First, a bit of background.

Bibliotherapy dates back to the 1920s and there are three types of bibliotherapy.

The first kind of bibliotherapy is the oldest, it’s the use of relevant books (most commonly poetry) to heal people who have suffered some sort of trauma or mental health issue and is focused on ‘unlocking’ emotional aspects of its patients. The second kind is modern but very much related to the first, older form, it is the prescribing of self-help books rather than drugs to those who are seeking help for issues with an emotional basis – issues like eating disorders or self-harming for example. In a scheme called Books on Prescription NHS Wales started issuing book recommendations rather than drugs in 2003, this is probably the most famous example of ‘clinical’ bibliotherapy.

The third kind of bibliotherapy is purely recreational and is the form I am seeking for one of my 101 goals, essentially book recommendations from someone well-read that doesn’t have an agenda beyond getting me to read outside of my comfort zone. A guiding hand that steers me though the forest of blurbs and shelves of best sellers to the hidden gems. Recreational bibliotherapy has been around for about 6 or 7 years in the UK. The most publicised providers are the School of Life these days but they are far more expensive than most independent bookshops that offer the service and in London, a couple of hours away by expensive train. So ideally I want a session with someone in a thriving, independent bookshop rather than SoL.

Sessions of this kind of bibliotherapy work with a chat or a phone call about reading tastes, habits (how many hours a week, where you read, how you pick books) and what sort of books or issues you want to find from the recommendations.

Up until I posted my new 101 goals in 1001 days list I hadn’t considered a bibliotherapy session by email but one of the comments it generated was one from lorebrarian who offered me a free prescription by email. I wasn’t sure about it but decided to give it a go.

The first thing I was asked to do was:

‘tell me a few of your favorite books or authors, something you have a compulsive curiousity about or an emotional issue you’d be interested in exploring or a block that might be keeping you from realizing your full creative potential.’

Well, that was easy! Here’s my self-diagnosis:

I have fallen out of love with fiction a little after losing touch with good bookstores while living on the road.

I worked as a travelling software trainer for eight years up until I quit my job in spring 2011. For those eight years I got to see some amazing places, have wonderful experiences and I wouldn’t change that for anything but my reading life suffered. I read whatever I could fit in my carry on luggage. I rarely got to find in trips to good bookstores, instead I often found myself aimless drifting around the generic bookhuts you find in airports and train stations everywhere. I switched to reading non-fiction – it was easier to pick big themes like ‘World War I’ and select something on that than drift around looking at every fiction title trying to find something I’d enjoy. Now I want to fall back in love with fiction and I could use some guidance.

I prefer books set in England or Europe and I like historic settings. I like ‘big’ stories with a mix of poetic prose and pragmatism. I love Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel and Carter Beats The Devil by Glen David Gold. Nabokov and Austen rather than the Brontes and Dickens.

It’s really weird to try and summarise all the pertinent points in a paragraph or two but I hope that’s enough for you to go on!

I clicked Send and wondered what lorebrarian would recommend…

Onto Part 2: The Prescription