Difference between revisions of "Newest Lifestyle Reviews"

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[[Category:Lifestyle|*]]
[[Category:New Reviews|Lifestyle]]
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1454955546
|author=Dr Aaron Carroll and Dr Rachel Vreeman
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|title=Sugarless
|title=Don't Swallow Your Gum
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|author=Nicole M Avena
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary='''BANG'''That's the sound of copious urban myths being shot down. '''BANG'''.  That's the sound of the old wives slamming the door, as their tales get revealed as baseless.  '''CLICK'''That's the noise lots of ill-informed websites make as they get closed downAll noises come due to this brilliant book.
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|summary=''This isn't a diet bookThe last thing anyone needs is another diet book.''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0141043369</amazonuk>
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There was a time, not that long ago, when it was thought that sugary food was better for you than food with high-fat contentFat was the demon food which was going to elevate your cholesterol and cause heart disease.  Sugar was a carbohydrate, so goodThere's a problem, thoughSugar is addictive and can hijack your brain in much the same way as drugs like heroin and cocaineDoes that sound over the top?  Well, it isn't.
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1635866847
|author=Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez
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|title=The Lavender Companion
|title=Perfumes: The A - Z Guide
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|author=Jessica Dunham and Terry Barlin Vesci
|rating=5
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|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. The only thing that could be conceivably better than reading ''Perfumes'' would be to read it while sampling the scents it reviews, but even without the olfactory component, ''Perfumes'' is a delight: Turin (a lyrical scientist) and Sanchez (an analytically enthusiastic collector) not only treat perfume creation as high art, but turn perfume criticism into an art form (or at least a sophisticated genre of writing) too.  
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|summary=It's strange, the things that make you ''immediately'' feel that this is the book for you. Before I started reading ''The Lavender Companion'', I visited the author's [https://www.pinelavenderfarm.com/ website] and there's a picture of a slice of chocolate cake on the homepage.  I don't eat cakes and desserts - but I wanted that cake viscerally.  (There's a recipe in the book, which I'm avoiding with some difficulty!!) Then I started reading the book and I was told to make a mess of it.  Notes in the margins are sanctioned.  You get to fold down the corners of pages.  You suspect that smears of butter would not be a problem.  I ''loved'' this book already.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846681278</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=0760381267
 +
|title=Verdura: Living a Garden Life
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|author=Perla Sofia Curbelo-Santiago
 +
|rating=3.5
 +
|genre=Lifestyle
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|summary=''The most important part of a garden is the one who enjoys it''.
  
{{newreview
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I've 'gardened' in a vague, indefinite sort of way for more than half a century.  I know (most of) the basics but life has changed and I needed 'projects' rather than a general commitment to gardening.  ''Verdura'' with its promise of projects for both indoors and outdoors of varying complexity seemed like the answerSo, how did it stack up?
|author=Jeremy Clarkson
 
|title=Driven to Distraction
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Entertainment
 
|summary=Jeremy Clarkson's middle name ought to be ''Marmite''.  You really do either love him or hate him.  I am in the first camp.  I think he is brilliantly funny.  He is.  He makes me laugh.  Out loud.  And like many women who watch Top Gear, (well, those that don't watch it because they are strangely – ''bizarrely'' - attracted to James May – I am '''not''' - or because they want to mother The Hamster – I do '''not''') I find Jeremy Clarkson hilariousAnd I don't think you have to like cars to see the appeal either!  I mean, the columns within ''Driven To Distraction'' occasionally start ''off'' talking about cars, but not always and they quickly move on to the things that get his dander up before tailing neatly back to the cars againOr not.  And what is in between is pure gold dust.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0718155548</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Sarah Wilson
|author=Brian Johnson
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|title=This One Wild and Precious Life: the path back to connection in a fractured world
|title=Rockers and Rollers: An Automotive Autobiography
 
 
|rating=3.5
 
|rating=3.5
|genre=Autobiography
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|genre= Lifestyle
|summary=Brian Johnson will probably go down as one of the luckiest men in showbiz.  He had a brief moment of glory in the early 70s as vocalist with Geordie, a Tyneside version of Slade, who had three Top 40 hits and then fell on hard timesAfter going back to the day job, a chance call invited him to go and audition for AC/DC, whose vocalist Bon Scott had suddenly diedThree decades later, not only have the group held on to their loyal fanbase, but one of their albums, according to an online source, is second only to Michael Jackson's ''Thriller'' in terms of global sales.
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|summary= My favourite Mary Oliver line is the one in which she asks ''What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?''  I get to love that line so much because my answer is ''This!  Precisely this.'' I'm lucky enough to be living my one wild and precious life the way I want to.  Sarah Wilson is equally lucky.  In her book that takes Oliver's words as her title (though I can't see that she acknowledges the source) she pushes us to think about whether we really ''are'' living the life we want – the best life that we could be living.  Her answer is an unequivocal ''no, we are not''.  Don't care what you're doing, she thinks you (we, I) could be doing more…And she's effing furious about the fact that we are not.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0718155424</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1785633848
 
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1394159544
 +
|title=Recycling for Dummies
 +
|author=Sarah Winkler
 +
|rating=5
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|genre=Lifestyle
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|summary=''Recycling one ton of plastic can save up to 16.3 barrels of oil.''
  
