Bibliotherapy: The Healing Power of Reading

Bibliotherapy: the Healing Power of Reading / Bijal Shah
Piatkus, c2024.
320 p.

Long time readers may know that I have been interested in bibliotherapy for a long while. I used to run workshops using this technique alongside journaling and meditative arts, at least a decade ago now. But it's still a topic that fascinates me! I have been following Bijal Shah online for a long time also, and when I saw that she wrote a book I knew I had to have it. 

This is a compilation of her expertise on the subject, more than just a list of books to read. It starts out by explaining literature as therapy, how it is applied, and the various other modalities than can be incoporated into bibliotherapy, like journaling, letter writing or other narrative responses. Shah is a therapist as well as a book lover, and she uses this therapeutic technique from that perspective. It is really informative for those of us who are not therapists, but maybe just librarians or readers, who believe in the power of literature to develop empathy and meet us in a time of life crisis or transition. 

She uses case studies to demonstrate how to use books in this way, from romantic issues to dyslexia and beyond. And then the book concludes with a large section of lists of suggested reads for topics running from A-Z, and suggestions on how to build your own list for yourself. It's useful and encouraging, and I really appreciated the professional tone and expertise behind this book, which was still an engaging read. It's the starting point for a lot more exploration. 

Read Yourself Happy

Read Yourself Happy / Daisy Buchanan
DK Red, c2025.
288 p.

After the book about reading poetry to enhance your life that I shared yesterday, I thought I'd also talk about a couple of books I have read that are all about how reading can help in facing life issues. This is called Bibliotherapy, and it's something I have always been interested in! 

This book is a collection of short essays about the author's life and her struggle with Generalized Anxiety Disorder - and how reading has helped. It shares recommended reads at the end of each section, and this is both helpful and not, as the suggestions are based entirely on her own tastes and experiences. This is the small downfall of books like this; in active bibliotherapy, the person making the suggestions is listening heavily to what the person looking for reading is asking for, both in content and in genre, style, and vibe overall. 

I found this a good read at the beginning - lots about her mental health and how reading is/was helpful. There are good takeaways, and it was interesting to see the development of her writing. However, there begin to be interviews with her writer pals, talk about writing as well as reading, and so many mentions of her podcast. So many. I felt that the energy and drive at the beginning began to peter out by half or 3/4 of the way through. 

So I did like parts of this book, and found some of the suggested reads interesting, especially when I wasn't already familiar with them. New titles to investigate! But it didn't hang together strongly enough for me, with the focus feeling a bit scattered. Maybe if it had been more heavily edited and/or condensed it would have been a stronger read. But the concept is great, and parts of the book were effective. Plus reading recs, which I'll never turn down! 

 

Poetry Says it Better

 

Poetry Says it Better: Poems to Help You Wake Up / Ellen Burstyn
NY: HarperOne, c2026.
258 p.

This intriguing book is a hybrid memoir/book of poetry. Actress Ellen Burstyn shares her favourite poems throughout the book, but also tells stories of her life, and why and when certain poems gained their importance in her life. She also talks about the power of memorizing poems, to have them with you when you need them. 

I loved it. I had no idea what I was getting when I picked this book up by chance. I didn't even realize that it was by Burstyn until I read the intro. I just saw that it was a book about poetry and how it can help you live life well -- definitely something I believe. So I wanted to check this out. 

It was so engaging! I just didn't want to put it down. Her stories were gentle and compelling, even while she was talking about some hard times in her life. And then she would share a poem, the one that she'd been explaining. So you can read the poem immediately, and if it touches you, take her advice and try to memorize it right there. 

Her passion for poetry was infectious. She talks about sharing it with people in her life who were sure they didn't like poetry, until she found just the right poem to reach them. I love that feeling when I'm suggesting novels in my day job and the right one hits -- I'm sure it's just as satisfying for her when she converts someone to poetry! 

Many of the poems she includes are ones that may already be familiar to regular readers -- Invictus, a few Mary Oliver choices, some Yeats, Edna St. Vincent Millay and so on. But there were also some that were new to me. I absolutely loved this book. I love seeing people share the things they are passionate about, and poetry is definitely that for Ellen Burstyn. This book is inspiring and uplifting -- highly recommend it. 

Canadian Book Challenge at 20

The Canadian Book Challenge is chugging along into its 20th year -- I still read along, to keep myself aware of reading and reviewing Canadian fiction here, alongside everything else. Anyone can join in - you just have to read and review 13 Canadian books between July 1 and July 1! So easy.

Over the last year I read quite a number of mysteries but also some general fiction -- aiming to repeat that for this year's reading. I want to catch up on my Margaret Millar mysteries, and there are some new releases tempting me also. Lots to pick from :) 

Mrs. Pollifax Unveiled

 

Mrs. Pollifax Unveiled / Dorothy Gilman
read by Barbara Rosenblat
Recorded Books, 2023, c2000.

