Benefits

Reading can:
- reduce anxiety (The Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2009)
- improve health and well-being (Hill Strategies, 2010)
- improve social perception and emotional intelligence (The New School for Social Research, 2013)
- increase empathy (York University, 2009)
- make people more comfortable with uncertainty (University of Toronto, 2013)

I'll take more of that!

Reading is one of the great pleasures in my life.  Not only does it allow me to visit extraordinary places (both real and imaginary), but it makes me feel less alone.  Reading helps me learn about the world, its varied characters, and how others have handled life's many challenges.

I'm always up for a book that will pique my curiosity, encourage me to grow, and lift me up when I'm feeling lost, confused, or down.  Below are several resources I've found useful.*

Lists, articles, and links:

A U.K. organization called Reading Well has several lists of mood-boosting books

LitTherapy, a bookish recommendation site, has great categories for many different stages of life

2015: Monthly (cheekily named) column "Textual Healing" by Hephzibah Anderson of the BBC

2013: Review of Ella Berthoud and Susan Elderkin's book The Novel Cure, from The Economist

2000: "A Spoonful of Dickens: British doctors prescribe 'bibliotherapy' for the stressed-out and depressed" by Jon Bowen of Salon.com


*Reading is no substitute for speaking with a therapist or doctor, and I am neither.  I would certainly not recommend reading instead of therapy or medication.