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[[Category:Lifestyle|*]]
[[Category:New Reviews|Lifestyle]]__NOTOC__ <!-- Remove -->
{{Frontpage
|isbn=0753558378
|title=Effortless: Make It Easier to Do What Matters
|author=Greg McKeown
|rating=4.5
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=''The marginal return of working harder was, in fact, negative.''
That's what happened to Patrick McGinnis. It's no exaggeration to say that he devoted his life to the company he worked for, struggling through, even when he was ill, only to find that he was working for a bankrupt company. His stock had fallen by 97%, he had lost his health and his job had little value. He made a bargain with God; if he survived, he would make some changes. He did survive and came through stronger - and richer. There is, you see, a different way: ''great things are not reserved for those who bleed, for those who almost break.''
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=1523092734
|title=A Women's Guide to Claiming Space
|author=Eliza Van Cort
|rating=5
|genre=Politics and Society
|summary=''She brings a hug-kick-thunderclap that every woman needs in her life. Again and again and again.'' (Alma Derricks, former CMO, Cirque du Soleil RSD)
''To claim space is to live the life of choosing unapologetically and bravely. It is to live the life you've always wanted.''
Sometimes the reviewing gods are generous: at a time when violence against women is much in the news, ''A Women's Guide to Claiming Space'' by Eliza Van Cort dropped onto my desk. Now - to be clear - this book is not a 'how to disable your attacker with two simple jabs' manual: it's something far more effective, but discussion at the moment seems to be about how women can be ''protected''. I've always thought that women need to rise above this, to be people who don't need protection, people who claim their own space. If all women did this, those few men who are violent to women would realise that we are not just an easy target to be used to prove that they are big men.
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=1529109116
|title=Call Me Red: A Shepherd's Journey
|author=Hannah Jackson
|rating=4.5
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=''I want the image of a British farmer to simply be that of a person who is proudly employed in feeding the nation. I don't think that is too much to ask.''
The stereotypical farmer was probably born on the land where ''his'' family have farmed for generations. He's probably grown up without giving much thought as to what he really wants to do: he knows that he'll be a farmer. It's not always the case though. Hannah Jackson was born and brought up on the Wirral: she'd never set foot on a commercial farm until she was twenty although she'd always had a deep love of animals. Her original intention was that she would become 'Dr Jackson, whale scientist' and she was well on her way to achieving this when her life changed on a family holiday to the Lake District. She saw a lamb being born and, although 'Hannah Jackson, farmer' lacked the kudos of her original intention, she knew that she wanted to be a shepherd. With the determination that you'll soon realise is an essential part of her, she set about achieving her ambition.
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=1786495902
|title=The Natural Health Service: How Nature Can Mend Your Mind
|author=Isabel Hardman
|rating=5
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=Isabel Hardman suffered a trauma which she chooses not to share. She says that a friend who does know, burst into tears and health-care professionals' jaws have sagged in disbelief. Hardman dealt with this at the time by 'keeping going': the next day she went to work to cover the budget, next there was the EU referendum, the political party leadership contests and then it was party conference season. One night she had to be sedated and returned home to begin long-term sick leave. That was what brought me to this book: 2020 was the year when the bins went out more often than I did.
}}
{{Frontpage
|author=Lauren Martin
|title=The Book of Moods
|rating=5
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary= I was in a great mood when I first learnt of this book, and because sarcasm doesn't always translate well into writing, imagine the word ''great'' being delivered with an eye roll and a sigh, through clenched teeth. I had spent the best part of a rainy, windy weekend afternoon out on the water at our local sailing club in the rescue rib, on standby in case anyone who was racing needed support. It's a volunteer duty we all do during the year, and normally I'm happy to, but that day the weather was miserable and I was miserable, and it all came to a head that evening when I noticed on the website that we had been thanked for our time as "Dave and wife". Wow. I had never needed this book more.
|isbn=1538733625
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=0008420386
|title=Failosophy: A handbook for when things go wrong
|author=Elizabeth Day
|rating=4
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=What do Malcolm Gladwell, Alain de Botton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Lemn Sissay, Nigel Slater, Emeli Sandé, Meera Syal, Dame Kelly Holmes and Andrew Scott have in common? They've all failed and - more importantly - they've been willing to appear on Elizabeth Day's podcast to discuss their failures and how life worked out for them afterwards. You'll find the results of these discussions in ''Failosophy''
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=1504321383
|title=Single, Again, and Again, and Again
|author=Louisa Pateman
|rating=4.5
|genre=Autobiography
|summary=''You can't be happy and fulfilled on your own. You are not complete until you find a man''.
