Emely Rumble, LCSW Literapy NYC

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Welcome to LITERAPY: “Where literature and therapy meet to provide the everyday bibliophile with mental health support and diverse, therapeutic reading recommendations."

📚 Biblio | Poetry Therapist | Educator
✍️ Author of Bibliotherapy in The Bronx

For I just finished The Dirty Version by Buddha Monk and Mickey Hess and I’m sitting with how much of Russell Jones’ s...
02/26/2026

For I just finished The Dirty Version by Buddha Monk and Mickey Hess and I’m sitting with how much of Russell Jones’ story was flattened by the media.

We’ve been handed a version of Ol’ Dirty Bastard that makes him the punchline.

The wild one.

The unstable one.

The cautionary tale.

This book pushes back on that. It slows the narrative down and asks who benefits when a Black man is labeled “crazy” instead of contextualized.

Reading about the history of Haldol in prisons and detention centers made my stomach turn not because it was shocking but because I know it tracks. Black resistance reframed as pathology. Anger reframed as disorder. Suspicion of systems that have historically harmed you reframed as paranoia. A 1974 psychiatry ad showing a Black man with a clenched fist under the caption “Assaultive and Belligerent? Cooperation often begins with Haldol.” That is not ancient history. That is infrastructure.

As a therapist, I am always thinking about how diagnoses land on Black bodies.

Who gets grace. Who gets surveillance. Who gets medicated into compliance. This book doesn’t romanticize ODB. It humanizes him. It complicates him. It reminds us that misdiagnosis is not accidental it lives at the intersection of race, power, and control.

For anyone who loves the Wu-Tang Clan, cares about medical racism, or wants a fuller story about a man whose genius was bigger than the caricature — this one matters.

This felt less like a memoir and more like testimony. And testimony, when we tell it right, interrupts the lie.

Save & share with an OBD fan!




This past Saturday at my book talk for Bibliotherapy in the Bronx, my friend and brilliant moderator Vonetta handed me a...
02/25/2026

This past Saturday at my book talk for Bibliotherapy in the Bronx, my friend and brilliant moderator Vonetta handed me a bracelet from the Little Words Project.

It says: “unafraid.”

I cried.

Because the truth is this: I am afraid all the time.

Afraid of not doing enough.
Afraid of systems that fail our children.
Afraid of how hard we have to fight as special needs parents just to secure what should already be there.
Afraid of building new support systems in a new city while still trying to show up fully for my family and my work.

And yet… I keep showing up.

This morning I read a thread from another special needs mom that left me heavy. We fight so hard in systems that were never designed with our families in mind. The labor is invisible. The advocacy is exhausting. The love is relentless.

The bracelet felt like a gentle interruption.
Not “don’t be afraid.”
But “you can move with the fear.”

Reading.
Feeling.
Learning.
Gathering in rooms together.

That’s how we metabolize the fear. That’s how we heal. That’s how we build the supports we weren’t handed.

Community is the bravest thing we do.

Today I’m holding this little word close.
Unafraid. And not because I don’t feel fear, but because I refuse to let it stop me. 💜

I hope this is a word of encouragement for you to keep going today!





Happy Book Birthday to Unread by Oliver James 🎉📚As a therapist who works closely with young people, especially those nav...
02/24/2026

Happy Book Birthday to Unread by Oliver James 🎉📚

As a therapist who works closely with young people, especially those navigating learning differences, this story hit home for me in a real way.

In Unread, Oliver James shares his journey with OCD, anxiety, ADHD, and dyslexia and what it meant to move through childhood memorizing his way through school, passing from grade to grade without anyone realizing he couldn’t read.

He writes about reaching his mid-thirties and deciding, publicly on TikTok, to learn to read as a way to hold himself accountable. That kind of vulnerability? That’s courage.