So I have come to the end of my Mrs. Pollifax adventures. This is the final book in the series, although it doesn't read like a final book - the author died before she could write any more, so there is no big tying up of any story here. It gives us the opportunity to imagine Mrs. P continuing on with her many adventures. 

In this book, Mrs. P and John Farrell are once again travelling together. They are heading to Syria, where Mrs. P is posing as an American lady looking for her missing niece -- a girl who averted a terrorist attack on a plane, got off in Syria, got into the wrong car at the airport, and hasn't been seen since. The CIA isn't sure whether she was kidnapped or part of the plot. Mrs. P. has to find out. 

She and Farrell are supposed to be working together, but he gets himself arrested almost immediately, leaving Mrs. Pollifax to continue on her own. She can't give up on this delicate mission. This gives us a chance to really revel in Mrs. Pollifax alone on a mission, finding ways to get to where she needs to be. Her strength at really connecting with people is so key here - she gets help from locals who she is kind to, who she simply talks to, and they always know someone to help her out. And she always seems to have what she needs to trade with others to smooth the way. 

Eventually she and Farrell are reunited, they find out where the girl is being held (in a camp in the middle of absolutely nowhere) and come up with a slightly ridiculous rescue mission, one involving a lot of sheep. Fortunately there is a camp of archeologists nearby, and Mrs. P's age makes her the perfect 'visiting aunt' who crashes the camp with the help of one of the young scientists, giving her a base of operations. 

It's a fine close to Mrs. Pollifax's adventures. It highlights her on her own, it ties in with her previous adventures with Farrell, and it really gives her a chance to both shine individually and reminisce about her past adventures right in the middle of this one. I really liked this one, with the only letdown being that is the last fresh Mrs. P. book I will ever read for the first time. I feel that this is a series I will reread in a few years, though! 

Mrs. Pollifax, Innocent Tourist

 

Mrs. Pollifax, Innocent Tourist
Dorothy Gilman
read by Barbara Rosenblat
Recorded Books, 2011, c1997.

Nearing the end of the Mrs. Pollifax series, and feeling a little sad at seeing Mrs. P to her finale. But this one is well suited for nearly the end -- here Mrs. P meets up with old friend John Farrell, to take an "off the books" trip to Jordan, where he hopes to retrieve a manuscript smuggled out of Iran. 

Jordan plays a big role in the story; Mrs. P is almost run away with by an out-of-control horse on the road to Petra -- current events are mentioned (Saddam Hussein, which puts the series timeline out of whack and would make Mrs. P nearly 90 in this book if it was going by the beginning novel -- so you have to let the suspension of disbelief stay strong here!) -- and the political status of borders and politicians is so important here. We do get to see various 'sights' of Jordan via Mrs. Pollifax's travels, and she and Farrell reminisce quite a bit about their past adventures together. For someone who has read the whole series in order, this is a nice way to recap some of the earlier books and see Mrs. P's character development. 

The plot is a bit weaker than earlier books, and Mrs. P doesn't really save the day here - she is more being saved, which is a bit of a letdown. But there are some great local characters who take her and Farrell to the desert, and their time at a Bedouin camp is a wonderful element. This really adds to the atmosphere of the book - Gilman is back to embedding real places and politics into the series, which is very welcome after the imaginary African country of the last two books. 

I enjoyed this one and am only sad that the series is concluding in one more installation... 

Crafting a Knock-Off

 

Crafting a Knock-Off / Barbara Emodi
Concord, CA: C&T Pub., c2026
232 p.

I love this series of cozy mysteries set in Nova Scotia, written by a Canadian craft legend :) When book 7 became available, I grabbed it! This details the further adventures of Valerie Rankin, middle aged craft and general store owner, as she once again gets involved in a mysterious death -- and like usual, goes off on many misguided suspicions before the truth is revealed. 

In this volume, she encounters Murray Nunn, a big talker who is trying to push business development and an export scheme. He won't leave anyone at the local craft fair alone, and while Valerie is talking to him, he suddenly drops dead. On camera. She has a wide range of suspects, from local craftspeople to those who have just arrived in Gasper's Cove for their own purposes, and even including her boyfriend's nephew -- which causes some relationship bumps. 

But Valerie must continue on her sleuthy ways no matter what, and with the involvement of the local RCMP and her crafting ladies, they eventually solve the mystery, and Valerie's fears of the end of her relationship prove unfounded. 

I love these books for their characters and the Nova Scotia setting -- and of course the inclusion of craft content! There are upcycled quilted coats, tartans and kilts, piecework sewing and craft fairs as integral parts of this mystery, and they are important. I thought this one was well constructed and entertaining. Always a treat to revisit Gasper's Cove! 

(Review first appeared at Following The Thread)