Category: Literary Prescriptions

The book provides accessible self-help delivery of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, a type of evidence-based psychotherapy which helps individuals learn how to “control what you can and accept what you can’t.” Rather than trying to make uncomfortable thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations go away (because we only have so much control over our internal experiences anyways!), ACT encourages being psychologically flexible and working towards what is important to you in workable, realistic ways even when things are challenging.

Prescribed by:

… Continue readingGet Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life’

The altitudes of kindness this book reaches, for all ages a cute yet heartfelt read

Prescribed by:

… Continue readingWonder

Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson

Prescribed by: Rachel

… Continue readingIt’s Not About Perfect by Shannon Miller

A good resource for providing hope when there is none left in the world, multiple genres of literature

Prescribed by:

… Continue readingThe Bible

Tender and poignant reflection on love and life and childhood

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… Continue readingThe Secret Life of Bees

Having read “Anne of Green Gables” for the first time at twenty-two, right after graduating from college, I can say with some certainty that it served as a balm for many open – and still painful – wounds: a traumatic final semester, a grueling and emotionally-trying workload, and all the fear and confusion that comes with being faced with Life After College. L.M. Montgomery, without condescension or infantilization, offered in “Anne of Green Gables” a gentler, lovelier world that made this sense of confusion – the “bend in the road” that takes us we know not where – manageable, even if it was not quite knowable. I love the Jo Marches and the Elizabeth Bennets of literature – but never shall I love them the way that I love Anne Shirley.

Prescribed by: Katherine Avery

… Continue readingAnne of Green Gables

learning the value of life

Prescribed by: JB Middle

… Continue readingTuesday with Morrie

Helps the reader understand the benefits of tough times and how to make the best of them

Prescribed by: Tamela

… Continue readingDark Nights of the Soul

Historical & Philosophical value

Prescribed by: Joanna

… Continue readingPythagoras’ Biography

It offers something to keep anyone experiencing a difficult time afloat. It’s a ramble of a book, at times uplifting and empowering, at times serving up tough love, full of dark humor and real wisdom, wrapping up with an enlightened understanding of the human condition. I’m a librarian and recommend it often.

Prescribed by: Heidi Hartke

… Continue readingThis is How by Augusten Burroughs

If you feel jaded or suffer from ennui, this book will help you take a fresh look at the world. At more than 500 pages Leonardo’s biography can be taken in small doses, but you may find yourself becoming quickly addicted. The book’s topics are wide ranging: painting, sculpture, botany, anatomy, nature, the motion of water, politics, war, theatrical productions, engineering, and more. Ever curious, Leonardo investigated questions that most of us wouldn’t even think to ask. How many muscles does it take to create a smile? What does a woodpecker’s tongue look like? Why is a crocodile’s jaw so strong?

Isaacson also includes a chapter with advice on how to think like Leonardo: If you’d like to learn to become relentlessly curious, seek knowledge for its own sake, retain (or regain) a child’s sense of wonder, and sharpen your observational skills, this book will get you started.

Prescribed by: Bonnie

… Continue readingLeonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson

It has a satisfying happy ending.

Prescribed by: Alan Eddy

… Continue reading“The Beacon at Alexandria” by Gillian Bradshaw

This book provides hope for the future.

Prescribed by: Alan Eddy

… Continue reading“Always Coming Home” by Ursula K. LeGuin

It is a true story of a psychiatrist’s response to his experiences in a Nazi death camp demonstrating the great power of the human mind even under the most brutish conditions. Extremely uplifting.

Prescribed by:

… Continue reading“Man’s Search for Meaning” -Victor Frankl

Captivating, distracting, moves quickly

Prescribed by: Karen BRASETH

… Continue readingA High Wind in Jamaica, by Richard Hughes

The book was incredibly helpful in giving me a new perspective about death, and helped me overcome the passing of my grandfather. Funerals, a time for grief and growth was a particularly helpful chapter for me.

Prescribed by:

… Continue readingDeath: The final Stage of Growth

It’s an adventure and it’s just this side of ridiculous. It’ll make anyone having a rough time laugh a little.

Prescribed by: Elizabeth Wawrzyniak

… Continue readingJasper Fforde’s The Eyre Affair

Tibetan Buddhist Perspective on dealing with the inevitability of suffering, accessible to secular readers. Don’t let life harden your heart!

Prescribed by: SFL

… Continue readingThe Places That Scare You, by Pema Chodron

Amusing, light

Prescribed by: Lolo

… Continue readingDr Seuss

The word Of God, in its fullest. It will teach you that his word is spiritual healing if you believe in it.

Prescribed by:

… Continue readingKing James Holy Bible

A well written classic that follows an innocent young girl and her brother through a time when their honorable father does what he believes to be right instead of what is easy.

Prescribed by: Tim Askew

… Continue readingTo Kill A Mockingbird

It’s about a kid who wants to kill himself after he is enrolled in a highly competitive high school after he thinks he is going nowhere compared to his peers. He ends up going through a lot of turmoil and getting unhappier as the story progresses with him in a mental hospital, but he ends up finding something that makes him happy and becomes a better person for it. The end is such a release of feel-good emotions that really makes you want to jump start your day at the end of it. Its a good book because it really picks you up and makes you realize how special life is.

Prescribed by: Rashi R

… Continue readingIt’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini

It is a feel good comfort book. It is my personal go to when I need to distance myself from the outside world.

Prescribed by: Suzana Amaral

… Continue readingLittle Women

This novel brings out the adventure in the reader. The old man catches a fish that drags his boat around the gulf stream. Even though the man was in a bad situation, he still finds an appreciation for the fish that dragged his boat. Maybe someone prescribed this book could find a new thing to be appreciative to in their life. Or it could just take them out of their bad situation and put them out into the open sea.

Prescribed by: Jack Casey

… Continue readingThe Old Man and the Sea

Anne Lamott, in her characteristic funny and insightful way, provides us with three essential prayers “asking for assistance, appreciating the good we witness, and feeling awe at the world.” Sure, much of what she describes is familiar, but it is the way she reminds us that becomes a tonic that you need to take on a regular basis. Here is your first dose – “Light reveals us to ourselves, which is not always so great if you find yourself in a big disgusting mess, possibly of your own creation. But like sunflowers we turn toward light. Light warms, and in most cases it draws us to itself. And in this light, we can see beyond shadow and illusion to something beyond our modest receptors, to what is way beyond us, and deep inside.”

Prescribed by: Ann M.

… Continue readingHelp, Thanks, Wow