I love a good reference book and this is no exception.

Bibliotherapy is a very informative reference book on the therapeutic power of books, and certain books in particular.

In its most basic form it details what literature you should read (and why) when you’re feeling in a particular mood or going through a particular chapter in your life (whether that be love, heartbreak, grief, parenthood or loss of direction (just to name a few)). Ie. What characters and storylines are best to soothe or compliment whatever emotions you’re going through at that particular moment. The book even includes a bibliotherapy consultation which by answering the questions, takes you to the section of the book you’ll find most relevant at that point in time (depending on how you answer).

It’s a great idea if I don’t say so myself. Books and stories are doors to the soul so why not go through what you’re going through with a fictional character by your side :)

“When I get that feeling, I need textual healing”

Note: I received an electronic copy of this book but I loved it that much I got myself a hard copy a) because it’s a great coffee table book but also b) because I always find reference books are easier to navigate in hard copy due to the jumping about of pages I do!!

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for this eCopy to review

I recently read Bibliotherapy: Books to Guide You Through Every Chapter of Life by Molly Masters, and it was delightful. The book is a beautifully illustrated guide that recommends various books to help navigate different emotional and life stages.

Bibliotherapy is divided into sections that correspond to different phases of life, such as New Beginnings, First Love, Loss, Self-Discovery, and Heartbreak. Each section offers curated book recommendations that are meant to provide comfort, insight, and guidance during these times. Masters draws on her experience as the founder of Aphra Book Club to suggest books that can act as a form of self-medication, helping readers to cope with and understand their emotions better.

What I loved most about this book is the thoughtful and heartfelt way it connects literature to life's challenges. The recommendations are spot-on, offering both well-known classics and hidden gems that I hadn't come across before. The illustrations add a charming touch, making the book a pleasure to flip through.

Overall, Bibliotherapy is a wonderful guide for anyone looking to find solace and wisdom in books.

I have absolutely loved reading this book and dipping in and out of the different sections. I think it is something I will return to again and again when the moment takes me and I love taking the time to look up the suggestions. A perfect gift for someone too.

I like the idea of using books as therapy but I found this to be quite a personal choice form the author. I've read several of the named books and they are not ones that I've particularly enjoyed however the author does. I do believe in the power of reading as balm for the soul but it is a personal choice

For me, the content of this book fell too far from the bibliotherapy as a well-being promoting intervention. Reading "Bibliotherapy" felt more like perusing someone's (well curated, though!) book recommendations, sorted by topic. I was hoping to get more practical knowledge on how to utilise reading therapy interventions.

I believe the author is an avid reader who actually familiarised herself with the works she recommends, however I found some choices questionable (problematic authors) and repetitive (same literary work on multiple lists).

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. It was interesting to learn the history of bibliotherapy, especially the prescriptions for it used after World War One as it’s something rooted in our history that I knew nothing about. I liked the quotes from authors on the healing power of books and appreciated the bit on the underrated healing powers of poetry as I enjoy that myself. Having the quiz so that Masters could give the reader a little ‘prescription’ of their own was fun. Some important aspects have been covered in this book such as grief and loss, when adulting begins, new parents, and feeling directionless, giving advice for such a broad range of life experiences. I found that there were great sized lists which included both fiction and non-fiction for each section and was impressed by how Masters managed to state why the book fits in the section and should be read without spoiling the story (at least from the one’s I’d read any spoilers were avoided). I found that the note to readers offering change in font size, background colour, font colour, font, justification and offering text to speech to be inclusive which further extends the reach of the book. Finally, I personally found the baby bit in dedication to be so sweet.

Bibliotherapy by Molly Masters is a warm and insightful exploration of the healing power of books. Masters weaves a narrative that delves into the lives of characters who find solace, understanding, and guidance through the stories they read. The novel celebrates the joy of reading, the connections we form with literature, and how the right book at the right time can offer comfort and clarity. With its relatable characters and touching moments, Bibliotherapy is a love letter to bibliophiles everywhere, reminding us of the profound impact books can have on our lives. It’s a charming and uplifting read that showcases the magic of storytelling.

Such a fun read!
The author guides you through many chapters of your life and suggests some books, that fit into your situation. I just loved the entire look of this book, starting with the cute cover and the beautiful illustrations and ending with the author's fun and fitting writing style. I already knew a lot of the books she suggested, but I also found some new treasures that I immediately added to my tbr.

I think this book will be flipped trough many times, even though I've already read it. Also this would make a perfect gift!

This was a really refreshing book on bibliotherapy as it included so many recent books and ones that cover in much greater detail voices that are often missing when people 'prescribe' books.
The division of the book in to chapters rather than just being an A-Z worked for me and I really liked the detailed (and personal) in depth reviews of books as well as the lists.
I definitely think that this is one of the best books on the topic out there.

Warning!! Do NOT read this book if you're trying not to buy anymore books!! Because this book leads you to want to add a rather large list of titles to your 'want to read' list!! I'm very aware that books like this are full of opinions of the author, but believe me, she's very convincing about every book she mentions!!

