As a long time fan of The School of Life I wasn't at all surprised to love another of their books. *A Therapeutic Library* is a unique guide to 100 books chosen for their potential to offer comfort, insight, and even healing. This isn’t just a list of classics; each entry provides reflections on how the book’s themes can support readers through various life situations. The author organises the selections into 12 categories—from philosophy and history to memoirs and poetry. making it easy to dip in and out depending on your mood or interest. The book’s format allows readers to engage at their own pace, whether they have five minutes or an hour, and it's ideal for browsing. It would make a great coffee table book!

Some of the choices, like *The Highway Code,* add an element of surprise, showing that therapeutic reading can come from unconventional sources. I enjoyed the variety and thoughtful commentary, not just recommending books but inviting us to rediscover reading as a therapeutic practice.

"A Therapeutic Library" by The School of Life is a compelling collection that offers a thoughtful approach to personal growth and emotional well-being. The book features a curated selection of essays and insights, addressing various aspects of life such as relationships, work, and self-understanding.

The writing is accessible and engaging, providing practical wisdom alongside philosophical reflections. Each entry encourages readers to reflect on their own experiences, promoting a sense of introspection and self-discovery.

With its blend of psychology, philosophy, and real-world advice, "A Therapeutic Library" serves as a valuable resource for anyone looking to enhance their emotional intelligence and navigate the complexities of modern life. It’s a refreshing reminder of the power of literature to foster healing and understanding.

A fantastic signpost to 100 books that might help us humans figure out the ups and downs of modern life. Some titles I have only discovered thanks to this wonderful concept and I am very grateful to have the opportunity to read and review. Highly highly recommended!

As a librarian I was fascinated to see what The School of Life would bring to the table with this book. We are introduced to the concept of Therapeutic reading - which to be honest is what composes most of my self-selected reading these days. However I focus on fiction for my comfort reads, this book expanded my boundaries to include non-fiction and meditative works from philosophers such as Aristotle, Socrates and Plato. Each of the 100 books selected have a rationale for their inclusion, more I feel to pique your interest and then use the suggestion as a springboard into an area you may previously not explored. The book is split into sections covering classic subjects of Philosophy, Politics, History, Religion and Psychology, we then move to Memoirs, Nature & Science, The Arts & Architecture, Coffee Table Books, Essays, Fiction and Poetry.
An eclectic mix of titles which include Judith Kerr's The Tiger who came to tea, Highway Code 1931, Jilly Cooper's Riders (in Politics), Confucius The Analects, The Bible, The Quran (where else but Religion), How to Win Friends and influence people (still popular), Edouard de Pomiane Cooking in 10 minutes (recommend this one with its definitive scrambled egg recipe) , Charles Darwin - Descent of Man, An Atlas of the World and the ineffable Miffy at the zoo by Dick Bruna.
The expectation is not for you to read all the books listed, to agree with the choices or be constrained by the choices. The key here is to open yourself to serendipitous reading, take a chance, go to your library ( if you don't like a book you can take it back - for free!) and this may lead you to curating your own list of books that are good for your wellbeing.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing access to this ARC - all views are my own.

I really like what The School of Life has done here. They've provided readers with synopses of 100 books throughout history that are worthy of our time and recognition of the author's contribution to the culture and thinking process of their time; contributions which continue to resonate years (in some cases centuries) later. Most of these books, I'd never heard of and wouldn't have chosen out of the millions of books available to me. However, I appreciate the golden nuggets they contain, and The School of Life's effort to bring them to light.

This was a fascinating read!

My thanks to The School of Life for permitting me to access an ARC via NetGalley. Publication will occur 6/4/24. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own and are freely given.

'A Therapeutic Library' is a gem. Drawing attention to the number of books in existence (about 130 million) and the number added each year (4 million or so), The School of Life present 100 titles which 'are guaranteed to inspire, console and uplift us'. The chosen works span centuries and include the light-hearted as well as the worthy. Grouped by genres covering fiction, poetry, biography and a wide range of non-fiction, each book is preceded by an illustration and summarised in a single statement before a short essay expanding on what the reader might glean from it. The whole collection is readable, enlightening and thought-provoking. It's a marvellous resource. The final book in the collection was both a surprise and a delight, bringing everything together. Highly recommended. My thanks to Netgalley for an advanced copy.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher The School of Life for an advance copy of this guide to building a library that might help a person deal with the many slings and arrows that come from being a modern human.

Recently there has been a little strife going on in my world, and as I have usually done I reach for books to consulation and to make me forget for a brief time what is happening. Reading is my super-power, probably the only thing I can do well, and it has helped me in many ways over the years. My comfort readings are old comic collections, movie books, and music books, usually the making of albums. I can learn some things, view things differently, even hear things better, and hope this will carry over into my everyday life. I know I am not alone in this. As a bookseller one can read customers and can figure out why they are buying or even browsing a particular section. One picks up on asking if they need help, just saying any questions stop by the front, or just give them space. We all have our books of comfort. The School of Life has decided to create what they consider a library of books to explain the unexplainable, the modern world we have found ourselves inhabiting. A Therapeutic Library: 100 essential books that teach fulfilment, calm and well-being, is exactly what the title and subtitle say.

The book begins with numbers that are amazing to me, and make me realize I have a lot of reading to do. There are about 130 million books in the world, with 4 million being added each year. Deciding what to read is subjective to people, some like classics, some only read nonfiction, some only new fiction. The School of Life set themselves a goal, to find 100 books, that can help people be not just better people, but able to be better in dealing with the world. Some of the books seem obvious, a lot don't, and some appear for reasons that don't seem apparant, until one reads why. Each book is given there own description, and history along with an essay to explain the book being on the list. The Communist Manifesto is on the list, not for its political reasons, but because Mark and Engels were such different people, and could still come together and write a book. Jilly Cooper's Riders is a book that looks like it was sold in a pharmacy in a mass market spinner, but is on the list as a book that distracts the mind, the old argument of high-brow, low-brow literature. Biographies, books of travel, poems, short stories and much more fill out the collection.

