I did not know -- until I was sitting in the Cancer Center receiving chemo for breast cancer last year -- that author Barbara Delinsky is a breast cancer survivor.  My sister handed me a book off the shelf in this infusion center filled to the brim with cancer patients, all seated neatly in a row on pink leather recliners.  I started flipping through the book -- called Uplift: Secrets from the Sisterhood of Breast Cancer Survivors -- when I realized it was written by a best-selling author I had read before.  Her novels have caught my attention on several occasions and have been some of the books I have had a hard time putting down.  This book was no different.

Uplift is a book full of anecdotes and advice and wisdom shared by every-day breast cancer survivors -- and the family, friends, and men in their lives too. Topics include chemo and hair, the workplace, humor, exercise, and religion, among others. And without medical jargon or statistical reports, readers learn from those who have been there -- and want to make the road easier for those who follow.

I had to put Uplift back on the shelf once my infusion was complete but days later, I received a package in the mail from a former co-worker and friend.  Inside the package was my very own personal Uplift.  I have read it and reread it.  I have loaned it out and recommended it and quoted from it.  It is truly uplifting.