This was what Louisa Pateman was brought up to believe. It wasn't unkind: it was simply the adults in her life advising her as to what they thought would be best for her. It was reinforced by all those fairy tales where the girl (she's usually fairly young) is rescued by the handsome prince who then marries her so that they can live happily ever after. Few girls are lucky enough to be brought up ''without'' the expectation that they will marry and have children. It was a belief and it would be many years before Louisa would conclude that ''a belief is a choice''.
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=1538731738
|title=Simple Abundance: 365 Days to a Balanced and Joyful Life
|author= Sarah Ban Breathnach
|rating=5
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=Someone once said: it's not self-indulgence, it's therapy! I think they were talking about shopping, but it probably can be applied to most things. In my case, it applies to writing about things because I want to, rather than because I can sell it or because I've got something to sell.
}}
{{Frontpage
|author=Sharon Blackie
|title=If Women Rose Rooted
|rating=5
|genre= Biography
|summary= I normally say that you can tell how much a book means to me by how many pages have corners turned down. Perhaps an even greater measure of impact is setting out to buy my own copy before I've finished reading the one I've borrowed. I want to avoid clichés like 'powerful' 'inspiring' 'life-changing' – although it is definitely the first two and only time will tell about the third – but clichés exist for a reason and I'm not sure I can succinctly put it any better.
|isbn=1912836017
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=1543987877
|title=Learn to Love: Guide to Healing Your Disappointing Love Life
|author=Dr Thomas Jordan
|rating=4.5
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=''Learn to Love: Guide to Healing Your Disappointing Love Life'' is a book about love relationships rather than a book about love. The two greatest emotions are love and grief and love is the opposite of grief: ''if you love'', Dr Thomas Jordan tells us, ''you will inevitably grieve''. Your love relationships begin the moment you're born and end only when you die. Whilst we all come into the world hoping to give and receive love there are many people for whom love is not quite so simple. Some people suffer multiple disappointments - sometimes repeating the same mistakes - and this eventually becomes resignation. For people who are making the same mistakes repeatedly, self-preservation, in the form of resignation is a necessity.
}}
{{Frontpage
|author=Michael Harris
|summary=Go on, admit it - you're not quite perfect. You still have those odd, quirky even loveable (to you) habits which seem to annoy other people. Other people, of course, are sorely afflicted with some dreadful flaws which they could so easily correct, if only they would make just a little bit of effort. Or put another way, I get cross with myself because I forget to do things or do some actions more than I should and no matter how I try to make what seem to be quite monumental changes I never quite seem to get to grips with the concepts. I constantly fail and then I get cross with myself for failing. Lack of willpower is another burden to add to the list.
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=1785785516
|summary=Manners maketh man, they say. It certainly makes life easier if everybody abides by a set of conventions, some of which are ages old and other which have evolved over time. Manners are not about how much to tip or how you should behave if you get an invitation to Buckingham Palace, they have nothing to do with class or financial status: they're about getting the basics right before we try to deal with more difficult matters. Of course we all have more relaxed manners when we're with family and friends, but it's best if we learn to distinguish between our public and private lives and to act appropriately. ''Fucking Good Manners'' aims to help us on the way.
