So this is Nina Riggs--poet, writer, Mom, wife, friend, dog lover, cancer patient. And gone.

Left for the rest of us is her new and amazing memoir, "The Bright Hour--A Memoir of Living and Dying". This fine and beautiful book is about living with--and dying from--cancer.

Nina Riggs was a poet, and that facility with language and images, and her ability to see through the world ensures power on every single page.

Riggs writes with great humor--much needed here in CancerLand, and her book is about living with cancer--raising kids, adopting a dog, being in a marriage even while getting ready to die.

With this book Riggs raises the bar on how to die, and how to see the world every single day that you are alive. This will be the most uplifting book you read this year.

My Cancer Year--Curtis Pesman

This blog, Love in the Time of Cancer, began over colon cancer. It began because I got mad. I was mad at cancer for sure but I was especially mad that no one would talk to us about sex and how to keep a marriage strong in Cancer Land.

And no the answer is not cuddling. Nope. No C-word.

Over these past five years I’ve read all kinds of cancer books. Books on caregiving and cooking and cures of all kinds. And I have read fiction, nonfiction and memoirs. Yesterday afternoon I picked up a new book. The cover caught my eye. Simple words: My Cancer Year, and a photo of a jar of peanut butter. I flipped it over and saw the words, “colon cancer survivor.” So I brought it home and I finished the book before bedtime.

Curtis Pesman is a great writer and a funny writer. This is a real-deal book about colon cancer. He includes it all: The F-U chemo, the nasty recliners, the hole in your chest called a “port” and he includes the shit. Yep—he includes the sh*t, the poo and the poop. And it’s funny.

But what Pesman also includes that makes me want to hunt him down and hug him is The Sex. Yes—he writes about his sex life and intimacy with his wife during and after treatment. And he had some serious surgeries and wicked radiation. He writes about his badly sunburned penis. And he writes about the very specific details of preparing for sex with a stoma and a bag tapped to his tummy. I love this man for the details.

This is a great book for couples facing colon cancer. For men with any cancer. For great advice on how to talk to your doctor, and for the wonderful experience of laughing along with someone else with cancer.

The book is called, “My Cancer Year” by Curtis Pesman. Published by Tatra Press, LLC.