Rating: 
Summary: A must read for women everywhere
Review:
I ordered this from Amazon after reading recommendations on one of my Email groups about this. I got in the mail on Saturday after and sat down to look at it, intending just to merely take a quick look. I started reading it and couldn't put it down! This book just completely sucked me in. It's told completely via emails between a two-year cancer survivor (Susan) and a woman she befriends because of an internet post (Lara) who has just found a breast lump. It chronicles the story of their budding friendship and Lara's struggle to not only find a diagnosis but then through treatment and Susan being with her to support her every step of the way via emails. This book should be required woman for every woman over the age of 40 - actually even before then. The information obtained in this book is pretty up to date (considering it was written four years ago) and is a great way to educate yourself about breast cancer. With the statistics being that one out of every eight woman will develop breast cancer the chances that either you or someone you know could develop this disease is mighty high. This book not only contains things helpful for someone suffering from breast cancer, but things helpful for supporting them through their struggle. These women became very real to me; probably more vividly since the author is also a breast cancer survivor. Read this book - and buy an extra for a friend, the library, your local breast cancer support group. This is important!
Rating:
Summary: HEARTWARMING STORY OF FRIENDSHIP AND SORROW
Review: ALL WOMEN SHOULD READ THIS BOOK. IT'S THE HEARTWARMING STORY OF TWO WOMEN WHO BECOME FRIENDS OVER THE INTERNET AND HELP EACHOTHER THROUGH THE CRISIS OF CANCER. VERY INFORMATIVE. THIS BOOK IS LOOSELY BASED ON LANEY BECKER'S OWN PERSONAL BATTLE WITH BREAST CANCER.
Rating:
Summary: This Hit Close To Home
Review: Being a 4-1/2 year survivor of breast cancer and also active on the internet, I found this book almost too real to be fiction. I felt like I truly knew these two women, for I am these two women in so many ways. The author being a survivor herself, certainly was able to describe to a tee what the feelings are when diagnosed, going through treatment and the fears of recurrence. This book will make you weep with happiness and sadness all at the same time. Everyone women should read this and not be afraid of its contents.
Rating:
Summary: Too Real to be Fiction
Review: Being a breast cancer survivor(victim), and being on an internet breast cancer forum (Breast Cancer Action-Nova Scotia, www.bca.ns.ca) I found this interaction (emailing) to be actually what I and many others have discovered by searching for information and comfort on the internet. I have now made many life-long, close friends through this forum that mirrors the one in this book. The book is "right-on" with the facts, both scientifically and emotionally.
Rating:
Summary: Well-written and solid
Review: But as a single woman, I found myself asking questions no other reviewer has raised. These women are more similar than different. Each has a loving, supportive husband and children who seem well-adjusted, typical teens and pre-teens.
They have great health insurance. They are devoted to their families. who sustain them as they survive the rigors of cancer treatment. They work, but they can take as much time as they need to investigate options and deal with the disease, without a severe loss of income.
So, what if you're single or divorced with no family member who can be an advocate? What if your husband turns away? If cancer treatment is this horrible with a loving spouse AND a good insurance company, how do people survive alone with an HMO?
I also wondered about Lara's interpretation of the second opinion. Her first doctor had a "wait and see" attitude. Do we know if the second, more pessimistic doctor was really the right one? And if doctors make bizarre claims that are not medically supported ("I can tell by feeling...") how do we know whom to trust?
Rating:
Summary: Once a stranger, now a dear friend!!
