Difference between revisions of "Newest Lifestyle Reviews"

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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1454955546
|author=Rosie O'Hara
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|title=Sugarless
|title=No More Bingo Dresses: Using NLP to cope with breast cancer and other people
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|author=Nicole M Avena
|rating=2.5
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|rating=5
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=I'd love to meet Rosie O'Hara. She sounds like a full-on, earthy lady who has more than a few tales to tell about her life to date. Rosie is a professional neuro-linguistic programming trainer in the Highlands of Scotland, and has already published an NLP-based self-help book. At the beginning of 2009, a routine mammogram turned up 'a little breast cancer'. Rosie set out in her very direct and determined way to put the cancer in its rightful place as a challenge in her life rather than a defining disaster and this feisty diary is the result.
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|summary=''This isn't a diet book. The last thing anyone needs is another diet book.''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1908218347</amazonuk>
 
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{{newreview
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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 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, 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.
|author=Anthony T DeBenedet and Lawrence Cohen
 
|title=The Art of Roughhousing: Good Old Fashioned Horseplay and Why Every Kid Needs It
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Home and Family
 
|summary=Rather than running around outdoors, going for bike rides and building dens, lots of children nowadays end up spending hours watching TV or playing computer gamesPlay times in school are often very regimented and in some schools certain games like 'British Bulldog' and 'Leapfrog' and even 'Tag' have even been bannedChildren are discouraged from physical play, for fear that they will hurt themselves and also through the fear that those responsible for them will find themselves facing a lawsuit if someone does get hurt. This book aims to support the thinking that very physical play is good for children; that unless they face risks in their lives and learn to assess those risks, or experience a few bumps and bruises and learn to get up and carry on, then they will lack vital life skills for their future adult lives.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1594744874</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1635866847
|author=Sue Brayne
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|title=The Lavender Companion
|title=Sex, Meaning and the Menopause
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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=Things change as you get older. As men – and particularly women – approach their late forties and early fifties they expect that there will be physical changes, some more permanent than others, but they're frequently taken by surprise by the mental changes which occur. Women expect that the menopause will bring the end of menstruation (some looking at this more gratefully than others...) but fail to appreciate that they are moving into a different stage of their lifeLooked at positively this can be the most fulfilling period of woman's lifecycle – and I doubt that there's a husband who would object to that!
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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 problemI ''loved'' this book already.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0826423019</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=0760381267
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|title=Verdura: Living a Garden Life
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|author=Perla Sofia Curbelo-Santiago
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|rating=3.5
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|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 answer. So, how did it stack up?
|author=Diane Ackerman
 
|title=One Hundred Names For Love: A Stroke, a Marriage, and the Language of Healing
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|summary=Diane Ackerman's husband, Paul West, had been in hospital for three weeks with a kidney infection and was just rejoicing in the fact that he was to go home the next day. As Diane watched , Paul suffered a massive stroke. The effects were catastrophic, but worst of all, the man who had been a brilliant wordsmith was robbed of his power of speech and lost his extensive vocabulary. It's eight years since this happened and the intervening years have been a constant battle to improve Paul's speech and restore some joy to his life. There have been ups – and many downs – but despite a brain scan indicating that Paul might well be a vegetable he has since his stroke written books. His vocabulary will never be back to what it was, but it remains impressive and, strangely enough, many of the words which he finds easiest to use are those which he encountered a number of years ago.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>039307241X</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
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|author=Sarah Wilson
|author=Eleanor Birne
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|title=This One Wild and Precious Life: the path back to connection in a fractured world
|title=When Will I Sleep Through the Night? An A - Z of Babyhood
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|rating=3.5
|rating=4.5
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|genre= Lifestyle
|genre=Home and Family
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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 toSarah Wilson is equally luckyIn 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.
|summary=When it comes to parenting, I have discovered that a lot of people lieThey lie about sleep, about tantrums, about feeding and nappies and the effects of a screaming newborn on your marriageThere are books galore, and Mummy blogs, and tweeters all happily proclaiming how marvellous it all is, first of all being pregnant, then giving birth, and then raising the babyIt's all glowing skin and sunshine smiles and meeting friends for coffee.  I quickly stopped reading anything baby-related when I was pregnant because I was sick as a dog for 5 months, I had an awful labour and that first year with my little girl was almost impossibly difficult and totally consumed with the horror of a non-sleeping babyNow, four and a half years on from giving birth and (mostly) sleeping all night long I felt able to open up this latest baby book, mainly because the title roused such familiar feelings in me.
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|isbn=1785633848
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846684862</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1394159544
|author=Hugh Bowring
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|title=Recycling for Dummies
|title=Green Living Guide
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|author=Sarah Winkler
|rating=4.5
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|rating=5
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=The 'Green Living Guide' is a Magbook - so the format is like that of a magazine - and although it initially seems a little expensive for something that looks just like a magazine you quickly find, on opening, that it contains an enormous amount of interesting and useful information. Even already determined eco-warriors should find something of interest in this wide-ranging guide.
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|summary=''Recycling one ton of plastic can save up to 16.3 barrels of oil.''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1907232060</amazonuk>
 