{{newreview
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''Recycling one ton of paper can save 17 trees from being cut down.''
|author=James May
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|title=Car Fever: Dispatches From Behind The Wheel
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If you send an apple core to landfill, it will take between 6 months and 2 years to decompose.  A glass bottle will take up to 1 million years.
|rating=4
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As a just-post-WWII baby, I faced a dilemma: reducing, reusing and recycling is part of my DNA.  NEVER throw away anything that might ''possibly'' come in handy now or in the future.  NEVER buy anything if you can cobble together something that would serve the purpose.  Almost everything can be used one more time and any purchase must pass the test of 'Is this absolutely essential?'  On the other hand, I suspected I was guilty of wishcycling: assuming that something must be recyclable (toothpaste tubes - I'm looking at you) and dropping it in the kerbside bin.  Yes, I could go searching on the internet - and get conflicting advice - but what I needed was a recycling bible.s
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=0760378134
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|title=The First-Time Gardener: Container Food Gardening
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|author=Pamela Farley
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|rating=5
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|genre=Home and Family
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|summary=If you've ever thought how good it would be to be able to pop out into the garden and pick some fruit and vegetables for a meal – but realised that you wouldn't know where to start, this is the book you need.  It's comprehensive: you'll cover everything from why you should grow your own food, what you're going to grow, what you'll grow it in (both containers and soil), where you'll put these containers, how you'll water and fertilise them and you finish the main part of the book with a handy section on troubleshooting.  There's also a good glossary.  So, is it any good?
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1398508632
 +
|title=The Wilderness Cure
 +
|author=Mo Wilde
 +
|rating=5
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=Now, way back when I was younger, and watched TV a lot, I am sure I remember Top Gear as being a consumer programmeHow times changeThese days I am sure they destroy more cars than they review, and the three main people from the show are approaching superstar status, with their amenable personalities, awkward wardrobe choices and trenchant laddish charmsThey've sprung their media entities from out of the studio, into other TV programmes, and the world of journalism, with chatty columns in the broadsheets allowing them free rein to witter to their heart's desire.  And here, in one grandiloquent volume, and in time for Christmas, are many of James May's desires.
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|summary=It had been on the cards for a while but it was the week-long consumer binge which pushed Mo Wilde into beginning her year of eating only wild food.  The end of November, particularly in Central Scotland was perhaps not the best time to start, in a world where the normal sores had been exacerbated by climate change, Brexit and a pandemicWilde had a few advantages: the area around her was a known habitat with a variety of terrainsShe had electricity which allowed her to run a fridge, freezer and dehydrator.  She had a car - and fuelMost importantly, she had shelter: this was not a plan to ''live'' wild just to live off its produce.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340994533</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Bjorn Natthiko Lindeblad, Caroline Bankeler, Navid Modiiri and  Agnes Bromme (Translator)
|author=Richard Mabey
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|title=I May Be Wrong
|title=Wild Cooking
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|rating=5
|rating=4
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|genre= Autobiography
|genre=Cookery
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|summary= When the Dalai Lama adds his words to your frontispiece, I'm inclined to think it doesn't really matter how the rest of the world responds to your book. I know, having read the book in question, that Lindeblad would disagree with that thought.  He knows (and at core so do I) that it matters very much how the rest of the world responds to this book, because it tells the truth as it is, in the early 21st century.
|summary=It's become fashionable now to make do, to cut back - even for those who have no need to do so. Conspicuous consumption is frowned upon and thriftiness is the new black, so ''Wild Cooking'', previously published in hardback as ''The New English Cassoulet'' is going to appeal to the mood of the moment with its approach of 'busking in the kitchen' and making do. Some of it might seem a little extreme – I really can't imagine that I will ever slow cook a Peking Duck in front of a fan heater simply because it might as well cook the food whilst it's heating the room – but I love the idea of using a glut to make broad bean hummus, or even of gathering up vegetables which have been left when the field has been harvested.
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|isbn=1526644827
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099522969</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1732898731
|author=Deirdre Bounds
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|title=The Boy Who Loved Boxes: A Children's Book for Adults
|title=Fulfilled: A Personal Revolution in Seven Steps
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|author=Michael Albanese
|rating=4
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|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=Dierdre Bounds' life was at rock bottom when she was introduced to the Twelve Step Plan used by Alcoholics Anonymous and within a matter of years she had built an internet business into an award-winning organisation and sold it to a FTSE 100 companyShe's adapted the twelve steps to produce her personal revolution in seven steps.
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|summary=There was a Boy who loved boxes.  He had a box for everything and he was meticulous about storage: his parents probably couldn't believe their luck!  It began with art supplies, stuffed toys and the like: all the things which most children have in abundanceThe Boy's delight was in the sense of order in his room: it made him feel happy.  As he grew up and became a Man, his life became more complicated and he dealt with this by getting bigger and better boxes.  Look carefully at the pictures and you'll see that one of them has a padlock...
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0273725521</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1846276772
|author=Elizabeth Ford and Daniela Drake
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|title=The End of Bias: How We Change Our Minds
|title=Smart Girls Marry Money
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|author=Jessica Nordell
|rating=3.5
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|rating=4.5
|genre=Lifestyle
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|genre=Politics and Society
|summary=If your friend told you that she'd fallen for a gorgeous man – they were deeply in love and getting married as soon as possible – the probability is that you'd be delighted for herOn the other hand if she said that she'd met a man whom she thought was the best she was likely to meet and on the basis that he was wealthy she was planning to marry him, what would you think? Does the word ''gold-digger'' spring to mind?  Are you horrified?  Well, think again as it just might be that the second solution could be the one that leaves your friend in the best position.
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|summary=Anyone who is not an able, white man understands bias in that they may no longer even recognise the extent to which they suffer from it: it's simply a part of everyday life.  White men will always come firstThe able will come before the disabled.  Jobs, promotions, higher salaries are the preserve of the white man. Even when those who wouldn't pass the medical become a part of an organisation it's rare that their views are heard, that their concerns are acknowledged.  It's personally appalling and degrading for the individuals on the receiving end of the bias but it's not just the individuals who are negatively impacted.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0762435178</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
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|author=Erling Kagge
 +
|title=Walking: One Step At A Time
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|rating=5
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|genre= Lifestyle
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|summary= Those who have read my reviews before will know that how much I loved a book is evidenced by the number of pages with corners turned, so let me start this one with an apology to the Norfolk Library Service: sorry! I forgot it was your book not mine. In my defence, I will say that as a reader of this type of book there is something connective about noting where prior readers were inspired (provided it is subtle – I'll allow creased corners, but not scribbles – for the latter we must buy our own copy – which I am about to do as soon as I have finished telling you why).
  
