Today is National Read a Book Day! In this blog, our Information Materials Researcher, Sue Hawkins, explains why and how we review books about cancer, what books have been reviewed recently, where to read the reviews, and how to get involved.
Why do we review books about cancer?
Reading a good book can help people understand and manage their health and well-being. But you don't have to take our word for it. Here's what some of our reviewers think:
Reading about someone else's experience can also help people realise that they are not alone. And that their reactions and feelings are normal. Once again, we asked some reviewers to tell us what they think:
We review books to help us decide if they are likely to be useful for other people affected by cancer, or, perhaps more importantly, avoided. The reviews also help us advise our cancer information and support centres and public libraries about the most appropriate cancer books to stock. The books are all reviewed by volunteers, this could be people affected by cancer or health professionals.
What books do we review?
Since 2007, over 1500 volunteers have reviewed over 520 books, between them writing some 6,000 reviews. The books cover a wide range of topics including:
The books come in different formats, such as diaries, graphic novels, books for children, fiction, and poetry.
Where can I find recently reviewed titles?
Here are some books we have reviewed recently:
Big tree is sick: A story to help children cope with the serious illness of a loved one.
The cancer-fighting kitchen: Nourishing, big-flavour recipes for cancer treatment and recovery.
Connecting with cancer: Living with and beyond cancer.
Dear cancer, love Victoria: A mum's diary of hope.
Goodbye grandma: Explores the issues surrounding death and bereavement from a child's perspective.
Laughing at cancer: How to heal with love, laughter and mindfulness.
Love, light and mermaid tales: One woman's journey back to wholeness through stage 4 cancer.
Pretty sick: A beauty guide for women with cancer.
Thinking out loud: Love grief and being mum and dad
Tommy v cancer: One man's battle against the big C
You can find reviews on all these titles, and many many more in the Macmillan web directory of information materials.
You can search for a book by title or author or you can find all the reviews by searching for 'Book reviews'. Click on the title of the book to see the full record, where you can find a link to download the reviews. You can also download the Macmillan Core Book List which is a list of suggested books about cancer for public libraries.
How does book reviewing work? Can I review a book?
Yes! We are always looking for more volunteers. You can become a volunteer book reviewer through the Macmillan Volunteering Village website.
You can search by opportunity type, then select 'Review documents' and click 'Search' to see a selection of the books currently available for review. You can also email Sue Hawkins for more information.
When you see a book on the Volunteering Village that you would like to review, you can apply for the opportunity or contact Sue. We will send you a copy of the book free of charge, along with a review form. Then you will have two months to complete your review! Once we have several reviews for a book, we post them on our website for people to read.
You can read about one of our volunteer reviewers in the summer issue of Volunteer News. And here's what some of our volunteers think about reviewing:
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
To see what else Macmillan's cancer information team has been blogging about, please visit our blog home page! You can subscribe to receive our blogs by email or RSS too.
We're with you every step of the way
The Macmillan team is here to help. Our cancer support specialists can answer your questions, offer support, or simply listen if you need a chat. Call us free on 0808 808 00 00.
Comments? Feel free to add them below (you need to be logged in).
Keep in touch Follow Macmillan’s cancer information team on Twitter @mac_cancerinfo
