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October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, so we dedicate these reads, by women and for women, to a healthy future for all of us. Grab your friend, mother, daughter or just someone special and get a mammogram, then follow it with a trip to the bookstore.

You Can Do This
BY Elisha Daniels and Kelley Tuthill
Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2009

A how-to for any breast cancer patient, loved one, friend or member of the support team that provides insightful wisdom and immediate empathy, understanding and strength. Elisha Daniels and Kelley Tuthill—both breast cancer warriors—share dignity, information and straight talk about all aspects of this disease, so that no one has to travel this journey alone.

I love the Sanity Tips that are scattered within, like Look Good…Feel Better makeup tips. This book feels very real, as is the fight against breast cancer, so give yourself or someone you love a supportive read today.

What Is Your Self-Worth?
By Cheryl Saban, PhD
Hay House, 2009

This positive book empowers women to find their value and hang on tight to it. Packed with motivating exercises and questions, each chapter finishes with a self-worth affirmation, all to challenge each of us to think beyond our own self worth. Saban reminds us never to forget to share and celebrate our worth with the women and girls in our lives.

The Recipe Club
By Andrea Israel & Nancy Garfinkel
Polhemus Press, 2009

With vivid characters and chef-crafted recipes, this touching novel/cookbook reads almost like nonfiction. Friends Lilly and Val have shared letters and recipes back and forth throughout their lives. Just as with any relationship, some moments are tougher than others, and conflicts arise that threaten to tear apart this friendship forever. But through all of that, their shared love of cooking keeps them going. Note: a great book club pick.

Happy at Work, Happy at Home
By Caitlin Friedman and Kimberly Yorio
Broadway, 2009

The dynamic ladies from The Girl’s Guide to Business have teamed up to bring us their latest guide, this time tackling the ins and outs of being a working mom. The authors present practical tips, tools and strategies to help moms who are juggling it all, with input from coaches, therapists and successful working mothers.

Godmother
By Carolyn Turgeon
Three River Press, 2009

This novel is a story within a story. Banished by the fairy elders for something that occurred ages ago relative to her duties as Cinderella’s fairy godmother, Lil has hatched a plan she believes will return her to the fairy world and her beloved sisters.

Turgeon masterfully crafts a narrative that takes us back to a classic tale while intersecting with an modern, eye-opening stab of reality. Fans of alternate fantasy books, like Gregory Maguire’s Wicked, should definitely check this one out.

Jantsen’s Gift
By Pam Cope with Aimee Molloy
Grand Central Publishing, 2009

Often an outsider looking in, Pam Cope chronicles her true life story as a woman, mother and wife that appeared to have it all. Not only was this far from the truth, but the unthinkable loss of a child almost took away her sanity.

Buckling under the burden of dispersing funds donated to honor her deceased child, she is forever changed by a random meeting with a couple in an airport. With heartbreaking endurance, a family that needs her and relentless faith, Cope embarks on a journey to give children in war-torn and politically ravaged countries of Vietnam, Africa and Cambodia a voice and hope for a brighter present and even thoughts of a tomorrow.

Where Would I Be Without You?
By BJ Gallagher
Conari Press, 2009

A loving gift to tuck into a friend’s purse, drop into a stocking for the holidays or lift the spirits of someone battling breast cancer, this darling and whimsical book combines illustrations with advice, sage quotes and uplifting lists.

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* The Good Reads Girl was drawn by Denise Simon, a Chicago-based freelance illustrator.
Check out her work at deniseannsimon.com.

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