{{newreview
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Erligg Kagge is a Norwegian explorer who has walked to the South Pole, the North Pole and the summit of Everest. He knows a thing or two about walking. However, this isn't a travelogue about any of those epic journeys, it is instead a thoughtful exploration of what it means to walk. It is a plenitude of unnumbered essays about walking. There is no 'contents' page and I haven't counted. In small format paperback, each essay is only a few pages long. Perhaps then, better thought of as a meditation rather than an essay.
|author=Tracey Whitmore
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|isbn=0241357705
|title=How to Write an Impressive CV and Cover Letter: A Comprehensive Guide for the UK Job Seeker
 
|rating=1.5
 
|genre=Business and Finance
 
|summary=Back home in the UK after a stint abroad, and job hunting for the first time in years, this book is a rather timely addition to my shelves. Having spent the last year and a bit teaching English, I also like to think I know a little about grammar and general language use. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the author of this book, and while it's all very well advising readers that ''first impressions really do count'', this carries less weight than it should when you notice the dubious grammar in the first line of the introduction, and in virtually every chapter which follows.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1845283651</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Richard Brook
|author=Jane Haynes
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|title=Understanding Human Nature: A User's Guide to Life
|title=Who Is It That Can Tell Me Who I Am?
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=This is a remarkable bookIt gives an insight into the process of psychotherapy, both from the theoretical point of view and, more significantly, from actual conversations and sessions in the consulting room. Jane Haynes takes us through her own development as a client (although she doesn't like that word) in her own self-discovery and therapy sessions, and then into some of her consulting sessions after she qualifies as a therapist.  I've always thought of this kind of thing as very American, but this book is entirely British.
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|summary= I am a firm believer that sometimes we choose books, and sometimes books choose usIn my case, this is one of the latter. Not so very long ago, if I had come across this book I'd have skimmed it, found some of it interesting, but it would not have 'hit home' in the way that it does now.   I believe it came to me not just because I was likely to give it a favourable review [ ''full disclosure The Bookbag's u.s.p. is that people chose their own books rather than getting them randomly, so there is a predisposition towards expecting to like the book, even if it doesn't always turn out that way'' ] – but also because it is a book I needed to read, right now.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1845299728</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1800461682
 
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=0753558378
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|title=Effortless: Make It Easier to Do What Matters
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|author=Greg McKeown
 +
|rating=4.5
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|genre=Lifestyle
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|summary=''The marginal return of working harder was, in fact, negative.''
  
