Bibliotherapy

                                                

 2018 was a busy news year. My librarian DNA pointed me in the direction of bibliotherapy to help me either process or escape from it.

 

Bibliotherapy is the idea of reading as a healing activity. I’m sharing a list of titles I found to be most helpful. Some are brand new and some are old friends.

I’ve included serious, thought-provoking literature that helped me process a lot of the news, as well as literary mysteries which are my usual choice for escape reading. I also include modern fiction with multi-generational characters which somehow makes me very hopeful the older I get.

Sorry I can’t give descriptions but there is a word limit on these columns! Please visit cadl.org/catalog for details, and best wishes for happy, healing reading in 2019.

 

Important Books:

Exit West by Mohsin Hamid

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie

Fruit of the Drunken Tree by Ingrid Rojas Contreras

 

Literary Mysteries:

The Monogram Murders by Sophie Hannah

The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz

The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths

The Likeness by Tana French

 

Multi-generational Modern Fiction:

Rise and Shine Benedict Stone by Phaedra Patrick

Emily Alone by Stewart O’Nan

How It All Began by Penelope Lively

The Lido by Libby Page

 

- Ann Chapman, CADL Haslett