}}
{{Frontpage|class-"wikitable" cellpaddingisbn="15" <!-- Rob Walker -->1999811402|-title=Painting Snails| styleauthor="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|Stephen John Hartley[[image:1529104432X.jpg|linkrating=http://www4.amazon.co.uk/dp/1529104432X/ref5|genre=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Autobiography| stylesummary="vertical-alignIt's very difficult to classify ''Painting Snails'': top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Art of Noticing: Rediscover What Really Matters originally I thought that as it's loosely based around a year on an allotment it would be a lifestyle book, but you're not going to You by Rob Walker]]=== [[image:4starget advice on what to plant when and where for the best results.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]] The curse put on reviewers is that we get to read through The answer would be something along the lines of 'try it and see'. Then I considered popular science as Stephen Hartley failed his A levels, did an engineering apprenticeship, became a book which is really better dipped busker, finally got into, or read gradually medical school and thoughts allowed to be provokedis now an A&E consultant (part-time). And so it was with ''The Art of Noticing''. ItI found out that there's a simple premise: the pace of modern life and rapidity of technological advances means that we are constantly overwhelmed and distracted. Rob Walker wants us an awful lot more to be able to steal our attention backwhat goes on in a Major Trauma Centre than you'll ever glean from ''Casualty'', but that isn't really what the book's about. He gives us his thoughts on various areas There's a lot about rock & roll, which seems to be the real passion of our lives and then provides 131 exercises to help us recover our attentionHartley's life, but it didn't actually fit into the entertainment genre either. [[The Art of Noticing: Rediscover What Really Matters to You by Rob Walker|Full Review]] Did we have a category for 'doing the impossible the hard way'? Yep - that's the one. It's an autobiography.}} <!-- Leah Hazard -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=1848993609| styletitle="widthGood Mood Food: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|Unlock the Power of Diet to Think and Feel Well[[image:1786331608.jpg|linkauthor=http://www.amazonCharlotte Watts and Natalie Savona|rating=4.co.uk/dp/1786331608/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] 5| stylegenre="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"Cookery|summary===[[Hard PushedI thought I was getting a cookbook: A MidwifeI liked the idea of a series of recipes which would make me feel happy. For once this isn's Story by Leah Hazard]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]]t a case of 'if it sounds too good to be true, [[:Category:Politics and Society|Politics and Society]] Over the past few years weit probably is' - it've had s a rash (sorry - no pun intended) case of books by medical practitioners. Doctors have been at getting something which could change your life for the forefront, but ''Hard Pushed'' is the first book I've seen by better - for good - rather than a midwifequick fix. It's an unusual profession in that it's one of the few callings within the medical system where most of the patients are healthy }}{{Frontpage|isbn=Kyncl_Stream|title=Stream Punks|author=Robert Kyncl and the only one where one person comes into the system and (for the most part) more than one goes outMaany Peyvan|rating=4.5|genre=Entertainment|summary=I watch quite a lot of YouTube. It's an amazing thing I play music videos when I want to be able listen to do - to escort new life into the world - and an enormous responsibilitya particular song I don't already have in my collection. Leah Hazard came I use it to it after a career in television and ''Hard Pushed'' is find out how to do things, with the story of her career as a midwife instruction videos they seem to have for pretty much anything. At the gym, I'll stick it on on my phone, prop it up on the cross- trainer and watch some behind the scenes interviews with the title tells more than one storycast of my favourite shows. [[Hard Pushed: A MidwifeAnd sometimes I's Story by Leah Hazard|Full Review]] <!-- James Wallman -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0753552655ll treat it as if it is Netflix, to watch series with new episodes releasing every few days, exclusively on YouTube.jpg|link=http://wwwHaving a new smart TV adds an extra, easy way to watch without having to plug in my laptop or squint at a small phone screen.amazonSo yes, I like YouTube and I use YouTube. But I didn't know a whole lot about the site it until I read this book.co.uk/dp/0753552655/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]}}{{Frontpage| styleisbn="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"Omeiza_Parenting|title===[[Time and How to Spend ItParenting through the Eyes of a Child: The 7 Rules for Richer, Happier Days by James Wallman]]===Memoirs of My Childhood [[image:4star.jpg|linkauthor=Category:{{{Tabitha Ochekpe Omeiza|rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle=4|Lifestyle]]genre=Autobiography Most things you can replace, but one of the things which you simply can't replace is time. Even though we know this, we fail |summary=Tabitha Ochekpe Omeiza was brought up in Nigeria and came to Britain to use what we have wiselystudy for her A levels when she was 18. We have more leisure time, but that's not how Her parents used their savings to give her this opportunity and called it feels: an investment in her future. Now a high value is put on how we spend our working hoursqualified pharmacist, but there's married and with a low value on leisure. Unfortunately we now know how to work child of her own, Tabitha looks back at her childhood and reflects on the way her mother and not how to ''live'': we need to ''learn'' how to spend our leisure time wisely father raised her. And she gives their parenting top marks.