Review: Dear Stranger, Dearest Friend by Laney Katz Becker was suggested to me shortly after I successfully completed my first Avon 3 Day Walk to raise money and awareness for breast cancer research. As the daughter of a mother who succumbed to breast cancer and an online member for many years, the subject matter of this book is one which intrigued me and unfortunately remember well. Having witnessed the ravages of this disease not only from my mother, but from friends and men and women I walked with both in October of 2000 and May of 2001, and then being part of e mail circles, I found this book to be both memorable, insightful and informative.It doesn't take long before the reader realizes that the author herself was diagnosed with breast cancer. And so I imagine this book will not only appeal to those who either suffer from this disease or know somebody who does but also those who want to read about what can happen when somebody is diagnosed with breast cancer. This book begins when Lara, a young suburban wife and mother, discovers a small lump in her breast. At first she ignores it but when she continues to feel it, she makes an appointment with her doctor, only to be told she needs to wait several weeks. She then seeks out an online service for support from other members who have also been down this road. Fearful and unbelieving that this coudl be happening to her and thinking "what if," most of the members reassure her by saying, "It's probably nothing." But one poster, a survivor, writes by e mail with important information which includes finding another doctor with an earleir appointment. And what at first begins as letter writing dedicated to breast cancer slowly grows into the most magnificent friedndhsip. In time these women not only discuss their illness and doctor's visits but become true friends sharing stories about their children, husbands, fears and expectations. Along the way there are laughs and joy, tears and sorrow. And then, it as if the book comes full circle when several years later and on the anniversary of her own discovery, Lara is able to help another woman who suspects she may have breast cancer. And once again the circle of support,friendship and information begins again. Much of the more technical information which I read is also available through medical books and journals but it is the manner in which Laney Katz Becker chooses to present it to her readers which is so compelling. While you many not enjoy all of this book, which at times is diffciult, it will make further aware of not onyl takign care of yourself but being your own health advocate and certainly empathy for those who suffer from any terminal disease. I will never forget Laney Katz Becker and wish her the very best of health as I do all those who suffer from any disease. In closing I must add that over 20 years ago I read what was then considered a ground breaking book about one women's fight against breast cancer. The title is First You Cry by Betty Rollin. Be assured that Dear Stranger, Dearest Friend is a book worthy of being placed alongside this book and should be read!
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Book for Every Woman
Review: Dear Stranger, Dearest Friend is an adventure into the hearts and minds of two women that could be any of us. Laney Katz Becker has taken the scary subject of breast cancer and put it into the bite-size pieces of information available in email messages. Susan and Lara (rhymes with Sarah)find each other on a breast cancer bulletin board and are drawn together in a common emotional whirlwind. Like any friendship that springs up on the internet, theirs is laced with caution and eventually with love and trust. If you are a woman or have a special woman in your life, this is a book that must be read. It will encourage you and uplift you. You will want to share it with the world.
Rating: 
Summary: Informative & good
Review: Dear Stranger, Dearest Friend is the story of two women who meet in an online breast cancer support group & communicate back and forth emails.
I enjoyed this book for four reasons.
One for its writing style. It is written entirely in email. I had never read a book like this before. It was a fun & quick read being entirely in emails.
Two, because it was very informative about breast cancer. There were a lot of medical terms & procedures talked about in the book but the author does an excellent job of thoroughly explaining everything without being boring or confusing.
Three, because the story went beyond just breast cancer. These two women truly became friends & shared their lives, including family, hopes & dreams with each other.
Four, because the book made me cry. Any author that can touch your heart like that (even though the reader KNOWS it is fiction) is great!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, Excellent, Excellent!!!
Review: Dear Stranger, Dearest Friend opens with Lara, an active and healthy New Yorker, who discovers a lump in her breast at the age 39. After scheduling an appointment with her doctor, she seeks solace on the web by posting her questions and concerns on a bulletin board about breast cancer. It is here that she meets Susan, a breast cancer survivor. Susan quickly becomes a pen pal for Lara, answering her questions, serving as an information source and sounding board as Lara struggles through a cancer diagnosis and treatment options. From this correspondence emerges a special friendship. This relationship evolves and the two women share with one another about their families, work, and life in general. Becker's book has come from her own personal experience with breast cancer. It is clear Becker knows her stuff and has elicited help from the medical community to provide the most current information on breast cancer. At times, the story reads a bit like a public service announcement, but the message is an important one. Becker has created two very likeable characters and a format that is very easy to read. Dear Stranger, Dearest Friend is an important read for all women and anyone who wants to learn about this disease and the power of new friendships.
Rating:
Summary: An important read
Review: Dear Stranger, Dearest Friend opens with Lara, an active and healthy New Yorker, who discovers a lump in her breast at the age 39. After scheduling an appointment with her doctor, she seeks solace on the web by posting her questions and concerns on a bulletin board about breast cancer. It is here that she meets Susan, a breast cancer survivor. Susan quickly becomes a pen pal for Lara, answering her questions, serving as an information source and sounding board as Lara struggles through a cancer diagnosis and treatment options. From this correspondence emerges a special friendship. This relationship evolves and the two women share with one another about their families, work, and life in general. Becker's book has come from her own personal experience with breast cancer. It is clear Becker knows her stuff and has elicited help from the medical community to provide the most current information on breast cancer. At times, the story reads a bit like a public service announcement, but the message is an important one. Becker has created two very likeable characters and a format that is very easy to read. Dear Stranger, Dearest Friend is an important read for all women and anyone who wants to learn about this disease and the power of new friendships.
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