This is a guide to books that should help you at different stages in life - from young to old, there's a suggestion and reason why the author has chosen each book and it's wonderful to read her summaries of each title she picks, many are of books I'd not heard about before so it was great to have new authors and titles brought to my attention!

The books starts off with a quiz to help you narrow your selection, but it is also fun to just go through each chapter which charts a different stage in life, and different emotions too! And she doesn't just pick fiction books for you to enjoy, non fiction and poetry suggestions are also included. And there's a great mix of classic and newer books too so every reader is really well catered for!

So if you're getting a bit stuck in your reading life, and want a gentle nudge in a different direction to help with whatever you're facing in your reality right now, then I can highly recommend picking this informative book up!

While I am thrilled that this idea is becoming more predominant, something I didn’t realize before reading the introduction, this wasn’t a favorite for me. Though because it is so subjective and feelings elicited can vary greatly, some may end up loving it. I realize that one book cannot be all encompassing, but I was somewhat disappointed in the options provided after the investigation quiz, I felt they were a bit too similar. The illustrations included were great.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for a free ecopy of thos book in exchange for an honest review.

What a fun and charming book. This would make a great gift for any book lover! Such delightful illustrations.

This is an excellent concept for a book. I love that it includes both classics and more recent titles and for lots of different concerns/needs. I can see it being very popular in our shop and have already ordered a hard copy!

The term "bibliotherapy" was new to me, and this book provided a good introduction to a concept I've unknowingly been participating in. It was clear the author was passionate about reading as therapy and I appreciated the insights shared about how the book recommendations had benefitted her at different points in her life. I've definitely added a few new titles to my reading list! The brief history provided made me want to learn more about the subject. I'd have liked more detail about the therapy side, but understand as an introduction to bibliotherapy, overloading with information might have put some off!

Reading list system for keeping your head (and heart) together.

After a certain amount of preamble, necessary to explain that the book is to help you to choose books to actually read depending on your condition and position at the time, the reader is presented with a questionnaire so they can self-profile both their own character and their condition of life. This results in a reading list to help the reader at that particular moment.

It’s probably a good idea to go through ALL the questions every time this book is resorted to, because even if a person’s character does not change over time (hopefully it matures) the person’s perception of their own character changes often, especially during an emotional or actual crisis. And sometimes this is going to work better than others.

Reviewing this kind of work is very difficult for a seasoned reviewer, because we might read almost anything without any thought as to whether it is good for our mind, let alone our soul, but the possible lists are mostly fairly sound and in some cases excellent. Almost any reader, at almost any point in their life, is going to benefit from reading “A Long Petal of the Sea” if they haven’t read it already. [That sentence will have to come out before this gets past the Amazon censor-bot!] The exception is a certain amount of selection bias in the list offered to those who might be pondering issues of gender identity. Where the dilemma is more about how to actually do things of a sexual nature, the only perceptible bias is towards encouragement to get on with the job.

There might be readers for whom this could have awkward consequences, but they probably won’t sue.

This is a very entertaining and interesting book all about books. It focuses on the power of reading to address and help deal with many different emotional challenges, and uses classic and contemporary novels as reference points. A very useful tool for any librarians or booksellers, or indeed anyone interested in reading for their mental health.

This was a very different read to go on a journey to discover the right book for you and I thoroughly enjoyed this journey,

I loved the idea of this book more than the actual book...I definitely believe that books can be healing, and helpful and calming and supportive. I'm not sure exactly what I'd imagined this one might be - perhaps more about bibliotherapy and how it works. But honestly, haven't Librarians been doing this for years and years? Only now it has a fancy name, and a bunch of non-Librarians taking it on as a job?! I don't know, perhaps I'm being a mean and bitter Librarian! But making book recommendations based on what someone is going through isn't anything new. Although I am more of the persuasion that if you're going through a rough time, you probably want to read something that bears absolutely NO relation to what you're going through at all and is instead just a really good book.

I suppose having this book on your shelf as a reference book might be interesting to dip in and out of. I wouldn't recommend just reading it straight (as I did!) as it's quite long, and it's basically just a load of mini snippets of a book, filed under various headings so you can find books that might be relevant to what you're going through. But some are much longer than snippets, more like an A Level essay than a review. I would rather have had just the snippets personally.

Ok, this book takes a topic/phase of life like growing up, adulting etc and gives the reader a list of books to read at that time of life.

We get a title, author and brief write up about what that book will deliver for your in terms of themes. So, you'll get a long list of recommendations, though I didn't count exactly how many books are listed. If you do count them do let me know. This will be especially helpful for someone getting into the habit of reading or wanting to get out of a reading slump.

4 stars for the effort and compilation.

I am always going to be the first in the queue for a book about books so I was pleased to get a copy of this via NetGalley. I enjoyed using it to look at my book lists and see what I haven’t read. I could also see myself dipping into it when the need arose. For me, I had read a lot of the books so it wasn’t as helpful - but then I read more than the average person.