{{newreview
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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.''
|author=Denise Cullington
 
|title=Breaking Up Blues
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|summary=Whether you're married or single, the dumpeé or the dumper, at one time or another, we've all had to deal with the trials and tribulations of the dreaded break up. Whether you're thinking of leaving, have just ended a relationship, or are still trying to recover from the one that got away, Denise Cullington's ''Breaking Up Blues'' is a self-help guide to coping with the bitterness and rage, emotional emptiness and endless depression that can come along with it.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0415455472</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1523092734
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|title=A Women's Guide to Claiming Space
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|author=Eliza Van Cort
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|rating=5
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|genre=Politics and Society
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|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)
  
{{newreview
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''To claim space is to live the life of choosing unapologetically and bravely.  It is to live the life you've always wanted.''
|author=Ian Sanders
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|title=Juggle! Rethink Work, Reclaim your Life
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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.
|rating=2.5
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1529109116
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|title=Call Me Red: A Shepherd's Journey
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|author=Hannah Jackson
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|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=''Juggle!'' - says the title - ''Rethink work, reclaim your life''. Wonderful - it seems like just the right book for someone like me: having a decent 9-to-5 job, but still wondering whether it is the best possible place to be. Aren't we all told in school we have hidden talents and one could achieve brilliance if only one used them?
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|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.''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1906465371</amazonuk>
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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.
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1786495902
|author=Victoria Moore
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|title=The Natural Health Service: How Nature Can Mend Your Mind
|title=How to Drink
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|author=Isabel Hardman
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=A friend who saw me reading this book was moved to ask if I really needed the advice and was quite surprised when I explained that it was about the whole range of liquid intake from the humble glass of warm water (try it – it's wonderful first thing in the morning) to rare spirits costing hundreds of pounds a bottle.  It's completely unpreachy with not a word about how much liquid you should be taking in each day to how few units you should be consuming each week. It's about getting the best (which isn't always the most expensive) and enjoying it – and most importantly, enjoying a drink when that's the drink you want.
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|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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847080200</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Lauren Martin
|author=Judy Heminsley
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|title=The Book of Moods
|title=Work From Home
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|rating=5
|rating=4
 
|genre=Business and Finance
 
|summary=Judy Heminsley has worked from home both as en employee and running her own businesses. She is now a professional advisor to homeworkers and ''Work From Home'' distils her experience into a practical guide for all who are considering work from home.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184528335X</amazonuk>
 
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{{newreview
 
|author=Ruth Binney
 
|title=The Allotment Experience
 
|rating=4
 
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=There have been allotment gardens in the UK and other European countries since the late 18th century, with numbers in the UK reaching a peak of 1.5 million plots around the time of World War I and nearly the same number during World War II. Numbers then fell, reaching 600,000 by the late 1960s. Increased interest in green issues from the 1970s only slowed the decline, and by 1997 the number of plots in use was around 265,000. More recently, there has been a resurgence of interest as the notion of food miles and "slow food" has come to the fore, let alone the rising costs of food. In 2008, The Guardian reported that 330,000 people held an allotment, whilst 100,000 were on waiting lists. My interest in this book stems from the fact that we are already keen back (and front) garden vegetable growers and are shortly to join an allotment waiting list ourselves.
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|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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1905862261</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1538733625
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=0008420386
|author=Paul Peacock
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|title=Failosophy: A handbook for when things go wrong
|title=Patio Produce
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|author=Elizabeth Day
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=It's surprising how many people dismiss the idea of growing at least some of their own fruit and vegetables in the mistaken belief that they'll need to have an allotment or at the very least a sizeable vegetable patch of the type which is simply not possible in many modern gardens or because they're living in a city rather than a villagePaul Peacock sets out to prove that this needn't be the case – with the proof of this particular pudding being the fact that he lives in Manchester.
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|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 afterwardsYou'll find the results of these discussions in ''Failosophy''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1905862288</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1504321383
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|title=Single, Again, and Again, and Again
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|author=Louisa Pateman
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|rating=4.5
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|genre=Autobiography
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|summary=''You can't be happy and fulfilled on your own.  You are not complete until you find a man''.
  
