Book Riot's 100 Must-Read Books about Mental Illness

1.
The Bell Jar
The Bell Jar 4.05 avg rating — 1,154,090 ratings
2.
It's Kind of a Funny Story
It's Kind of a Funny Story 4.07 avg rating — 260,091 ratings
3.
Girl, Interrupted
Girl, Interrupted 3.94 avg rating — 269,429 ratings
4.
The Yellow Wall-Paper
The Yellow Wall-Paper 4.07 avg rating — 338,296 ratings
5.
The Color Purple
The Color Purple 4.27 avg rating — 737,264 ratings
6.
Hamlet
Hamlet 4.03 avg rating — 1,020,231 ratings
7.
The Silver Linings Playbook
The Silver Linings Playbook 3.98 avg rating — 161,902 ratings
8.
All the Bright Places
All the Bright Places 4.11 avg rating — 615,522 ratings
9.
Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things
Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things 3.89 avg rating — 171,419 ratings
10.
Beloved (Beloved Trilogy, #1)
Beloved (Beloved Trilogy, #1) 3.97 avg rating — 477,010 ratings
11.
Looking for Alaska
Looking for Alaska 3.96 avg rating — 1,716,144 ratings
12.
Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened
Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened 4.17 avg rating — 213,869 ratings
13.
Americanah
Americanah 4.31 avg rating — 401,558 ratings
14.
The Hours
The Hours 3.96 avg rating — 146,852 ratings
15.
Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness
Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness 3.99 avg rating — 30,924 ratings
16.
Mrs. Dalloway
Mrs. Dalloway 3.78 avg rating — 341,988 ratings
17.
Wide Sargasso Sea
Wide Sargasso Sea
by: Jean Rhys
3.59 avg rating — 103,288 ratings
18.
The Awakening
The Awakening 3.69 avg rating — 222,576 ratings
19.
The Virgin Suicides
The Virgin Suicides 3.78 avg rating — 395,412 ratings
20.
An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness
An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness 4.06 avg rating — 84,153 ratings
21.
Everything, Everything
Everything, Everything 3.96 avg rating — 667,945 ratings
22.
Wintergirls
Wintergirls 3.96 avg rating — 124,796 ratings
23.
Everything I Never Told You
Everything I Never Told You 3.83 avg rating — 598,310 ratings
24.
Imagine Me Gone
Imagine Me Gone 3.69 avg rating — 19,790 ratings
25.
The Last Time We Say Goodbye
The Last Time We Say Goodbye 4.07 avg rating — 27,194 ratings
26.
A Little Life
A Little Life 4.29 avg rating — 859,279 ratings
27.
The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression
The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression 4.19 avg rating — 15,444 ratings
28.
She’s Come Undone
She’s Come Undone 3.91 avg rating — 357,265 ratings
29.
Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me
Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me 4.02 avg rating — 16,571 ratings
30.
Thirteen Reasons Why
Thirteen Reasons Why
by: Jay Asher
3.84 avg rating — 1,013,932 ratings
31.
Prozac Nation
Prozac Nation 3.64 avg rating — 63,387 ratings
32.
A Tale for the Time Being
A Tale for the Time Being 4.06 avg rating — 131,703 ratings
33.
White Oleander
White Oleander really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 363,358 ratings
34.
Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament
Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament 4.03 avg rating — 5,182 ratings
34.
The Woman in White
The Woman in White 4.01 avg rating — 162,723 ratings
36.
The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath
The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath 4.27 avg rating — 25,459 ratings
37.
Fangirl
Fangirl 3.94 avg rating — 772,446 ratings
38.
The Bipolar Disorder Survival Guide: What You and Your Family Need to Know
The Bipolar Disorder Survival Guide: What You and Your Family Need to Know 4.08 avg rating — 1,546 ratings
39.
Franny and Zooey
Franny and Zooey 3.96 avg rating — 235,176 ratings
40.
Made You Up
Made You Up 4.02 avg rating — 30,182 ratings
41.
Impulse (Impulse, #1)
Impulse (Impulse, #1) 4.25 avg rating — 81,839 ratings
42.
Loud in the House of Myself: Memoir of a Strange Girl
Loud in the House of Myself: Memoir of a Strange Girl 3.91 avg rating — 3,884 ratings
43.
The Marriage Plot
The Marriage Plot 3.47 avg rating — 123,512 ratings
44.
My Heart and Other Black Holes
My Heart and Other Black Holes 3.96 avg rating — 62,285 ratings
45.
Ophelia Speaks
Ophelia Speaks 3.84 avg rating — 2,492 ratings
46.
Shadows in the Sun: Healing from Depression and Finding the Light Within
Shadows in the Sun: Healing from Depression and Finding the Light Within 4.14 avg rating — 326 ratings
47.
72 Hour Hold
72 Hour Hold 3.84 avg rating — 2,501 ratings
48.
Willow Weep for Me: A Black Woman's Journey Through Depression
Willow Weep for Me: A Black Woman's Journey Through Depression 4.28 avg rating — 611 ratings
49.
Every Last Word
Every Last Word 4.21 avg rating — 122,249 ratings
50.
The Evil Hours: A Biography of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
The Evil Hours: A Biography of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder 4.17 avg rating — 905 ratings
51.
Haldol and Hyacinths: A Bipolar Life
Haldol and Hyacinths: A Bipolar Life 3.93 avg rating — 1,203 ratings
52.
Let the Tornado Come: A Memoir
Let the Tornado Come: A Memoir 4.12 avg rating — 316 ratings
53.
The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination
The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination 4.21 avg rating — 4,063 ratings
54.
More Happy Than Not
More Happy Than Not 3.95 avg rating — 67,491 ratings
55.
