To be honest, I’ve been watching a lot of Silent Witness this month, and returning to work, so less reading opportunities, but I’ve read 3 shorter books, all of which I rate highly:
Cancer Made Me a Shallower Person: A Memoir in Comics by Miriam Engelberg
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Well, this book made me snort out loud several times. It’s not that long (excellent for those of us with messed up cancer brains). I can’t remember where I saw it advertised, but the title made me laugh. Sad to see that the author died in 2006 (five years after primary diagnosis) – which as someone living with bone mets = hard to see (but also see a lot amongst my (online) friends). Cancer DOES help you develop a black sense of humour and this is so on point!
In-Between Days: A Memoir About Living with Cancer by Teva Harrison
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Another short book that doesn’t take too long to read. I was recommended this after the last book I read (also cartoons about cancer). Both writers had metastatic cancer – so there’s a mix of reading it and nodding along in recognition of the hopes, fears, and side effects – and an extra dose of fear on recognition that this author also died last year (and was hopeful that treatment may keep everything in check for many years… it’s all so unpredictable)…
What Are They On About? by Dr. Tammy Porter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a short book designed to look behind the headlines into science research, written by a scientist with a passion for helping people understand what science does, and how it can help us as a society. The book has chapters on food, medicine, energy, the environment, and an overview of critical thinking – much needed in our current era in which people shout ‘fake news’. The book is very readable, chunked rather like a series of blogposts, and would work particularly well with late primary school/early secondary school level, and there are lots of links at the end of each chapter so more information can be followed up online. Writing this as #GretaThunberg is trending for #ClimateStrike, this book would be very relevant to help your child understand more.
