet Rosenfeld
When Juliet Rosenfeld’s husband dies of lung cancer only seven months into their marriage, everything she has learnt about death as a psychotherapist is turned on its head.
As she attempts to navigate her way through her own devastating experience of loss, Rosenfeld turns to her battered copy of Freud’s seminal essay ‘Mourning and Melancholia’. Inspired by the distinction Freud draws between the savage trauma of loss that occurs at the moment of death – grief – and the longer, unpredictable evolution of that loss into something that we call mourning, Rosenfeld finds herself dramatically rethinking the commonly held therapeutic idea of ‘working through stages of grief’.
8 ROS Grieving, Bereavement, Death
Living With the Long-Term Effects of Cancer
Cordelia Galgut
In this book, Galgut includes discussion on relationships, work, trauma, fear of recurrence and the role of therapy. Giving an unflinchingly honest perspective, “Living with the Long-Term Effects of Cancer: sheds light on these struggles, in the belief that bringing this conversation to the forefront is key to improving life for those who are affected by cancer and who suffer longer term from its effects.
2 GAL General Cancer
The Book of Awakening
Mark Nepo
This book was recommended to the peer supporters by Antonia.
Philosopher-poet and cancer survivor, Mark Nepo’s spiritual daybook is a summons to reclaim aliveness, liberate the self, take each day one at a time, and to savor the beauty offered by life’s unfolding. Reading his poetic prose is like being given second sight, exposing the reader to life’s multiple dimensions, each one drawn with awe and affection. The Book of Awakening is the result of his journey of the soul and will inspire others to embark on their own. Nepo speaks of spirit and friendship, urging readers to stay vital and in love with this life, no matter the hardships. Encompassing many traditions and voices, Nepo’s words offer insight on pain, wonder, and love.
5 NEP (Self Help)
Levels of Life
Julian Barnes
It is a slim volume of only three chapters, “part history, part fiction, part memoir….. it is about ballooning, photography, love and grief, about putting two things, and two people, together, and tearing them apart.
Chapter 3: The Loss of Depth, brings a message both haunting and strengthening, a sharing of one of the most fundamental experiences each of us will be called upon to endure.
8 BAR (Grieving, Bereavement, Death)
my wife said you may want to marry me
Jacob B. Rosenthal
My Wife Said You May Want to Marry Me is the poignant, unreserved, and inspiring story of a great love, the aftermath of a marriage ended too soon, and how a surviving partner eventually found a new perspective on life’s joys in the wake of tremendous loss.
Surveying his life before, with, and after his wife Amy, Jason ruminates on love, the pain of watching a loved one suffer, and what it means to heal—how he and their three children, despite their profound sorrow, went on.
9 ROS (Life Stories)
This Too Shall Pass
Julia Samuel
At a time when even the most certain things feel disrupted, acclaimed psychotherapist Julia Samuel provides an antidote to the chaos we are all feeling. In this Sunday Times bestseller, Julia draws on hours of conversations with her patients to show how we can learn to adapt and even thrive during our most difficult and transformative experiences.
From a new mother struggling with the decision to return to work, to a father handling a serious medical diagnosis, and a woman deciding whether to leave her husband for a younger lover, this book unflinchingly deals with the hard times in family, love, work, health and identity.
5 SAM (Self Help)
The Breath of Sadness
Ian Ridley
Ian Ridley is a British sports writer and journalist. When his wife, the trailblazing sports reporter Vikki Orvice, died of cancer at the age of 56, he found himself plunged deep into a sadness that he expected and a world of madness that he did not.” Writing this book was one of the ways he sought to come to terms with his bereavement.
The Breath of Sadness is an unflinching account of how we carry on when we are left behind, and a poignant, tender and candid exploration of love and loss.
9 RID (Life Stories)
Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes
William Bridges
First published in 1980, Transitions was the first book to explore the underlying and universal pattern of transition. Named one of the fifty most important self-help books of all time, Transitions remains the essential guide for coping with the inevitable changes in life.
Transitions takes readers step-by-step through the three perilous stages of any transition, explaining how each stage can be understood and embraced. The book offers an elegant, simple, yet profoundly insightful road map to navigate change and move into a hopeful future.
5 BRI (Self Help)
Managing Cancer Symptoms
Cheryl Rezek
This excellent little book on mindfulness is a practical guide to coping with cancer symptoms both physical and psychological. It takes you step by step through a number of different practices and guided meditations. It is intended to help you to stay focused on the present moment, overcoming stress, worry and anxiety and giving you advice on sleep patterns, exercise and self-care in general.
5 REZ (Self Help)
I Used to Have Cancer
James Templeton
Over 30 years ago, at the age of 32 when the author was diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma he was given an experimental hyperthermia treatment with chemotherapy – a proposed 80 treatments in all. At the same time he started looking into a change of diet. When the doctors admitted that their treatment wasn’t working well the author skipped hospital and decided to fight his cancer with a total lifestyle change. He studied various natural approaches to continue his battle with cancer – with a macrobiotic diet, supplements, meditation and generally living a healthy lifestyle. In fact this book is a valuable resource also for preventing cancer in the first place and well written with courage and determination.
4 TEM (Holistic and Complementary Therapies)
Life Kitchen
Ryan Riley
Ryan Riley was just eighteen years old when his mum, Krista, was diagnosed with cancer. He saw first-hand the effect of her treatment, but one of the most difficult things he experienced was seeing her lose her ability to enjoy food.
In a bid to discover whether there was a way to bring back the pleasure of food, Ryan created Life Kitchen in his mum’s memory. In Life Kitchen, Ryan shares recipes for dishes that are quick, easy, and unbelievably delicious, whether you are going through cancer treatment or not. With ingenious combinations of ingredients, often using the fifth taste, umami, to heighten and amplify the flavours, this book is bursting with recipes that will reignite the joy of taste and flavour.
3 RIL (Food and Nutrition)
That Good Night
Sunita Puri
Born and brought up in America, the daughter of immigrants, whose mother was an anaesthetist, Sunita Puri felt the tension between medicine’s impulse to prolong life at all costs and the impact of spirituality on the experience of dying patients. As a medical student, she was more and more drawn to palliative medicine, a specialty which focusses on maintaining quality of life during a terminal illness, rather than prolonging life no matter what.
8 PUR (Grieving, Bereavement, Death)
Radical Acts of Love
Janie Brown
In Radical Acts of Love, Janie Brown, oncology nurse of thirty years and counsellor of cancer patients with terminal diagnoses, recounts twenty conversations she has had with the dying; including those personally close to her. Each conversation uncovers a different perspective and experience of death, while at the same time exploring its universalities.
As well as offering an extremely sensitive and wise insight into our final moments, Brown offers practical ways to facilitate the shift from feeling helpless about death to feeling hopeful; from fear to acceptance; from feeling disconnected and alone, to becoming part of the wider, collective story of our mortality.
8 BRO (Grieving, Bereavement, Death)
The Bowel Recovery Toolkit
Sarah Russell
The author, who is a clinical exercise specialist reminds us that fitness is individual – it is relative to you as a person but also where you are in relation to your cancer journey. This recovery programme is full of encouraging advice for any cancer patient and includes healthy eating as well. These are great practical guidelines for a full recovery.
5 RUS (Self-help)
A Beginner’s Guide to the End
BJ Miller and Shoshana Berger
This is a practical book which provides a wealth of useful, thoughtfully presented information for patients, family members, caregivers and friends. It is easy to navigate, both through the quirky illustrations and the thought-provoking titles, headings and subheadings of each chapter, which help readers to locate the answers to their burning questions.
8 MIL (Grieving, Bereavement, Death)