I sat with the ache of a child wanting to fit in. Wanting to talk to girls. Wanting to belong. So he memorized. He masked. He survived. And later, he found his way back to language through audiobooks, voice-to-text, and the steady support of a reading specialist who helped him see words not as symbols to decode under pressure but as tools he could use for life.

As someone who practices bibliotherapy, I am always reminding families: literacy is not a moral issue. It’s not about intelligence. It’s about access, support, and safety. James’ story is a powerful testament to what can happen when someone decides it’s not too late to begin again.

“It’s always easier to play the sport when you’ve got fans in the bleachers.”

May this book be that fan in the bleachers for someone who needs it.

Save & share with a friend who would love this memoir!

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Happy Book Birthday to a story that felt like sinking into exactly the kind of novel I’m always hoping to find. Kin is a...
02/24/2026

Happy Book Birthday to a story that felt like sinking into exactly the kind of novel I’m always hoping to find.

Kin is about two girls, Annie and Vernice, growing up side by side in the American South both motherless in different ways, bound together by a loyalty that feels less like friendship and more like survival. From the very beginning, their bond isn’t optional. It’s how they make it through.

I love how beautifully this novel honors chosen family. Annie and Vernice belong to each other in ways that don’t require blood to be real. As class, opportunity, and respectability pull them in different directions, their love is tested but never simplified. Tayari Jones allows these women to be complicated, tender, ambitious, q***r, searching, afraid.

Kin reminds us that so many girls grow up without being properly mothered, and that learning to mother yourself becomes a lesson in self honor. This is a novel about friendship as inheritance and about the people who become your kin simply because you choose each other again and again.





I read books for a living.And every once in a while, a book reminds me why.I just finished One Day, Everyone Will Have A...
02/23/2026

I read books for a living.

And every once in a while, a book reminds me why.

I just finished One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad and I need to say this plainly: this is one of the most important books of our time.

It took me months to move through it. Not because it wasn’t compelling (FAR from that) but because it demanded digestion. It asks us to confront what we’ve normalized. What we’ve justified. What we’ve looked away from. As a therapist who uses literature in my work, I felt myself sitting with layer after layer of grief, clarity, and moral reckoning.

Our collective grief can overwhelm us. This book doesn’t let it swallow us it names it. It contextualizes it. It insists that we remember.

When Libby alerted me this morning that my audiobook hold was ending, I knew that was my cue to finish. To stop pacing myself. To face the final pages.

I’ll be sharing quotes because there are lines in here that deserve to be held, screenshotted, reread, wrestled with.

In a world where violence is live-streamed, where hatred is politicized, where books and truth are banned, we need writers who refuse amnesia. Writers who document. Writers who tell the truth even when it costs something.

And now, after sitting with this work of nonfiction, I find myself truly looking forward to spending time with his fiction. Because if this is the clarity he brings to reality, I can only imagine the worlds he builds in story.

More soon. This one matters.





Last night was everything. 💜Thank you to Rumspringa Books and the incredible indie booksellers Brett and Kate for creati...
02/22/2026

Last night was everything. 💜

Thank you to Rumspringa Books and the incredible indie booksellers Brett and Kate for creating such a thoughtful, intentional space for authors and readers to gather. And thank you to The Urban Food Brood for hosting us so beautifully. Springfield truly has something special on Albany Street.

To my friend Vonetta, you were a generous, grounded, and brilliant moderator. The way you held the conversation allowed me to speak honestly about Bibliotherapy in the Bronx and the heart behind this work. The audience was warm, reflective, and deeply engaged. This is the kind of room every author dreams of.

It meant more than I can put into words to have my husband in the room and to share that moment with our village here in Springfield. These are the spaces where stories live, ya’ll, in community, in conversation, in connection.

Please continue to support small, independent businesses like Rumspringa Books and The Urban Food Brood. They are building culture, not just commerce. And we need them.

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On my nightstand: The People Can Fly by Joshua Bennett.This book is asking a simple but powerful question:What does it c...
02/20/2026

On my nightstand: The People Can Fly by Joshua Bennett.

