Over the years, I’ve been building my own bookish mental health toolkit. It’s made up of the books I turn to when the world is a little extra hard, when all I feel capable of doing is hiding in my apartment and subsisting on a diet of coffee and whatever frozen food I have on hand. Some of the authors featured in it you might expect: Brené Brown, Luvvie Ajayi Jones, known for writing books meant to help people get out of their own way. But there are also mystery and romance novels, children’s books, and cookbooks, among others. I’m not writing down a list of the books in my own personal toolkit. For one thing, they’re just that, personal. For another, what helps me might not necessarily help you. The bookish mental health toolkit should be made up of the books that call to you, that soothe and inspire and support you. Since nobody knows you better than you know yourself, that’s for you to choose. But how do you build a bookish mental health toolkit, you ask? Need some inspiration for your bookish mental health toolkit? Read your way into a guide to reading during mental health challenges, great mental health nonfiction for teens, and mental health memoirs.
