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.

As the founder of Aphra Book Club – formerly Books That Matter subscription box – Molly is more than qualified to pen a book full of reading recommendations, of books that act as therapy. This is the sort of content I absolutely love reading here on Substack and over on bookstagram, so I knew I’d enjoy Bibliotherapy. It’s divided into categories depending on your emotion, making it a great book to pluck off the shelf and refer to. There are stunning illustrations throughout, although I read it via a NetGalley ARC on my Kindle, and I thought there were some brilliant book recommendations too. Bibliotherapy will make a gorgeous Christmas (yes, I said it!) gift for new book lovers.

What a lovely book!

This one holds recommendations for every situation and age throughout your life, guides you through love and heartbreak, loss, identity (...) with the help of literature. There's also a questionnaire you can fill out to find out where you are in life and it really feels like therapy. It's a book you can pick up and browse through the pages every now and then and it could also make a wonderful gift for a loved one.

This book is great and I highly recommend if you don't know what you want to read next. As it gives you so many options to choice from depending on your mood such if you're happy or going through heartbreak. It has a beautiful cover on it. I have reviewed this book on my Goodreads and posted about this book on my tiktok story and talked about on live. I have rated it three stars as this isn't the kind of book I would not pick up again felt like I was reading a promotional catalogue. I'm glad I got a chance to read it.

I loved the idea of this book more than the actual book. The idea that there is a boon for each moment in your life sounded like a great idea. The book you can tell is well researched, and the author has a true passion for it. Just I felt that there was a lot of information to take in for me. With about 15-20 book recommendations, I got a bit overwhelmed. I did add one or two to my list but felt there were too many to narrow down.

I raced through Bibliotherapy, building an ever-growing TBR list as I went, but it is a book I can see myself returning to again and again when I am in need of a particular recommendation.

With both detailed reviews and short recommendations, this book is a treasure trove of bookish delight. It covers a wide range of themes, from change or first love, to heartache or grief. Recommendations are for both fiction and non-fiction books, so I think there will be something for almost everyone in each section. It recommended books I already know and love alongside books I've been meaning to read for a while (and this has given me the push to do so!) and book I haven't heard of previously.

It would make the perfect gift for any book lover!

This is a book for dipping in and out of, not a sit down and read in a session. It is a book that I will return to at different times and will definitely take up some of the suggestions for my tbr pile.

I read a similar book a few years ago about bibliotherapy and it intrigued me so much that I signed up for an online course in it - which for some reason I never finished, must get back round to it. But I absolutely love the idea of bibliotherapy. Everyone I speak to think it's absolute nonsense, but I believe that the right book can help you through just about anything. And I love giving books to people as gifts, it's like I'm giving them a part of myself.

In her introduction, Molly talks about how books have been used for many years for people who are unwell, physically or mentally, and in hospital, and I completely agree. In May 2023, I spent 4 weeks in a neurology hospital, and whilst my treatment was not linked to reading, the huge pile of books I took with me (and the ones I subsequently bought in the nearby Waterstones after being told I had to walk in the community to regain my walking ability), helped me through what was one of the most difficult periods of y life. I ended up reading, I think, 4-5 books a week, before leaving them in the lounge area for other inpatient. I was also asked by nurses, doctors, and therapists for lists of books and recommendations, which I absolutely loved!

I read this in a matter of hours, cover to cover, but you can pick and choose the chapters you feel most suitable for you. It's an easy read, quick to read but it's interesting and thought-provoking and like talking to a friend. Molly seems to be able to talk directly to each reader, and it's obvious the passion she has for books and reading and that's just beautiful.

I'm going to contradict myself a bit here. I would have liked there to be less repetition, however, I am aware that some books can straddle different emotions and happenings and whatnot, but I'm greedy and just want more and more books.

The bad thing about this book is that it's now given me a list of 63 more books I want to read! As if I needed any more!

As a lover of books I wish I had more friends I could recommend a title or two to. Usually it's just because I've enjoyed a really good story and want to share but sometimes, when life is hard, or wonderful, or needs a bit of explaining, I know some of my previous reads could be helpful. I had no idea this was bibliotherapy but apparently it is! I buy books because they resonate with me for many different reasons but, with so many genres and titles out there, we can all do with a little help to find a particular book.

With most of the stages of life covered by Molly Masters there are suggestions here to make the task of getting, or giving, advice mostly from a fictional setting, much more positive. Of course this isn't a one stop shop and there will be mistakes made but one thing we can be sure of is that there will always be another maybe more suitable title out there waiting in the wings.

I was able to read an advanced copy of this thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, Harper Collins UK, but the opinions expressed are my own. This is a very good reference book to have on your shelves because everyone needs a helping hand sometimes.

This lovely little book presents reading as a form of therapy, with recommendations for all ails, including Self-Love and Discovery, Creativity and Inspiration, and When Adulting Begins.

Bilbiotherapy starts with a questionnaire providing some suggestions of chapters that might be immediately helpful, or you can just jump to the chapter that appeals the most. Each chapter is comprised of a short introduction on how books can support that topic, followed by an in-depth presentation of a few select books, and finally a list of book titles for further reading with a short description of some of the themes in the book.

This isn't a book to read in one sitting, but rather a companion to browse when you need a little support.

A recommended read for fans of The Novel Cure, 1,000 Books to Read Before you Die, and books about books.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was an interesting and enjoyable read. Definitely one to dip in and out of as and when needed.
I have also added a few more to my TBR list!

To be honest, I was a little sceptical about Bibliotherapy by Molly Masters before reading it, but I was completely won over by it. It's a much more in-depth look at reading as healing than so many of its type. I liked Molly Masters' long introduction to the topic and her detailed look at the books she selected in different categories. This is clearly not really a book to be read from beginning to end, but rather a tool to use in various circumstances. As such I'd recommend that it be bought in hard copy and not as an ebook, the form in which I accessed it.

Amazing suggestions on what to read for therapy.

Love the part on mental health as I personally was suffering from mental illness recently. Have noted down the books that were suggested!