A book that could cause fights in some circles, as well as could cause some people to feel better about themselves. Even the reading of the book takes on mind off the world. I went about ten books, before thoughts of the outside crashed back in, but for those ten books I was fully engaged and happy. The writing really sells this book, the way they approach the readings from different views, and makes one think in different ways about things that were once familiar, or even dismissed. If nothing else there are more books to be added to wishlist to be read someday. A self-help book that is much more than that. This might be the first book I have ever read that could be called a self-help library. A really interesting, special kind of book.

Books can be harbours in all life’s storms

This book highlights 100 books that we can turn to in various circumstances in our lives. But it goes above and beyond describing the books. The ideas and deeper insights about what we could gain from each book are therapeutic in their own right.

The book introduced me to books I’d never encountered before, or had taken at face value, made me want to read them and garner their wisdom for myself. This is a thought provoking book that I will return to time and time again.

I was given this book from the author via netgalley only for the pleasure of reading and leaving an honest review should I choose to.

Hmm, not sure about the book. Like other reviewers have said, I expected something different, with books to read when you encounter various common life experiences - first time falling in love etc, leaving home, birth of your first child etc. The kind of situations where emotions are high and you want to see your situation reflected in a character's experience, so you can relate and know you aren't alone. This isn't what this collection is. It reads more like a "100 books you should read in your lifetime" collection, than actually offering support through literature. It's also kind of dull.

Thank you for the offer to review the book, but from my experience of reading it, I can't recommend it.

This is a wonderful book, which poses all kinds of interesting questions about how we could see our lives, as well as offering a broad selection of books that are now in my TBR pile! The voice is warm and encouraging, and will make you feel wiser even though you haven’t actually read the books in question! A lovely volume to browse and discuss and I could see myself using it as a prompt for a bookgroup discussion. This is a coffee table style which would be a valuable addition to a school library..

I didn't love this one but I also didn't hate this one. However I'm not sure how I feel about this one.

This book was really interesting and I loved reading about different books throughout time. I did notice that this was a heavily Euro-centric focused book and I would have enjoyed some other perspectives from other cultures. I loved the concept, but there were parts of the book that felt repetitive or analyses that felt too short and rushed to make a point.

‘A Therapeutic Library: 100 Essential books that teach fulfillment, calm and well-being by The School of Life.

A great resource that is easy to read and understand listing 100 books that span the time periods that are guaranteed to inspire and provide therapeutic insight and enlightenment.

I’ve added a few books to my list of books to read! I appreciate that older books were not forgotten and included in the list – with 4 million books being added every year, it’s difficult to narrow down which books one wishes to read. This is a great resource!

Thank you #NetGalley and #TheSchoolofLife for the opportunity to read this book early in exchange for a review. All opinions and thoughts are those of my own. #ATherapeuticLibrary

Well, it was an interesting book... The list of books presented is subjective, to say the least. Although I did take a couple of recommendations for my TBR pile, and there were a couple of books mentioned that were on my radar, I hardly can call the mentioned selection to be therapeutic, or "the ones" to choose from 130 million books in the world.
As for the style of the book, expect a literal collection of book reviews with a slight note about the author. Great scroll-through, but don't expect much from it. The book description is more eloquent than the rest of the book. Honestly, I still have no idea why should I pick up any of the books mentioned, apart from those that pique my interest because I relate to something - the same result I can have when I go through a pile of cheap romance books in my local book store, that I will end up giving 3 or 4 stars just because those were entertaining.
Some people called it a "coffee table book". Never understood fully what it meant, but I think it's suitable - short texts not related to each other, some random or not-so-random pictures, and the book itself that will make you look smart and fancy while it's lying on your table or standing on the shelf around other accessories. And I was wondering who read those books... I just did, and I'm not a happy camper after it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC.

Interesting and unique set of recommendations, makes for interesting reading, and is worth picking up a copy for the recommendations.

A Therapeutic Library endeavours to lead readers through literature and contemplation, encouraging self-reflection on how we ought to live. The book emphasizes the importance of not overlooking the vast reservoir of thoughts and ideas from past centuries and authors in favour of exclusively engaging with the latest releases. With its thought-provoking content, this book will likely inspire readers to broaden their reading lists and delve into diverse books and ideas.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if it were in a bookshop. Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

This felt like the secret book you find in the corner of the library that feels like it was meant just for you. It was lovely and thought provoking. The art was incredible and pieces I hadn’t seen before.

Agree with those who said this would be a good coffee table book. I definitely took some new recommendations away from it and thoroughly enjoyed reading about those I've already read. It's a bit of a different list to just the old faithfuls which was nice to see.

This book, although explained well in the blurb, was not what I was expecting at all. It serves well as a reference book or even as a coffee table book and flows along the lines of 100 books to read before you die.
I had honestly never heard of 95% of the books recommended inside and I suppose that it just goes to show how accurate the first part of the book is when it discusses modern reading habits vs historical and modern books vs well aged tomes.
I have put a few on my TBR list.
Although written well, this wasn't my cup of tea and not something I will read again although I would recommend that others take a look and decide for themselves.
Thanks to Netgalley and the author and publishers for a temporary copy in exchange for an honest review.

An excellent read for librarians, literature lovers, and friends who love to make book recommendations to their family and friends.