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Excited to share Bibliotherapy with Bijal Shah is back with Season 4! In Season 4, I’ll be sharing my 40 best books of 2025 to read in 2026 across both fiction and non-fiction — and yes there are some surprise reads in there! We’ll also dive deep into the role of the romantic comedy in healing — and what it means to be a romantic hero: someone who, despite a hundred heartbreaks, can still say, “I still believe in love.” After all, most of us have been heartbroken — if not by a person, then by a loss of any...

What Do Fairy Tales Really Tell Us?  Freud, the Unconscious, and the Hidden Language of Story For most of us, fairy tales bring to mind enchanted forests, wicked stepmothers, magical creatures, and faraway castles. These are the stories we first heard as children, nestled in bed or sitting in a circle at school—simple, fantastical tales meant to entertain, teach lessons, or lull us to sleep. But what if these stories were doing much more than that? What if, beneath their charming surfaces, fairy tales were speaking the language of the unconscious—giving shape to our deepest fears, desires, and internal conflicts?...

Dear friends, I hope this note finds you well. It’s been an exciting month in the world of bibliotherapy, and I’m delighted to share some wonderful news and upcoming opportunities with you. Book News On 4th September, the paperback edition of Bibliotherapy: The Healing Power of Reading was released. Thank you so much for your continued support of my work — it is truly appreciated. I’m also thrilled to announce that the Chinese edition of the book is now published, making bibliotherapy accessible to even more readers around the globe. International Conference in BrazilEarlier this month, I had the privilege of speaking at the first-ever International Conference on Bibliotherapy...

Bijal Shah is celebrating one year of sharing bibliotherapy reflections, resources, and book recommendations on her Substack, Bibliotherapy with Bijal Shah. She's inviting readers to explore a wide range of posts on topics like anxiety, loneliness, heartbreak, family dynamics, neurodiversity, and more—including interviews and thematic literary insights.

Readers can access the full archive, and are encouraged to become paid subscribers ($5/month or $50/year, with a 20% lifetime discount via this link: https://bibliotherapywithbijal.substack.com/e99b53a8 ).

A couple of Fridays ago, I had the pleasure of speaking to a wonderful set of professional medics, doctors, psychiatrists and nurses alongside the wonderful Tim Hodgetts and Ananta Dave, on the power of bibliotherapy, and specifically poetry as medicine.All held in a beautiful setting in the heart of London, Senate House, thanks to@klip.global and the fantastic team there led by Sridevi Kalidindi who pulled together the whole event.The energy and enthusiasm for the subject was incredible and I can't wait to continue the conversation through future collaborations within the medical sector and NHS circles. Exciting times, and watch this...