'The Fault in Our Stars' by John Green
The novel, the movie … do we really need to tell you about this book? Yes? Well, OK, then. It’s the story of Hazel Grace, a teen with cancer. Sounds depressing, right? But not in John Green’s hands. Instead, it’s the bittersweet love story between two smart, sarcastic kids that will make you laugh and cry — sometimes at the same time.
To buy: Amazon, $11
'The Matchmaker' by Elin Hilderbrand
Elin Hilderbrand’s books are always must-read events. But with the recent announcement of Hilderbrand’s own cancer, this book takes on an entirely different meaning. It’s the story of rekindled love, devastating tragedy and the things we do when we know time is running out.
To buy: Amazon, $28
'Now or Never' by Logan Belle
Need a little spice in your life? Logan Belle always delivers. Claire is a mom who’s ready to live her own life once her son goes off to college. But as soon as Claire gets her freedom back, she’s dealt with an awful blow: cancer. Instead of wallowing in misery, Claire decides to do all of the things she’s missed out on … including a sexual bucket list. Let the sparks fly!
To buy: Amazon e-book, $3
'A Walk to Remember' by Nicholas Sparks
A trouble-making teenager, a preacher's daughter: When their paths collide, Landon Carter falls hard for angelic Jamie. But when her secret is revealed — cancer — Landon doesn’t run away. He gives her everything she'd always wished for, and more.
To buy: Amazon, $13
'Before I Die' by Jenny Downham
Think young adult novels can’t be just as compelling and real as their adult contemporaries? Think again. When 16-year-old Tessa is told that her cancer is terminal, she creates a list of 10 things she needs to do before she dies. She soon discovers that not all of the items on her list are easy to tackle, and that sometimes the littlest things in life are the most important.
To buy: Amazon, $9
'Black and White' by Dani Shapiro
The daughter of renowned photographer Ruth Dunne, Clara is known as “the girl in the pictures,” because of the unsettling nude portraits her mother took of her as a young child. At age 18, Clara flees her old life and starts a new one far away from the microscope of New York City's art scene, in which she is infamous. But when she discovers her mother is dying of cancer, Clara returns to Manhattan, where she must come to terms with her mother, their strained relationship and who she is now. A gorgeous novel that will stay with you.
To buy: Amazon, $13
'My Sister's Keeper' by Jodi Picoult
Jodi Picoult novels always throw you for a loop. "My Sister’s Keeper" is the story of a girl who was conceived and raised only as a bone marrow match for her sister, who is battling leukemia. When Anna begins to question who she really is, and who she is apart from her sister, she sets off on a course that no one could have expected. A total roller-coaster ride.
To buy: Amazon, $9
'Cancer Vixen' by Marisa Acocella Marchetto
Like graphic novels? Like memoirs? Then try this graphic memoir, which details this self-described "shoe-crazy, lipstick-obsessed, wine-swilling, pasta-slurping, fashion-fanatic, single-forever, about-to-get-married big-city girl cartoonist with a fabulous life” and her fight with breast cancer, which she discovered three weeks before her wedding. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll want her shoes.
To buy: Amazon, $12
'Department of Lost and Found' by Allison Winn Scotch
Natalie Miller works hard and plays harder. Nothing can stand in her way. Until, that is, she is diagnosed with breast cancer. Sidelined from work and dumped by her boyfriend, Natalie makes some discoveries about the sort of person she truly is, and must decide who she will become in her post-cancer life. Just as compulsively readable as all of Allison Winn Scotch’s novels.
To buy: Amazon, $12
'Why I Wore Lipstick to My Mastectomy' by Geralyn Lucas
At 27 years old, Geralyn Lucas was on top of the world — a recent grad from Columbia Journalism School, working her dream job as a producer for "20/20" — when she got a diagnosis of breast cancer. This candid memoir details what it means to be a young woman struggling with cancer in a beauty-obsessed culture. It's an empowering tale of courage and hope.
To buy: Amazon, $10