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=Mackay_Trials|title=Trials and James Wallman has taken on the onerous task Tribulations of teaching us how to do thisa Travelling Prostitute|author=Andrew Mackay|rating=3. [[Time 5|genre=Business and How to Spend It: The 7 Rules for Richer, Happier Days by James Wallman|Full Review]] <!-- James Atkinson -->|-Finance| stylesummary="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:B07ML4Q55J.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07ML4Q55J/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbagJust chance you think that you're picking up a book about what can go wrong in life for an itinerant sex worker I'd better explain exactly what it was that author Andrew Mackay did for thirty-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Home Workout for Beginners: 6 Week Fitness Program with Fat Burning Workouts for Long Term Weight Loss three years. A travelling prostitute is a worker who is employed by James Atkinson]]=== [[image:4starone company but his services are sold out to other countries, usually at a substantial profit to the employing company and a lot of inconvenience to the employee.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]] James Atkinson has Mackay was an engineer who knew all the qualifications which you need in a workout instructor that there was to be know about turbines and generators, or if he looks didn't could soon be up to speed to the partextent of being able to teach other people. He's been actively involved Occasionally his skills were used in the health and fitness arena for more than twenty years UK, but frequently he was abroad. Just every now and again he spent nine years as a member would be in those parts of 9 Parachute Regimentthe world which has the rest of us green with envy, Royal Engineers. He has another qualification but then there were those areas which means feature heavily in the news and not in a lot to me: he's been on the other sidegood way. There was a time when he was overweight and not particularly strong. As a child he was slow }}{{Frontpage|isbn=1529104432X|title=The Art of Noticing: Rediscover What Really Matters to develop. This means that he ''understands'' what it's like and he knows how his clients feel: it's much more helpful than the twenty-something who was born super-fit You|author=Rob Walker|rating=4|genre=Lifestyle|summary=The curse put on reviewers is that we get to read through a book which is really better dipped into or read gradually and with an attitude problemthoughts allowed to be provoked. [[Home Workout for Beginners: 6 Week Fitness Program And so it was with Fat Burning Workouts for Long Term Weight Loss by James Atkinson|Full Review]] <!-- Adrian Cull -->|-| style="width''The Art of Noticing''. It's a simple premise: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1999308719the pace of modern life and rapidity of technological advances means that we are constantly overwhelmed and distracted.jpg|link=http://www Rob Walker wants us to be able to steal our attention back. He gives us his thoughts on various areas of our lives and then provides 131 exercises to help us recover our attention.amazon.co.uk/dp/1999308719/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]}}{{Frontpage| styleisbn="vertical-align: top; text-align1786331608|title=Hard Pushed: left;"A Midwife's Story|author=Leah Hazard|rating=4|genre=Lifestyle|summary=[[Live Forever Manual: ScienceOver the past few years, ethics and companies behind the new antiwe've had a rash (sorry -aging treatments no pun intended) of books by Adrian Cull]]=== [[image:4medical practitioners.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]] Doctors have been at the forefront, [[:Category:Popular Science|Popular Science]] For many years now Ibut ''ve (half) joked that Hard Pushed'' is the first book I intended to live forever and that so far, it was working out OK've seen by a midwife. Time has passed though and although IIt's an unusual profession in that it'm a great deal fitter and healthier than most people s one of my age there were a the few nagging health problems which were tipping my life out callings within the medical system where most of balance. It was time to look for a new approach the patients are healthy and as so often happens, the reviewing gods brought me only one where one person comes into the system and (for the book I neededmost part) more than one goes out. It''Live Forever Manual: Science, ethics and companies behind s an amazing thing to be able to do - to escort new life into the new antiworld -aging treatmentsand an enormous responsibility. Leah Hazard came to it after a career in television and '' seemed like Hard Pushed'' is the answer to my problems story of her career as a midwife - only you get so much and the title tells more than just 101 tipsone story. [[Live Forever Manual: Science, ethics and companies behind the new anti-aging treatments by Adrian Cull|Full Review]] <!