World Cancer Day

World Cancer Day is an international day observed every February 4th to raise awareness about cancer, encourage its prevention, and mobilize action to address the global cancer epidemic. Cancer touches countless lives, and books about it can offer understanding, comfort, and hope. The following titles explore the many dimensions of cancer—its medical challenges, emotional journeys, and stories of resilience—from both patients and those who care for them.

Updated November 3, 2025
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Fond du Lac Public Library
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A fatal inheritance : how a family misfortune revealed a deadly medical mystery
Ingrassia, Lawrence
Paper Book
Nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Nonfiction Named a best book of the year by Amazon, NPR, and Kirkus Weaving his own moving family story with a sweeping history of cancer research, Lawrence Ingrassia delivers an intimate,...
Fatal to fearless : 12 steps to beating cancer in a broken medical system
Giusti, Kathy
Paper Book
An empowering, soul-baring personal account and guide from a two-time cancer survivor and healthcare disrupter that shows anyone how to deal with a frightening medical diagnosis in America today, providing the knowledge necessary to take ownership of personal wellbeing and maximize...
Nearly departed : adventures in loss, cancer, and other inconveniences : a memoir
Pfeffer, Gila
Paper Book
By the time she was thirty, Gila Pfeffer was the oldest living member of her family, having lost her mother to breast cancer and her father to colon cancer. A simple blood test confirmed she carried the BRCA1 gene--which put her at high risk of developing cancer herself. Determined to break the...
This ordinary stardust : a scientist's path from grief to wonder
Townsend, Alan R.
Paper Book
"[A] remarkable account of a shifting consciousness" - Publisher's Weekly, starred review "An extraordinary, powerful book" - David Quammen, author of The Heartbeat of the Wild and Breathless A compassionate exploration of...
HOW TO LOSE YOUR MOTHER : a daughter's memoir
INC, NORMAL GIRL. JONG-FAST, MOLLY.
Paper Book
'I was just bowled over by this book' - Nigella Lawson 'A gripping memoir about mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, loss and healing . . . exquisitely relatable' - Lori Gottlieb, author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone 'Conveys the mess,...
All the way to the river : love, loss, and liberation
Gilbert, Elizabeth
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AN OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK "A delicious mashup of narrative that's by turns harrowing and healing." -People "Entertaining, insightful, wrenching ... punch-to-the-gut powerful." -The Washington Post
This is your mother : a memoir
Simpson, Erica J.
Paper Book
Named a Best Memoir of 2025 (So Far) by BookPage and Real Simple * "A beautiful story about an extraordinary mother's gift of love and hope." --Jeannette Walls, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Glass Castle * "Candid...Heartbreaking.....
If tomorrow never comes
Ashley, Allison
Paper Book
Fate connects two people in life-changing ways in a deeply romantic and emotional novel about hope and second chances by the author of Would You Rather and The Roommate Pact. Uncertain of what tomorrow brings, Elliott Holland decides to live it up--on the eve of a stem...
The general and Julia : a novel
Clinch, Jon
Paper Book
Longlisted for the Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award Ulysses S. Grant reflects on the crucial moments of his life as a husband, a father, a general, and a president while writing his memoirs and reckoning with his complicated legacy in this epic and intimate work...
A family matter
Lynch, Claire
Paper Book
No one need know about her mother's deviation A mother following her heart A father with the law on his side A child caught in the middle 'I'll be thinking about it forever' Barbara Kingsolver 'Powerful ...smart and often...
What does it feel like?
Kinsella, Sophie
Paper Book
Been wrong so long it feels like right
Mosley, Walter
Paper Book
In the latest from "mystery master" Walter Mosley, a family member's terminal illness leads P.I. Joe King Oliver to the investigation of his life: tracking down his long-lost father, and meanwhile, a new case pits King's professional responsibility against his own moral code. (The...
Four weekends and a funeral : a novel
Palmer, Ellie
Paper Book
A tender, laugh-out-loud debut romance about a woman who ends up in over her head after a little white lie . . . The right guy at the dead wrong time. When thirty-year-old post-double-mastectomy BRCA 1 carrier and reluctant thrill-seeker Alison Mullally...
Maggie: ; Or, A Man and a Woman Walk into a Bar
Yee, Katie.
Paper Book

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