I’m a sucker for a good book.
I can still remember the excitement of childhood when my dad asked if I wanted to go to the bookstore with him. I never said no. We’d walk in, and I’d be free to wander through the kids’ and teen sections, excitement and anticipation surging with each step, eager to explore the books.
I can easily recollect the consuming awe that bloomed when I got my first library card and couldn’t believe the access I had to what felt like an unlimited amount of books.
Reading is a way to travel when leaving isn’t feasible, it’s a way to explore people surviving adversities from the safety of being an observer, to learn and immerse ourselves in times long since past and times not yet arrived, and it’s a way to challenge yourself and grow in ways that otherwise would happen through occurrences you’d face in day-to-day realities.
I’m convinced everybody can be a reader if they find the right book. When Pastor Lexi reached out to ask if I could write a post with recommendations, I chuckled because the idea hadn’t occurred to me before. But thankfully, Lexi helped bring it here, and it will hopefully recur as I read more books. So, if you want to dig into mental health books, I hope to help you find a captivating read. Below are a variety of approaches to mental health books, and I hope you find one that strikes you as a place to start.
Book on Emotions
Atlas of the Heart by Brené Brown
I recommend any and every book by Brené Brown. The content she covers, the data and research that goes into her writing, and the powerful changes you can implement after reading her books are life-changing. Atlas of the Heart is a book that covers the 87 emotions her research shows that we experience. This book has expanded my emotional vocabulary and, therefore, helped me more accurately name my emotional experiences. If you have minimal emotional vocabulary, this book is a great place to start. When we can accurately name what we are experiencing, we can then most productively sit with and move through that emotion.
Trauma Mental Health Book
What Happened to You? by Bruce Perry, MD, PhD, and Oprah Winfrey
I don’t know that there is anybody out there who has not had some degree of trauma. Due to this, there are many books out there that approach trauma. I feel this book is a great place to start. There is an initial thought that is given at the beginning of each chapter, and then Perry and Winfrey go back and forth in conversation about that topic. I feel it mimics what it would be like to be conversing with them, where we could ask questions and clarify our understanding. I thought this format would make it challenging to read and feel choppy, but I think it is what makes it a great starting point when reading about trauma, because it offers much clarification and exploration of the initial thought from the beginning of the chapter. Starting with this book provides a base-level understanding that will be helpful to carry with you as you move into more in-depth books on trauma.
Books on Nature and Slowing Down
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
If you’ve kept up with my writing, you know that slowing down has been on my heart for the past several years or so. I don’t know that any book has had a greater influence on this than Braiding Sweetgrass. Kimmerer is a botanist who shares her scientific brilliance with plants in a way that has made me fall in love with the earth all over again, to see our beautiful world through eyes anew. Woven throughout her writings about her experiences with nature are deep, unavoidable lessons that we are meant to interact with our earth in a much slower, more reciprocal, more relational way than many of us do. It has helped me realize how much intentionality God put into even the tiniest details in nature.
Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer
If you had told me several years ago that I would read a whole book on moss, I would have chuckled. But I am convinced Robin Wall Kimmerer could write on any aspect of nature, and I’d be hooked. This book dives into the intricacies of moss, again making it impossible to avoid how spectacular and brilliant our God is. I recommend starting with Braiding Sweetgrass, and if that one resonated with you, then head on over to this one, and you’ll find another great read.
I find the most soul-consuming awe in our great God when I immerse myself in nature. Flowers, mountains, and the night sky are just a few things that immediately ground me in the fact that our God is spectacular, intentional, and creative. This book helped me realize how God carried these same characteristics into his creation of animals. It’s a beautifully written book with an immense amount of research that went into it, showing how much we can learn from animals, how intentional they are, and how we are not that different from them.
Mental Health Workbooks
The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook by Kristin Neff and Christopher Germer
I know that when seeking to improve our mental health, it can be desirable to have a book to interact with. I found much growth in working through Neff and Germer’s Self-Compassion Workbook. Many of us can extend self-compassion to others rather seamlessly, but when it comes to ourselves, we are much harsher and more critical. Neff and Germer guide you through practices that help you better understand self-compassion and ease you into implementing it.
The Book of Alchemy: A Creative Practice for an Inspired Life by Suleika Jaouad
This book makes journaling so fun. It has prompts written by a variety of people that then lead to 100 different reflective journal practices. If you like journaling but are looking for a change of pace, this book is for you. Or if you want to start journaling but are overwhelmed by a blank page staring back at you, this book is for you. I found this book so engaging, as each person brings their own reflections and unique journal prompts.
Christian Mental Health Book
An Altar to the World by Barbara Brown Taylor
Reading Barbara Brown Taylor’s writing is like sitting on a front porch with a sweet tea and hanging on to every word of a mentor who feels equally like a dear friend, as she shares what she has learned. Her writing style makes you feel comfortable and at ease while still encountering immensely powerful content. This book walks through practices that Taylor has found can be intimate moments with God if we allow them to be. I have always yearned for a consistent, relational experience with God, but hadn’t always known how to tie it into the mundane activities of daily life. Taylor helps you discover how to do just that, and how to make what can feel mundane appear much more sacred.
I hope that you find a book that catches your eye and resonates with you as a place to begin. Each of these books holds a special place within my mental health journey, and should you choose to pick one up, I hope it does the same for you.
Happy Reading!
Warmly,
Kylie Larson, MA, LPC
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