{{newreview
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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''.
|author=Lynda Gratton
 
|title=Glow: How You Can Radiate Energy, Innovation and Success
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Business and Finance
 
|summary=Have you ever read a self-help book and found that simply reading the first chapter tells you all you need to know about any wisdom contained therein? Well, fortunately with ''Glow'' by Lynda Gratton – that's not the case. While its essential principles are neatly summarised in the first chapter, the remaining chapters, packed with pleasantly jargon-free examples, are well worth reading for anyone interested in improving their working life, forming empowering networks and thinking creatively.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0273723871</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1538731738
|author=Kate Brian
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|title=Simple Abundance: 365 Days to a Balanced and Joyful Life
|title=The Complete Guide to IVF
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|author= Sarah Ban Breathnach
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=Each year some forty thousand cycles of IVF – in vitro fertilisation – are carried out in the UK and something like a million worldwide. About two hundred thousand IVF babies are born annually with some twelve thousand of those in the UK according to a recent article I read on a BBC siteFertility expert Kate Brian has followed her [[The Complete Guide to Female Fertility by Kate Brian|Complete Guide to Female Fertility]], which we loved, with another indispensable guide – this time to IVF.
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|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 thingsIn 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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0749909706</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Sharon Blackie
|author=Ali Valenzuela
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|title=If Women Rose Rooted
|title=Weighing It Up
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|rating=5
|rating=3
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|genre= Biography
|genre=Lifestyle
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|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.
|summary=Although never having had an eating disorder myself, I have been interested in them since I was young. I was a competitive gymnast and that is a world where eating disorders do creep in. Now I'm a mother of three teenage daughters, I worry about the subject from a whole new angle, especially as one of them is a size 6-8 and idolises those super-skinny celebrities.
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|isbn=1912836017
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340988401</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1543987877
|author=Anna Paterson
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|title=Learn to Love: Guide to Healing Your Disappointing Love Life
|title=Anorexic
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|author=Dr Thomas Jordan
|rating=4
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|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=It might seem strange and somewhat ironic that an obese woman is reviewing a book on anorexia. But it is a topic I have always found interesting. Despite my being at the opposite end of the weight scale to Anna Paterson, I could empathise with some of the things she felt.
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|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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0952921529</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Michael Harris
|author=Mark Gungor
+
|title=Solitude: In Pursuit of a Singular Life in a Crowded World
|title=Laugh Your Way to a Better Marriage
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|rating=5
|rating=4
 
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=This book is based upon Mark Gungor's highly successful seminar, Laugh Your Way To A Better Marriage. However, it is best to get one thing straight to begin with: Mark is a very funny guy, but, as he admits, this book is not at all about laughing your way to a better marriage. It encourages laughter, and he has a good time laughing about various issues, but if you thought this was going to be a philosophy based upon laughter, then you've been a little misled by the title.
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|summary= This is not the book I was expecting it to be. For some reason I expected it to be another self-help manual on how to find calm, how to step outside the mainstream, but it is not that at all.  Instead of telling us how, it is more about the ''why''.  Harries examines how we're eroding solitude, which used to be a natural part of our human life, and why that matters.   Of course he talks about how some people have found solitude and what has come of that, and eventually in the final chapter he talks about his own experience of having deliberately sought it out, but mostly he wanders down the alleys and by-ways that his thinking about this lost art led him.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1416536051</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1847947662
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=0753553236
|author=Rosalind Penfold
+
|title=Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything
|title=Dragonslippers: This is What an Abusive Relationship Looks Like
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|author=B J Fogg
|rating=5
 
|genre=Graphic Novels
 
|summary=So, a five star book where we can predict the entire plot, and at times foretell just what people in it say.  It's a damning indictment of things that that is even possible.
 
 
 
This book lives by its subtitle – ''this is what an abusive relationship looks like''.  Rosalind meets a man who seems nigh-on perfect – they seem to fall in love with ease, and she gets on very well with his four children from an earlier marriage.  Then odd occurrences start to happen – he declares her work getting in his way, he possibly drinks a bit too much, he sees flirting in her shop-talk with other men.  And things escalate and escalate, and – you know every stage.  She suffers a guilt trip, before suffering physical violence, discovering affairs, getting back with him, then finding the right kind of help.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007216882</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Sally Brampton
 
|title=Shoot the Damn Dog
 
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=There's a stigma attached to mental illness. If you have cancer you can tell the world about it and expect its sympathyIf you have depression it's seen as a character flaw and one about which you had best keep quiet, pull yourself together and get on with things the way that normal people have toAnd it's this cloak of shame and secrecy which has the dual effect of pushing people further into depression and dissuading them from seeking the help which they so desperately needSally Brampton has set out to blast away this stigma by telling her own story.
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|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 peopleOther 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 conceptsI constantly fail and then I get cross with myself for failingLack of willpower is another burden to add to the list.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0747572453</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1785785516
|author=Glenn Harrold
+
|title=Fucking Good Manners
|title=Look Young, Live Longer: The Secret to Changing Your Life and Slowing the Ageing Process
+
|author=Simon Griffin
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Home and Family
+
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=I was really intrigued by the title of therapist Glenn Harrold's book ''Look Young and Live Longer''. Could it be possible that a book could deliver on such a huge promise? Having been feeling more than a little jaded lately, I was willing to give it a try.
+
|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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>075288610X</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=1999811402
|author=Kate Brian
+
|title=Painting Snails
|title=The Complete Guide to Female Fertility
+
|author=Stephen John Hartley
|rating=5
 