-- Stephen John Hartley -->}}{{Frontpage|-isbn=0753552655| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-alignTime and How to Spend It: top; text-align: center;"The 7 Rules for Richer, Happier Days|author=James Wallman[[image:1999811402.jpg|linkrating=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1999811402/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] 4| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Painting Snails by Stephen John Hartley]]==genre=Lifestyle [[image:4.5star.jpg|linksummary=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Autobiography|Autobiography]]Most things you can replace, but one of the things which you simply can't replace is time. Even though we know this, [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]] It's very difficult we fail to classify ''Painting Snails'': originally I thought use what we have wisely. We have more leisure time, but that as it's loosely based around not how it feels: a year high value is put on an allotment it would be a lifestyle bookhow we spend our working hours, but youthere're not going to get advice on what to plant when and where for the best resultss a low value on leisure. The answer would be something along the lines of 'try it Unfortunately, we now know how to work and seenot how to ''live'': we need to ''learn''. Then I considered popular science as Stephen Hartley failed his A levels, did an engineering apprenticeship, became a busker, finally got into medical school how to spend our leisure time wisely and is now an A&E consultant (part time)James Wallman has taken on the onerous task of teaching us how to do this. I found out that there's an awful lot more to what goes on in a Major Trauma Centre than you'll ever glean from ''Casualty'', but that isn't really what }}{{Frontpage|isbn=B07ML4Q55J|title=Home Workout for Beginners: 6 Week Fitness Program with Fat Burning Workouts for Long Term Weight Loss|author=James Atkinson|rating=4|genre=Lifestyle|summary=James Atkinson has all the book's aboutqualifications which you need in a workout instructor and he looks the part. ThereHe's a lot about rock & roll, which seems to be been actively involved in the real passion health and fitness arena for more than twenty years and he spent nine years as a member of Hartley's life9 Parachute Regiment, but it didn't actually fit into the entertainment genre eitherRoyal Engineers. Did we have He has another qualification which means a category for 'doing the impossible the hard way'? Yep - thatlot to me: he's been on the oneother side. It's autobiographyThere was a time when he was overweight and not particularly strong. As a child, he was slow to develop. [[Painting Snails by Stephen John Hartley|Full Review]] <!-- Charlotte Watts and Natalie Savona -->|-| style="width This means that he ''understands'' what it's like and he knows how his clients feel: 10%; verticalit's much more helpful than the twenty-align: top; textsomething who was born super-align: center;"|[[image:1848993609.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.cofit and with an attitude problem.uk/dp/1848993609/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]}}{{Frontpage| styleisbn="vertical-align1999308719|title=Live Forever Manual: top; textScience, ethics and companies behind the new anti-align: left;"aging treatments|author=Adrian Cull|rating=4.5|genre=Lifestyle|summary=[[Good Mood Food: Unlock the Power of Diet For many years now I've (half) joked that I intended to Think live forever and Feel Well by Charlotte Watts and Natalie Savona]]=== [[image:4that so far, it was working out OK.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]], [[:Category:Cookery|Cookery]] Time has passed though and although I thought I was getting 'm a cookbook: I liked the idea great deal fitter and healthier than most people of my age there were a series few nagging health problems which were tipping my life out of recipes which would make me feel happybalance. For once this isn't It was time to look for a case of 'if it sounds too good to be truenew approach and as so often happens, it probably isthe reviewing gods brought me the book I needed. ' - it's a case of getting something which could change your life for Live Forever Manual: Science, ethics and companies behind the better new anti- for good ageing treatments'' seemed like the answer to my problems - rather only you get so much more than a quick fixjust 101 tips. [[Good Mood Food: Unlock the Power of Diet to Think and Feel Well by Charlotte Watts and Natalie Savona|Full Review]] <!-- Clear -->|-| style=''width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;''|[[image:1847941834.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1847941834/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style=''vertical-align: top; text-align: left;''|===[[Atomic Habits by James Clear]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Popular Science|Popular Science]], [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]] I've said this before but there are some books that you seek out, some books that you stumble across and some books that drop into your life because you really MUST read them, like, right now! ''Atomic Habits'' is in the last category. [[Atomic Habits by James Clear|Full Review]] <!-- Stuart Roberts -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1527230783.