This book is asking a simple but powerful question:

What does it cost to be called “gifted” in America: especially if you’re Black?

Dr. Bennett writes about growing up as a “promising” Black boy and how that praise can sometimes feel like pressure. Like you have to leave your community to succeed. Like you have to be exceptional just to be safe.

As a therapist who works with brilliant Black kids and adults, I see this all the time. Being smart or talented doesn’t protect you from racism. Sometimes it just makes the spotlight brighter.

He also talks about artists like Nina Simone and Thelonious Monk and reminds us that genius isn’t separate from identity. Their race. Their mental health. Their full humanity. We can’t celebrate the gift without honoring the whole person.

I’m reading this alongside his earlier book Being Property Once Myself, where he reflects on characters in Song of Solomon and what it means to feel invisible or ordinary in a world that only values spectacle. That connection matters. Because sometimes the deepest wound isn’t failure it’s being unseen.

If you’re raising a gifted child.
If you were labeled “the smart one.”
If you’ve ever felt both praised and pressured at the same time.
This book is for you.

And speaking of stories that shape us *reminder* that tonight at midnight my Healing Starts with a Story Black History Month merch collaboration closes.

If you’ve been wanting a hoodie, crewneck, or tee, this is the last day to grab one and support this work of centering Black stories and Black brilliance.

Link is under my profile pic. 🖤

Let’s keep choosing stories that hold all of us not just our gifts.

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Author. First Page. Book Cover 🥰Tomorrow I’ll be at Rumspringa Books at Urban Food Brood in Springfield at 6pm sharing B...
02/20/2026

Author. First Page. Book Cover 🥰

Tomorrow I’ll be at Rumspringa Books at Urban Food Brood in Springfield at 6pm sharing Bibliotherapy in the Bronx. Smith College SSW is covering drinks and food from 5–6pm (we are grateful!).

If you’ve ever believed healing starts with a story, come through. 💜

I cannot tell you how many of you have been asking me for menopause recommendations lately so here’s one that had me nod...
02/20/2026

I cannot tell you how many of you have been asking me for menopause recommendations lately so here’s one that had me nodding, laughing, and exhaling at the same time.

The Official We Do Not Care Handbook by Melani Sanders was my first introduction to the We Do Not Care Club and I was instantly pulled in by her voice. It’s funny, affirming, and deeply relieving in the way only a book can be when it tells the truth without apology.

“Our bodies are changing, our priorities are changing, and we’re going to spend less time worrying about what our lives are supposed to be and more time embracing what life is.”

That line captures the whole spirit of this book.

Reading it feels like being welcomed into a room full of people who get it: the brain fog, the rage, the exhaustion, the humor, and the surprising freedom that comes with finally releasing unrealistic expectations. It gives permission to loosen perfectionism and lean into self-trust, laughter, and solidarity.

If you’re in this season (or loving someone who is) this one belongs on your therapeutic book shelf!

Save & share with a friend who would love this one ✨





As clinicians we hold sacred boundaries for a reason💜I shared earlier that I don’t invite therapy clients to my book eve...
02/19/2026

As clinicians we hold sacred boundaries for a reason💜

I shared earlier that I don’t invite therapy clients to my book events. Your session is about you, not about my work outside the room. Protecting that space matters deeply to me.

That said… community is community. And when folks show up organically in public spaces, I receive that with love.

This Saturday at Rumspringa Books in Springfield, I’ll be there as an author, a bibliotherapist, a BX girl who believes healing starts with a story.

I can’t wait to gather with readers, librarians, therapists, friends, family, and community members who want to talk about books, care, and liberation.

6pm. Feb 20.
Come through. I’m excited to see you. 💜📚

Oh yea, 2 MORE DAYS to get your Healing Starts with a Story merch! 🔗 you know where!

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Address

Literapy By Em Rumble, LICSW
The Bronx, NY
01103

Website

http://LiterapyNYC.podia.com/

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