|genre=Home and Family
 
|summary=It's tempting to say that every woman over the age of puberty should have access to Kate Brian's 'The Complete Guide to Female Fertility'.  The truth is that they should all have their own copies and they should read the book until it's dog-eared and falling apart, because I really can't think of a better way to understand why some women are more fertile than others or some women have difficulty in conceiving.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0749927925</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Tania Glyde
 
|title=Cleaning Up: How I Gave Up Drinking And Lived
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Autobiography
 
|genre=Autobiography
|summary=I suspect that I'm like a lot of people who enjoy alcohol on a regular basis: there's a nagging guilt and suspicion that you might have a problem.  Equally, there's St Augustine's approach to a sin: you're determined to do something about it, but not just yet.  So, when ''Cleaning Up: How I Gave Up Drinking And Lived'' dropped through the letterbox on Saturday morning I wondered if this was a message from a higher authority.
+
|summary=It's very difficult to classify ''Painting Snails'': 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 get advice on what to plant when and where for the best results. 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 busker, finally got into medical school and is now an A&E consultant (part-time). 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 the book's aboutThere's a lot about rock & roll, which seems to be the real passion of Hartley's life, but it didn't actually fit into the entertainment genre eitherDid we have a category for 'doing the impossible the hard way'?  Yep - that's the one.  It's an autobiography.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846686555</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Marisa Peer
 
|title=You Can Be Thin: The Ultimate Programme to End Dieting... Forever
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Home and Family
 
|summary=After having my baby just over two years ago, I have found it quite hard to shed the weight which seemed to be sticking around. I used to be quite thin before having him, so to suddenly go up a dress size was a bit of a shock. I'm quite a petite person so even just a few extra pounds shows unfortunately. I decided I had to get rid of the weight, and so I turned to this book sent to me by The Bookbag.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847441394</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Elise Lindsay
 
|title=How to Get a Celeb's Body: Discover the Secrets of the Stars with Your Own Personal Trainer
 
|rating=2
 
|genre=Home and Family
 
|summary=I do not know Elise Lindsay - neither by name or reputation. I am optimistic and therefore think she must be a great coach. A hundred plus pages with pictures show her posing very confidently in flattering sport outfits and she does seem quite fit. I am sure she can motivate her clients and make them do their best. Quite frankly though, I do not believe that should in any way have motivated anyone to write a book.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0718153375</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Nicole Klieff
 
|title=Baby Next Time
 
|rating=3
 
|genre=Home and Family
 
|summary=Nicole Klieff grew up with the same knowledge that most women hope to haveThey'll enjoy themselves, eventually meet Mister Right, settle down and have a family.  Well, most of it went according to plan – it was just that bit about having a family which seemed somewhat elusiveAfter a period of trying for a baby in the normal way Nicole and her husband Barry sought help from the medical profession and began the fertility treatments which were to dominate their lives for years to come.  It wouldn't do their bank balance much good either.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1434395138</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
  
{{newreview
+
Move on to [[Newest Literary Fiction Reviews]]
|author=Ursula James
 
|title=You Can Be Amazing: Transform Your Life with Hypnosis
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Home and Family
 
|summary=Ursula James is a hypnotherapist who has written this book to help you to instigate changes in your life, whatever they may be – career, relationships, your physical self. It is accompanied by a CD of hypnotic suggestions which reinforce the messages and exercises in the book.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846051975</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Ursula James
 
|title=You Can Think Yourself Thin
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Home and Family
 
|summary=I wanted to read this book because I have always struggled with my weight since having my two children. Although more traditional diets have worked for me in the short term I never seem to be able to maintain the weight loss so I was fast reaching the conclusion that I needed to work on my mind as well as my body. Ursula James' book ''You Can Think Yourself Thin'' came along at just the right time for me and I have been absolutely astounded by the effects of reading this book and listening to the hypnosis tracks. I had never tried anything like this before and was even alittle skeptical but not any more!
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846051983</amazonuk>
 
}}
 

Latest revision as of 09:32, 12 December 2023

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Review of

Sugarless by Nicole M Avena

5star.jpg Lifestyle

This isn't a diet book. The last thing anyone needs is another diet book.