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1527230783/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Keep Your Health and Fitness For Life: Don't Let Age Be A Barrier by Stuart Roberts]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]] My birth certificate might suggest a higher figure, but I know that I'm only 42. I learned a long time ago that I could retain that feeling by keeping my life in balance. This meant eating sensibly, getting quality sleep and having regular exercise which I enjoyed. There was an added bonus too: I was juggling four chronic conditions and living this way meant that I could keep three of them in the background. Then a silly mis-step meant that the hip problem flared up. The only way I could get more than an hour or two asleep was to take pain relief and the duodenal ulcer started to complain. Because I was masking symptoms I didn't dare to exercise - and the black dog of depression prowled along behind me. [[Keep Your Health and Fitness For Life: Don't Let Age Be A Barrier by Stuart Roberts|Full Review]] <!-- Dhladhla -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1720812675.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1720812675/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[Beyond Thought by Chris Dhladhla]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]] Have you ever felt trapped by your own thoughts? That your mind is so busy processing what's going on in the world around you that you just can't catch a moment and simply ''be''? Or that the outside world just won't stop pressing in upon an inner life that you'd like to be more peaceful? [[Beyond Thought by Chris Dhladhla|Full Review]] <!-- Watson -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0993454682.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0993454682/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Rockstar Retirement Programme: How to retire like a rockstar by Dominic Watson]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]] Even with a birthday fast approaching, I'm still a bit young to be reading about retirement. My next life change in the pipeline will be a big one, and it does involve leaving the 9 to 5 behind for a yacht and the silky blue waters of the Caribbean, but only for a year, and then I will be back, tanned and refreshed but barely 40 and with many working years still to come. Also, I like work. My job is interesting, I get to travel, what we do matters and it's not badly rewarded. So no, I'm not planning to retire just yet. But as the premise of this book is about planning (and if not now, then when?) I was still intrigued. [[Rockstar Retirement Programme: How to retire like a rockstar by Dominic Watson|Full Review]] <!-- Jankel -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1999731506.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1999731506/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Spiritual Atheist by Nick Seneca Jankel]]=== [[image:2star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]], [[:Category:Spirituality and Religion|Spirituality and Religion]] ''Spiritual Atheist'' is a new 'bible' for the spiritual not the religious, according to the tagline. This is a taboo smashing book which solves the problem of modernity and explains how to be a 'spiritual technologist' who can live and love freely in 'spiritual fullness' without relying on a belief in god. Touching on everything from 'brain science' to AI, Jankel offers a 'path to meaning', allowing us to move beyond consumerism towards an ethical life. [[Spiritual Atheist by Nick Seneca Jankel|Full Review]] <!-- Mackay -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Mackay_Trials.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1524683094?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1524683094]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Trials and Tribulations of a Travelling Prostitute by Andrew Mackay]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]], [[:Category:Business and Finance|Business and Finance]] Just chance you think that you're picking up a book about what can go wrong in life for an itinerant sex worker I'd better explain exactly what it was that author Andrew Mackay did for thirty three years. A travelling prostitute is a worker who is employed by one company but his services are sold out to other countries, usually at a substantial profit to the employing company and a lot of inconvenience to the employee. Mackay was an engineer who knew all that there was to be know about turbines and generators, or if he didn't could soon be up to speed to the extent of being able to teach other people. Occasionally his skills were used in the UK, but frequently he was abroad. Just every now and again he would be in those parts of the world which has the rest of us green with envy, but then there were those areas which feature heavily in the news and not in a good way. [[Trials and Tribulations of a Travelling Prostitute by Andrew Mackay|Full Review]] <!-- Omeiza -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Omeiza_Parenting.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1524682853?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1524682853]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Parenting through the Eyes of a Child: Memoirs of My Childhood by Tabitha Ochekpe Omeiza]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Autobiography|Autobiography]], [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]] Tabitha Ochekpe Omeiza was brought up in Nigeria and came to Britain to study for her A levels when she was 18. Her parents used their savings to give her this opportunity and called it an investment in her future. Now a qualified pharmacist, married and with a child of her own, Tabitha looks back at her childhood and reflects on the way her mother and father raised her. And she gives their parenting top marks. [[Parenting through the Eyes of a Child: Memoirs of My Childhood by Tabitha Ochekpe Omeiza|Full Review]] <!