Of Books, Libraries and Bibliotherapy

Every time I am asked by one of my friends to suggest a book to read, I am racked by doubt as to what exactly to tell them. As a voracious reader of all sorts of books, I should find it easy to suggest choices but my favorite books are travelogues and though they nourish my gypsy soul, others may not appreciate them as much as I do. I get a vicarious pleasure from reading books where the author is traveling — I am often swept away into their travels with them. So, my bias us towards travel writing.

The time in one’s life that one reads a book can make or break one’s opinion of the book. I remember reading “The Diary of Anne Frank” when I was thirteen and I was moved to tears by the unfairness of that time and the cheerful resilience of Anne Frank. The fact that we were of the same age lent a certain poignancy to my experience of reading the book and it remains one of my favorite memoirs.

Sometimes, when friends recommend me a book, saying “You must read this.” Often, I will go get the book, start it and then for whatever reason give up on it — when I go pick up the book again at the right time, the book opens up to me and speaks directly to me. The book has to be read at the right time when my mood suits the book and I am receptive to what the book has to say to me.

So now, whenever a friend wants a book recommendation from me, I engage in amateur bibliotherapy — I ask them a few probing questions before offering choices-

• what sort of a book do you want to read?
• what is happening in your life? Are you going through big changes or life is proceeding in an even keel?
• Do you want to escape from things around you? Or, do you want to make sense of what is going through in your life?
• Do you want to read fiction? Non- fiction? Poetry?
• what is your favorite genre?
• who is your favorite author?

Maybe, I will then offer some choices or recommend that they spend an aimless afternoon at their local library walking the shelves of books, picking the books randomly and reading a few lines to see if the writing piques their interest. Then borrow the book and since this is the library, there is little commitment in terms of dollars or shelf space.

If you are the sort of person who is inspired by lists — look at the best seller lists. My library often has them around the new books. Check out if any of these books catches your fancy and if all else fails ask your friendly librarian for a session of bibliotherapy.