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I have read voraciously for pleasure since I was a child. Somewhere along the way, I discovered that books can also educate, support, and help you figure out how to live in this world. This can be extra helpful when you live with a chronic illness and are flailing about, trying to cope. In no particular order, these are some of the books that have helped and inspired me on the journey.

How to Be Sick (Second Edition): A Buddhist-Inspired Guide for the Chronically Ill and Their Caregivers by Toni Bernhard. If you read only one book to guide you on your chronic illness journey, make it this one. It’s a brilliant and gentle book that helps you feel less alone, showing you how to make small, yet profound, changes in how you approach your everyday. Basically, it helps you be kind towards yourself. And it’s now out in a second edition with added content!

Strong at the Broken Places: Voices of Illness, a Chorus of Hope by Richard M. Cohen. This book did two things. It taught me that it’s normal to be a bit of a control freak when you have a chronic illness or disability. And when I interviewed the author, it felt like the moment I became a writer with a capital W. Cohen interviews four people with different medical conditions and disabilities and pulls their experiences and personalities together.

Chronic Resilience: 10 Sanity-Saving Strategies for Women Coping with the Stress of Illness by Denea Horn. We all know that chronic illness is incredibly stressful, but how do you manage that stress and turn what you learn into a strength? Chronic Resilience is a terrific guide to actually utilizing which parts of your life are stressful, while at the same time gives you the tools that can help you manage it. This is not just for women with chronic illness — if you are stressed, this book will help.

Errant Gods (Blood of the Isir book 1) by Erik Henry Vick. It’s not often that you read a book in which the hero has debilitating rheumatoid arthritis. Actually, this is the first book I can remember in which this is the case. It’s a rollicking adventure, but also unexpectedly and wonderfully empowering when reading about someone like you being a hero. And not because they bear pain with clenched teeth behind a beatific smile. No, because they kick butt. Awesome!

Laugh, Sing, and Eat Like a Pig: How an Empowered Patient Beat Stage IV Cancer (And What Healthcare Can Learn from It) by e-Patient Dave deBronkart. Just like Toni Bernhard’s first book is essential reading for anyone with chronic illness, so is e-Patient Dave’s for those who want to get on the path to being an empowered advocate for themselves in the healthcare system. This book will teach you how to take control and reach out to others so that you can live a better life with your condition.

Mindfulness for Beginners: Reclaiming the Present Moment and Your Life by Jon Kabat-Zinn. I forget why I got this little audiobook, but it has been a steadfast companion and teacher. Learning about mindfulness made it possible for me to persevere through during some very rough times and it forms the basis for many of my most useful coping skills. All I can say is this: get it. Now.

Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist by Michael J Fox. Well, actually any of his books about his life and how Parkinson’s has affected him should be on this list, but I had to choose one. Funny, passionate, ironic, truthful — these are words that come to my mind when describing his books. He’s taught me a lot.

The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice. A vampire book? What?? And I don’t blame you for being a little surprised, but bear with me. The first time I read this book was in second-year university and it changed my life. Growing up with juvenile arthritis had made me a very cautious and quite anxious person and I was not comfortable in that space. Lestat lived life large, committed to get the most out of every minute. I knew instantly that this was what I wanted to do. To be. It took years to gradually make that change, many re-readings of the book, and a profound flare of my illness, but I think I finally got there.

Your Life with Rheumatoid Arthritis: Tools for Managing Treatment, Side Effects and Pain by… well,  me. Including my own book as an guide to live better with chronic illness may seem like the ultimate in shameless self-promotion. I do happen to think that it’s very good and many people agree, but that’s not why it’s here. Writing this book guided me to the fulfilment of a lifelong dream and a new career as an author. Although it’s not my only book, and I plan to write many more, that’s why this one will always be my favourite.

This is only the tip of a large stack of books that have helped me in a variety of ways. Over time, I’m sure I will think of more I’ve already read or I’ll discover new books that will have something profound to say at a time when I need it most. I look forward to making this kind of post a series.

What books have helped you figure out this life with chronic illness?