There was a time, not that long ago, when it was thought that sugary food was better for you than food with high-fat content. Fat was the demon food which was going to elevate your cholesterol and cause heart disease. Sugar was a carbohydrate, so good. There's a problem, though. Sugar is addictive and can hijack your brain in much the same way as drugs like heroin and cocaine. Does that sound over the top? Well, it isn't. Full Review

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Review of

The Lavender Companion by Jessica Dunham and Terry Barlin Vesci

4.5star.jpg Lifestyle

It's strange, the things that make you immediately feel that this is the book for you. Before I started reading The Lavender Companion, I visited the author's website and there's a picture of a slice of chocolate cake on the homepage. I don't eat cakes and desserts - but I wanted that cake viscerally. (There's a recipe in the book, which I'm avoiding with some difficulty!!) Then I started reading the book and I was told to make a mess of it. Notes in the margins are sanctioned. You get to fold down the corners of pages. You suspect that smears of butter would not be a problem. I loved this book already. Full Review

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Review of

Verdura: Living a Garden Life by Perla Sofia Curbelo-Santiago

3.5star.jpg Lifestyle

The most important part of a garden is the one who enjoys it.

I've 'gardened' in a vague, indefinite sort of way for more than half a century. I know (most of) the basics but life has changed and I needed 'projects' rather than a general commitment to gardening. Verdura with its promise of projects for both indoors and outdoors of varying complexity seemed like the answer. So, how did it stack up? Full Review

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Review of

This One Wild and Precious Life: the path back to connection in a fractured world by Sarah Wilson

3.5star.jpg Lifestyle

My favourite Mary Oliver line is the one in which she asks What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? I get to love that line so much because my answer is This! Precisely this. I'm lucky enough to be living my one wild and precious life the way I want to. Sarah Wilson is equally lucky. In her book that takes Oliver's words as her title (though I can't see that she acknowledges the source) she pushes us to think about whether we really are living the life we want – the best life that we could be living. Her answer is an unequivocal no, we are not. Don't care what you're doing, she thinks you (we, I) could be doing more…And she's effing furious about the fact that we are not. Full Review

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Review of

Recycling for Dummies by Sarah Winkler

5star.jpg Lifestyle

Recycling one ton of plastic can save up to 16.3 barrels of oil.

Recycling one ton of paper can save 17 trees from being cut down.

If you send an apple core to landfill, it will take between 6 months and 2 years to decompose. A glass bottle will take up to 1 million years.

As a just-post-WWII baby, I faced a dilemma: reducing, reusing and recycling is part of my DNA. NEVER throw away anything that might possibly come in handy now or in the future. NEVER buy anything if you can cobble together something that would serve the purpose. Almost everything can be used one more time and any purchase must pass the test of 'Is this absolutely essential?' On the other hand, I suspected I was guilty of wishcycling: assuming that something must be recyclable (toothpaste tubes - I'm looking at you) and dropping it in the kerbside bin. Yes, I could go searching on the internet - and get conflicting advice - but what I needed was a recycling bible.s Full Review

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Review of

The First-Time Gardener: Container Food Gardening by Pamela Farley

5star.jpg Home and Family

If you've ever thought how good it would be to be able to pop out into the garden and pick some fruit and vegetables for a meal – but realised that you wouldn't know where to start, this is the book you need. It's comprehensive: you'll cover everything from why you should grow your own food, what you're going to grow, what you'll grow it in (both containers and soil), where you'll put these containers, how you'll water and fertilise them and you finish the main part of the book with a handy section on troubleshooting. There's also a good glossary. So, is it any good? Full Review

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Review of

The Wilderness Cure by Mo Wilde

5star.jpg Lifestyle

It had been on the cards for a while but it was the week-long consumer binge which pushed Mo Wilde into beginning her year of eating only wild food. The end of November, particularly in Central Scotland was perhaps not the best time to start, in a world where the normal sores had been exacerbated by climate change, Brexit and a pandemic. Wilde had a few advantages: the area around her was a known habitat with a variety of terrains. She had electricity which allowed her to run a fridge, freezer and dehydrator. She had a car - and fuel. Most importantly, she had shelter: this was not a plan to live wild just to live off its produce. Full Review

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Review of

I May Be Wrong by Bjorn Natthiko Lindeblad, Caroline Bankeler, Navid Modiiri and Agnes Bromme (Translator)

5star.jpg Autobiography

When the Dalai Lama adds his words to your frontispiece, I'm inclined to think it doesn't really matter how the rest of the world responds to your book. I know, having read the book in question, that Lindeblad would disagree with that thought. He knows (and at core so do I) that it matters very much how the rest of the world responds to this book, because it tells the truth as it is, in the early 21st century. Full Review

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Review of

The Boy Who Loved Boxes: A Children's Book for Adults by Michael Albanese

4.5star.jpg Lifestyle

There was a Boy who loved boxes. He had a box for everything and he was meticulous about storage: his parents probably couldn't believe their luck! It began with art supplies, stuffed toys and the like: all the things which most children have in abundance. The Boy's delight was in the sense of order in his room: it made him feel happy. As he grew up and became a Man, his life became more complicated and he dealt with this by getting bigger and better boxes. Look carefully at the pictures and you'll see that one of them has a padlock... Full Review

