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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
YOUTUBE REVIEW
ABOUT
A book about books. It is written by 2 British bibliotherapists and the main idea is that the authors pick out novels for different feelings or challenges. It should serve as a book doctor that will help you to pick the right antidote to your problem or illness. (f.e. boredom, sadness, broken heart ) Basically, for every problem we have, there is a novel that can help us. And I really like this idea.
MY REVIEW
What I don’t really like, sadly, is the execution. There are 751 book recommendations from which I took about a dozen. And even though I enjoyed the concept of the book and some of the introduction to the ailments, I didn’t like the overall language of the book - too self-assured and wanna be entertaining for me. I finish the book mostly because I wanted it to be done with. I was also put off by the number of spoilers.
GOOD
Inspiration for books about topics you are interested in and finding books you wouldn’t normally pick up.
BAD
Be aware of the spoilers. If you’ll come across a book you still want to read, skim its whole description.
IS THIS A BOOK FOR YOU?
A book for avid novel readers. The format is made to read it repeatedly rather than in one sitting, so you can find the right book for any ailment you encounter throughout your life.
FINAL RESULTS
★★★★★★☆☆☆☆ 6/10
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
I was directed to this from an article on bibliotherapy, which is surely the dream job – helping people but with books?! Divine. Anyway, each entry is a suggestion of literary works to support different problems, like depression, lost love etc. What made this enjoyable was that often the entries are written in the style of the book being suggested, so although my TBR list is massive now, it was totally worth it.
Book lovers know that reading can cure all sorts of ills so the message of "The Novel Cure" will come as no surprise. I love the idea of books as medicine. I know that nothing makes me feel better than when I find the perfect book for whatever I am going through. This book is based on the theory of bibliotherapy, something that I did not know much about before reading this book!
This book gives reading advice for all sorts of ailments, both physical and non-physical. There are suggestions for just about everything. Feeling blue? This book has plenty of suggestions. Feeling broken? This book has suggestions for that too. I think it would be a lot of fun to read a lot of the books listed throughout this book. I could see it being a really fun reading project! Hrm, I have all sorts of ideas now!
I could see this being a really good gift book for the reader in your life. I know that this book is one that I will be going back to over and over again. I loved the suggestions that this book had as well as the reasoning that was included for each reading selection!
This book gives reading advice for all sorts of ailments, both physical and non-physical. There are suggestions for just about everything. Feeling blue? This book has plenty of suggestions. Feeling broken? This book has suggestions for that too. I think it would be a lot of fun to read a lot of the books listed throughout this book. I could see it being a really fun reading project! Hrm, I have all sorts of ideas now!
I could see this being a really good gift book for the reader in your life. I know that this book is one that I will be going back to over and over again. I loved the suggestions that this book had as well as the reasoning that was included for each reading selection!
Really a 3.5. This book has an awesome concept and funny, interesting format. It was engaging and got me thinking about the impact and utility of the books I read. The downside is that the recommendations were often from white, male writers in the Western classical canon. Although many of the books peaked my interest, I was a bit frustrated to see a somewhat (dare I say) elitist bent. I will hang onto this book for reference purposes because I was still quite intrigued by many of the recommendations.
The Novel Cure, a collaborative effort by Ella Berthoud and Susan Elderkin, seeks to match ailment with appropriate book. The authors define "ailment" loosely: they include the usual suspects--common cold, broken heart, anxiety, all manner of fears--but also some strange ones, like "Itchy Feet," "Dictator, Being a," and "Tea, Unable to Find a Cup of." They also include "Reading Ailments" with their own prescribed cures--"Amnesia, reading associated" being cured by keeping a reading journal, for example. Several Ten-Best Lists show up at random, for the ailments that a selection of novels works better for (audiobooks, books for plane/train/hospital journeys, novels for hammocks, novels for bathrooms, novels for laughing, novels for crying...you get the idea).
Altogether, 751 novels show up somewhere as cures to potential ails. I found that I was familiar with quite a few, and have read a good number as well. As for the unfamiliar titles, the intriguing ones found themselves on my ever-growing list--regardless of whether or not I suffer from the ailment they are prescribed to.
The book doesn't list an explicit cure for having too many books to read--that's one problem we should all be grateful to have.
Altogether, 751 novels show up somewhere as cures to potential ails. I found that I was familiar with quite a few, and have read a good number as well. As for the unfamiliar titles, the intriguing ones found themselves on my ever-growing list--regardless of whether or not I suffer from the ailment they are prescribed to.
The book doesn't list an explicit cure for having too many books to read--that's one problem we should all be grateful to have.
I like the premise: cure what ails you with "bibliotherapy". Although some of the suggestions are a bit too obvious (like "Crime and Punishment" for guilt), I did enjoy the light-hearted tone and added a few novels to my to-read list. Should I one day go looking to cure my "nameless dread" or "being very English", I'll pick this one back off the shelf.
Reading this again is like walking into a quaint British candlewarm bookshop run by two aunts who seem to know everything about your life, will hand you the perfect book for your situation, along with a nice milkysweet cup of tea, and say, "Here, dear, pull up a chair and read a while." And then, after coming out of your novel-induced stupor, will greet you with a knowing smile.
A fun source of new titles and tips for effective readers advisory, but not at all to be taken seriously. Note: Too many spoilers!
Basically this was a book about books. A list of books. Suggestions for novels to read when you're suffering from any number of the ailments described in the book. Sometimes the suggestions were funny, other times a tad too preachy and sometimes just lame. Oddly enough, I think my biggest disappoint was that I didn't come away with a new list of to be read books. There were a few I want to try, but in general I wasn't really interested in their suggestions (or I had already read them).