Reasons to Stay Alive
Reasons to Stay Alive
by: Matt Haig
4.07 avg rating — 109,081 ratings
56.
Paperweight
Paperweight 3.90 avg rating — 17,335 ratings
57.
Out of Her Mind: Women Writing on Madness
Out of Her Mind: Women Writing on Madness 3.93 avg rating — 215 ratings
58.
The Round House
The Round House 3.98 avg rating — 122,368 ratings
59.
The Salt Eaters
The Salt Eaters 3.84 avg rating — 1,577 ratings
59.
Skinny
Skinny 3.88 avg rating — 8,109 ratings
61.
Ten Ways Not to Commit Suicide: A Memoir
Ten Ways Not to Commit Suicide: A Memoir 3.69 avg rating — 333 ratings
62.
Willow
Willow 3.90 avg rating — 32,758 ratings
63.
All the Things We Never Knew: Chasing the Chaos of Mental Illness
All the Things We Never Knew: Chasing the Chaos of Mental Illness 4.06 avg rating — 1,771 ratings
64.
Awakening Kali
Awakening Kali 4.51 avg rating — 39 ratings
65.
Bleeding Violet
Bleeding Violet 3.64 avg rating — 5,578 ratings
66.
The Buddha and the Borderline: My Recovery from Borderline Personality Disorder through Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Buddhism, and Online Dating
The Buddha and the Borderline: My Recovery from Borderline Personality Disorder through Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Buddhism, and Online Dating 4.12 avg rating — 4,780 ratings
67.
By the Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead
By the Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead 3.84 avg rating — 23,973 ratings
68.
The Color of Hope: People of Color Mental Health Narratives
The Color of Hope: People of Color Mental Health Narratives 4.30 avg rating — 54 ratings
69.
Crazy
Crazy
by: Han Nolan
4.02 avg rating — 3,263 ratings
70.
Dragonfish
Dragonfish
by: Vu Tran
3.24 avg rating — 2,439 ratings
71.
Find You in the Dark (Find You in the Dark, #1)
Find You in the Dark (Find You in the Dark, #1) 3.93 avg rating — 27,925 ratings
72.
Flowers from the Storm
Flowers from the Storm 4.07 avg rating — 17,231 ratings
73.
Get Me Out of Here: My Recovery from Borderline Personality Disorder
Get Me Out of Here: My Recovery from Borderline Personality Disorder 3.96 avg rating — 7,367 ratings
74.
Keep Me Still (Keep Me Still, #1)
Keep Me Still (Keep Me Still, #1) 4.01 avg rating — 9,660 ratings
75.
Look Straight Ahead
Look Straight Ahead 3.97 avg rating — 142 ratings
76.
Madness: A Bipolar Life
Madness: A Bipolar Life 4.03 avg rating — 14,674 ratings
77.
The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie (Mackenzies & McBrides, #1)
The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie (Mackenzies & McBrides, #1) 4.04 avg rating — 39,832 ratings
78.
The Man Who Couldn't Stop: OCD and the True Story of a Life Lost in Thought
The Man Who Couldn't Stop: OCD and the True Story of a Life Lost in Thought 3.89 avg rating — 5,701 ratings
79.
Manic: A Memoir
Manic: A Memoir 3.82 avg rating — 12,026 ratings
80.
The Memory of Light
The Memory of Light 3.98 avg rating — 6,493 ratings
81.
The Museum of Intangible Things
The Museum of Intangible Things 3.58 avg rating — 4,832 ratings
82.
My Age of Anxiety: Fear, Hope, Dread, and the Search for Peace of Mind
My Age of Anxiety: Fear, Hope, Dread, and the Search for Peace of Mind 3.85 avg rating — 7,431 ratings
83.
The Nest
The Nest 3.73 avg rating — 11,285 ratings
84.
Norwegian Wood
Norwegian Wood really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 696,782 ratings
85.
Not Alone: Reflections on Faith and Depression---A 40-Day Devotional
Not Alone: Reflections on Faith and Depression---A 40-Day Devotional 4.20 avg rating — 55 ratings
86.
A Note of Madness (Flynn Laukonen, #1)
A Note of Madness (Flynn Laukonen, #1) 3.99 avg rating — 1,111 ratings
87.
Polarity
Polarity
by: Max Bemis
3.69 avg rating — 601 ratings
88.
Psychiatric Tales: Eleven Graphic Stories About Mental Illness
Psychiatric Tales: Eleven Graphic Stories About Mental Illness 3.61 avg rating — 2,198 ratings
89.
The Quiet Room: A Journey Out of the Torment of Madness
The Quiet Room: A Journey Out of the Torment of Madness 4.09 avg rating — 9,619 ratings
90.
Sparks Off You
Sparks Off You 3.55 avg rating — 33 ratings
91.
Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy
Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy 3.90 avg rating — 5,124 ratings
92.
Stranger (The Change, #1)
Stranger (The Change, #1) 3.87 avg rating — 969 ratings
93.
The Surrendered
The Surrendered 3.67 avg rating — 4,861 ratings
94.
Swallow Me Whole
Swallow Me Whole 3.63 avg rating — 3,183 ratings
95.
Therapy (Therapy, #1)
Therapy (Therapy, #1) 4.23 avg rating — 3,202 ratings
96.
The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B
The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B 3.80 avg rating — 6,736 ratings
97.
Your Voice Is All I Hear
Your Voice Is All I Hear 4.05 avg rating — 1,595 ratings
98.
Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia
Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia 4.03 avg rating — 33,834 ratings
99.
When Reason Breaks
When Reason Breaks 3.76 avg rating — 1,059 ratings
100.
When We Collided
When We Collided 3.81 avg rating — 29,531 ratings