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Review of

The End of Bias: How We Change Our Minds by Jessica Nordell

4.5star.jpg Politics and Society

Anyone who is not an able, white man understands bias in that they may no longer even recognise the extent to which they suffer from it: it's simply a part of everyday life. White men will always come first. The able will come before the disabled. Jobs, promotions, higher salaries are the preserve of the white man. Even when those who wouldn't pass the medical become a part of an organisation it's rare that their views are heard, that their concerns are acknowledged. It's personally appalling and degrading for the individuals on the receiving end of the bias but it's not just the individuals who are negatively impacted. Full Review

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Review of

Walking: One Step At A Time by Erling Kagge

5star.jpg Lifestyle

Those who have read my reviews before will know that how much I loved a book is evidenced by the number of pages with corners turned, so let me start this one with an apology to the Norfolk Library Service: sorry! I forgot it was your book not mine. In my defence, I will say that as a reader of this type of book there is something connective about noting where prior readers were inspired (provided it is subtle – I'll allow creased corners, but not scribbles – for the latter we must buy our own copy – which I am about to do as soon as I have finished telling you why).

Erligg Kagge is a Norwegian explorer who has walked to the South Pole, the North Pole and the summit of Everest. He knows a thing or two about walking. However, this isn't a travelogue about any of those epic journeys, it is instead a thoughtful exploration of what it means to walk. It is a plenitude of unnumbered essays about walking. There is no 'contents' page and I haven't counted. In small format paperback, each essay is only a few pages long. Perhaps then, better thought of as a meditation rather than an essay. Full Review

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Review of

Understanding Human Nature: A User's Guide to Life by Richard Brook

4.5star.jpg Lifestyle

I am a firm believer that sometimes we choose books, and sometimes books choose us. In my case, this is one of the latter. Not so very long ago, if I had come across this book I'd have skimmed it, found some of it interesting, but it would not have 'hit home' in the way that it does now. I believe it came to me not just because I was likely to give it a favourable review [ full disclosure The Bookbag's u.s.p. is that people chose their own books rather than getting them randomly, so there is a predisposition towards expecting to like the book, even if it doesn't always turn out that way ] – but also because it is a book I needed to read, right now. Full Review

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Review of

Effortless: Make It Easier to Do What Matters by Greg McKeown

4.5star.jpg Lifestyle

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. Full Review

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Review of

A Women's Guide to Claiming Space by Eliza Van Cort

5star.jpg Politics and Society

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. Full Review

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Review of

Call Me Red: A Shepherd's Journey by Hannah Jackson

4.5star.jpg Lifestyle

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. Full Review

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Review of

The Natural Health Service: How Nature Can Mend Your Mind by Isabel Hardman

5star.jpg Lifestyle

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. Full Review

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Review of

The Book of Moods by Lauren Martin

5star.jpg Lifestyle

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. Full Review

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Review of

Failosophy: A handbook for when things go wrong by Elizabeth Day

4star.jpg Lifestyle

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 Full Review

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Review of

Single, Again, and Again, and Again by Louisa Pateman

4.5star.jpg Autobiography

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. Full Review

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Review of

Simple Abundance: 365 Days to a Balanced and Joyful Life by Sarah Ban Breathnach

5star.jpg Lifestyle

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. Full Review

1912836017.jpg

Review of

If Women Rose Rooted by Sharon Blackie

5star.jpg Biography

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. Full Review

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Review of

Learn to Love: Guide to Healing Your Disappointing Love Life by Dr Thomas Jordan

4.5star.jpg Lifestyle

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. Full Review

1847947662.jpg

Review of

Solitude: In Pursuit of a Singular Life in a Crowded World by Michael Harris

5star.jpg Lifestyle

This is not the book I was expecting it to be. For some reason I expected it to be another self-help manual on how to find calm, how to step outside the mainstream, but it is not that at all. Instead of telling us how, it is more about the why. Harries examines how we're eroding solitude, which used to be a natural part of our human life, and why that matters. Of course he talks about how some people have found solitude and what has come of that, and eventually in the final chapter he talks about his own experience of having deliberately sought it out, but mostly he wanders down the alleys and by-ways that his thinking about this lost art led him. Full Review

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Review of

Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything by B J Fogg

5star.jpg Lifestyle

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. Full Review

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Review of

Fucking Good Manners by Simon Griffin

4star.jpg Lifestyle

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. Full Review

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Review of

Painting Snails by Stephen John Hartley

4.5star.jpg Autobiography

It's very difficult to classify Painting Snails: 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 get advice on what to plant when and where for the best results. 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 busker, finally got into medical school and is now an A&E consultant (part-time). 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 the book's about. There's a lot about rock & roll, which seems to be the real passion of Hartley's life, but it didn't actually fit into the entertainment genre either. Did we have a category for 'doing the impossible the hard way'? Yep - that's the one. It's an autobiography. Full Review

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