-- Kyncl -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Kyncl_Stream.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0753545926?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0753545926]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Stream Punks by Robert Kyncl and Maany Peyvan]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]], [[:Category: Entertainment|Entertainment]] I watch quite a lot of YouTube. I play music videos when I want to listen to a particular song I don't already have in my collection. I use it to find out how to do things, with the instruction videos they seem to have for pretty much anything. At the gym, I'll stick it on on my phone, prop it up on the cross trainer and watch some behind the scenes interviews with the cast of my favourite shows. And sometimes I'll treat it as if it is Netflix, to watch series with new episodes releasing every few days, exclusively on YouTube. Having a new smart TV adds an extra, easy way to watch without having to plug in my laptop or squint at a small phone screen. So yes, I like YouTube and I use YouTube. But I didn't know a whole lot about the site it until I read this book.[[Stream Punks by Robert Kyncl and Maany Peyvan|Full Review]] <!-- Way -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Way_Tea.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1445670011?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1445670011]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Tea Gardens (Britain's Heritage Series) by Twigs Way]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]], [[:Category:History|History]] Tea Gardens really began in London in the late 18th century: a trip to Kings Cross or St Pancras was effectively a trip to the country in those days. Men had their coffee houses, but they were not places where women could or would be seen. Tea was introduced to England in the 17th century but it was not until 1784 that the high duty was reduced from 119% to 12½% and tea became the drink of choice for the nation. Until then the working classes had been fuelled largely by cheap gin. Only, where would this beverage be drunk? One answer was the pleasure gardens where the fashionable went to see and be seen: by the mid 1600s tea was also being served in places such as Ranelagh Gardens. [[Tea Gardens (Britain's Heritage Series) by Twigs Way|Full Review]] <!-- Nicholson -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Nicholson_Tambourine.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1524681822?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1524681822]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Mr Tambourine Man by Nicholson]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]], [[:Category:Travel|Travel]] Back in 1965 we heard ''Mr Tambourine Man'' by the Byrds on the radio very regularly. Nicholson was thirteen and saw the 45rpm recording of the song in the window of the local music store and would have loved to be able to buy it but didn't have the money. Thirteen-year olds didn't in those days unless it was a birthday or Christmas and you couldn't get a part-time job until you were fifteen. There would be a few of those badly-paid jobs before he finished his A levels and went to New York for three months. It's this trip which Nicholson feels turned him from being a boy into a man and allowed him to see the bigger picture.<br> <!-- Tuhus-Dubrow -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Dubrow_Stereo.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1501322818/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Personal Stereo by Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]] These tiny 'Object Lessons', a range of books which are more like a long-form essay, explore often seemingly mundane items. Personal Stereo packs a lot of information into a small space. Split into three distinct sections: Novelty, Norm, and Nostalgia, 'Novelty' traces the origin of the Sony Walkman, from its conception by two Japanese business men to it becoming a recognised entity on the streets of America. 'Norm' follows on from the universal success of the personal stereo, relating this to the technology which it set the groundwork for, such as the ubiquitous proliferation of MP3s, the iPod, and Smartphones, leading to the eventual downfall in the popularity of the Walkman. Finally, in 'Nostalgia', Tuhus-Dubrow examines our need to hark back to a simpler time, when the personal stereo seemed the height of freedom. [[Personal Stereo by Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow|Full Review]] <!-- Moore -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Moore Bientot.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1782438610?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1782438610]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[A Bientot... by Roger Moore]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Autobiography|Autobiography]], [[:Category:Entertainment|Entertainment]], [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]] The news of the death of Sir Roger Moore in May 2017 came as a great shock: he was one of those people you knew would go on for ever. There was just one small glimmer of light in the sadness - the news that a matter of days before his death he'd delivered the finished manuscript of his book, ''À bientôt…'', to his publishers. Just a few months later a copy landed on my desk and I didn't even bother to look as though I could resist reading it straight away. [[A Bientot... by Roger Moore|Full Review]]}}
