Leveling Up Our Mental Health—One Book at a Time

Because sometimes the breakthrough starts on page one.

Let’s be honest: we’re doing more than “surviving” these days. We’re naming things. We’re noticing patterns. We’re unlearning. We’re resting without guilt (or at least trying to). And one powerful, underrated way to deepen that awareness is bibliotherapy—using books intentionally to support emotional growth, healing, and self-understanding.

This isn’t about assigning homework or forcing yourself through a dense self-help book you secretly hate. Bibliotherapy is about finding yourself in the story, hearing language for things you’ve felt but couldn’t quite name, and realizing—oh… it’s not just me.

And when those stories are written by BIPOC authors, rooted in culture, history, family systems, faith, resistance, joy, and survival? Whew. That hits different.

So let’s make this fun. Below is a culturally grounded, soul-affirming reading list to help you level up your mental health awareness—without making it feel clinical or boring.

First—What Is Bibliotherapy (Without the Jargon)?

Bibliotherapy is simply the intentional use of reading to support emotional insight and healing. A good book can:

• Normalize your experience

• Challenge internalized narratives

• Help you grieve, rage, rest, or reimagine

• Spark conversations in therapy (or with yourself)

Sometimes a chapter does what a whole session couldn’t. And sometimes it prepares you for the session.

The Reading List: Mental Health, Culture & “Oof… That’s Me”

🖤 Identity, Boundaries & Emotional Healing

• Set Boundaries, Find Peace – Nedra Glover Tawwab

  Clear, compassionate, and culturally aware boundary work that doesn’t shame you for having limits.

• Sister Outsider – Audre Lorde Essays that speak to rage, silence, identity, and self-definition. Still relevant. Still necessary.

• All About Love – bell hooks Love as an action. Love as accountability. Love as healing. Read slowly—this one lands deep.

  
  

Trauma, Resilience & The Body

• My Grandmother’s Hands – Resmaa Menakem A powerful look at racialized trauma and how it lives in the body—not just the mind.

• The Body Is Not an Apology – Sonya Renee TaylorRadical self-love meets embodiment and liberation. Gentle and bold at the same time.

  
  

Self-Trust, Joy & Reclaiming Your Voice

• You Are Your Best Thing – Tarana Burke & Brené BrownStories centered on Black vulnerability, shame, and healing—without asking us to perform strength.

• Carefree Black Girls – Zeba Blay Joy as resistance. Softness as power. A reminder that rest and pleasure are part of mental health too.

  
  

Fiction That Heals (Yes, Fiction Counts)

• Homegoing – Yaa Gyasi Generational trauma, identity, and legacy woven through story. Read with tissues.

• The Bluest Eye – Toni Morrison Heavy but important. A lens into internalized oppression, worth, and how systems shape self-perception.

  
  

How to Use These Books for Mental Health (Without Pressure)

Try this instead of powering through:

• Read one chapter, then pause

• Highlight what made you feel seen—or uncomfortable

• Journal on: What did this stir up for me?

• Bring a quote or question into therapy

• Or… just sit with it. No productivity required.

  
  

Final Word: Reading Is Still a Form of Care

Leveling up your mental health doesn’t always mean doing more. Sometimes it means choosing better inputs—voices that reflect you, challenge you, and remind you that healing doesn’t happen in isolation.

So grab a book. Sip something warm. Let the words meet you where you are.

And if a line makes you say, “Damn… that’s exactly it,”Congratulations—that’s the work.