2026 Reading Challenge

Listopia > Asylum Book Lists

It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned VizziniThe Bell Jar by Sylvia PlathOne Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken KeseyCut by Patricia McCormickVeronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho
Fictional Mental Hospital Novels
259 books — 771 voters
It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned VizziniImpulse by Ellen HopkinsTainted Shadows by Kendrick SimsCut by Patricia McCormickAsylum by Madeleine Roux
Young Adult Psychiatric Hospitals
102 books — 95 voters

Girl, Interrupted by Susanna KaysenWithout MAlice by Amesbury ClarkeThe Bell Jar by Sylvia PlathOne Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken KeseyThe Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Mental Illness and Mental Hospitals
187 books — 92 voters
Fingersmith by Sarah WatersThe Woman in White by Wilkie CollinsDracula by Bram StokerAlias Grace by Margaret AtwoodThe Yellow Wall-Paper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Victorian Asylums
59 books — 75 voters

Asylum by Madeleine RouxSanctum by Madeleine RouxThe Scarlets by Madeleine RouxProject 17 by Laurie Faria StolarzThe Ghost of Graylock by Dan Poblocki
Haunted Hospitals
45 books — 63 voters
Four Feet, Two Sandals by Karen Lynn WilliamsInside Out & Back Again by Thanhhà LạiMy Name Is Sangoel by Karen Lynn WilliamsHow I Learned Geography by Uri ShulevitzStepping Stones / حَصى الطُرُقات by Margriet Ruurs
Children's Books About Refugees
226 books — 52 voters

When They Call You a Terrorist by Patrisse Khan-CullorsThe New Jim Crow by Michelle AlexanderWhite Fragility by Robin DiAngeloTears We Cannot Stop by Michael Eric DysonJust Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
Immigrant Justice & Anti-Racism
129 books — 31 voters
The Syrian Virgin by Zack LoveAnissa's Redemption by Zack LoveTrade Me by Courtney MilanThe Damned Balkans by John FarebrotherMetropolis by Elizabeth Gaffney
Romance Novels Capturing the Immigrant Experince
59 books — 21 voters

Twisted Heathens by J. RoseChurch by K.G. ReussCute but Psycho by Beatrix HollowLaces by Tempi LarkSiren Condemned by C.R. Jane
RH Asylum & Penitentiary Romance
41 books — 18 voters
The Arrival by Shaun TanMartyr! by Kaveh AkbarExit West by Mohsin HamidMiddlesex by Jeffrey EugenidesAmericanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Book Riot 2025 #5 - Immigration / Refugees
38 books — 17 voters

Curious George by H.A. ReyA Long Way Gone by Ishmael BeahLolita by Vladimir NabokovThe Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah ArendtIn the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner
Books by Refugees in America
48 books — 15 voters
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley JacksonThis House Is Haunted by John Boyne1962 by Kimberly HarlowCabello by Grea AlexanderMiael by Grea Alexander
Creepy Books
50 books — 14 voters

The Bell Jar by Sylvia PlathGirl, Interrupted by Susanna KaysenSeparate Things by Ashley Marie BerryNever Go With Your Gut by Gleb TsipurskyThe Snake Pit by Mary Jane Ward
Best Asylum and Mental Health Books
26 books — 11 voters
An Anonymous Girl by Greer HendricksMy Eyes Are Black Holes by Logan Ryan SmithThe Dice Man by Luke RhinehartY is for Fidelity by Logan Ryan SmithThe Dumb House by John Burnside
Dark Psychological Fiction
18 books — 10 voters

A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. KingfisherCirce by Madeline MillerNettle & Bone by T. KingfisherThe Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. SchwabThe Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
Book Riot 2025 #6 - Standalone Fantasy
32 books — 10 voters
Jane Eyre by Charlotte BrontëThe Bell Jar by Sylvia PlathHamlet by William ShakespeareDon Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes SaavedraThe Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Mental Illness in Fiction - Before the 21st Century
38 books — 9 voters

Romancing the Duke by Tessa DareAnnie's Song by Catherine AndersonThe Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie by Jennifer AshleyJust Like Heaven by Julia QuinnMiss Wonderful by Loretta Chase
Historical Romance and Illness
9 books — 8 voters
Flowers from the Storm by Laura KinsaleThe Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie by Jennifer AshleyWicked Nights by Gena ShowalterCrazy by Eve LanglaisThe Wild Child by Mary Jo Putney
Committed but not Crazy
11 books — 7 voters

Leros by Laura FacchiThe Girls and Boys of Belchertown by Robert N. HornickW-3 by Bette HowlandDelusional Madness by Kimberly K TaylorWard 81 by Karen Folger Jacobs
Shock Corridor: Asylums, Funny Farms, And Loony Bins
17 books — 4 voters
Firestarter by Stephen KingThe Shining by Stephen KingThe Institute by Stephen KingCarrie by Stephen KingLater by Stephen King
Minors with Special Abilities in Horror/Sci-Fi/Fantasy
13 books — 2 voters

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