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{{newreview
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''Recycling one ton of paper can save 17 trees from being cut down.''
|author=Arianne Cohen
 
|title=The Sex Diaries Project
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|summary=It's often said 'there's nowt so queer as folk'.  Surely this should be qualified as 'there's nowt so queer as folks' sex lives'.  Arianne Cohen has made a major online database of testimony from people about their thoughts regarding sex - having it, not having it, having it with whom they're with, having it with those whom they're not with.  And in every sense, the results can be exceedingly queer.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0091939356</amazonuk>
 
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{{newreview
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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.
|author=Vatsyayana
 
|title=Kama Sutra
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|summary=''Kama Sutra'', then... What could I possibly say to introduce it that you don't already know or think you know?
 
  
For all that Kama Sutra is, it's no longer a guide to the art of pleasure. It's a fascinating historical document, and undoubtedly influential, but it's very much of its time and of its society. Try to follow all its suggestions and at best you'd never get laid again; at worst, you'll be up on a rape charge within a week. (''After sending the nurse's daughter away, he takes the girl's maidenhead while she is alone, asleep and out of her senses...'')
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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
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846141095</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=0760378134
|author=Jane Shilling
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|title=The First-Time Gardener: Container Food Gardening
|title=The Stranger in the Mirror: A Memoir of Middle Age
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|author=Pamela Farley
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Autobiography
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|genre=Home and Family
|summary=Middle-aged women disappearThey are not see on television, their lives do not appear in newspapers, the legions of novels that are written each year rarely feature them. At least, that is what the author Jane Shilling believes as she wakes up aged 47 to find the narrative of her contemporaries and their lives which she has been reading about and living in parallel with since leaving university has vanished. She looks in the mirror and sees a face she does not recogniseEven with a punishing regime of early bed, no alcohol and litres of water, it refuses to regain its youthful bloom.  So she decides to take a magnifying glass to this particular moment in time, this journey between youth and old age.
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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 needIt'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 troubleshootingThere's also a good glossary.  So, is it any good?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0701181001</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1398508632
|author=Jacques Bonnet, James Salter and Sian Reynolds
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|title=The Wilderness Cure
|title=Phantoms on the Bookshelves
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|author=Mo Wilde
|rating=3.5
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|rating=5
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=Translated from French this beautifully presented little book takes the reader into homes boasting book collections, large and smallStudded with succinct and appropriate quotations such as 'there is no better reason for not reading a book than having it' by Anthony Burgess.
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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 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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1906694583</amazonuk>
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{{Frontpage
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|author=Bjorn Natthiko Lindeblad, Caroline Bankeler, Navid Modiiri and  Agnes Bromme (Translator)
 +
|title=I May Be Wrong
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|rating=5
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|genre= Autobiography
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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.
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|isbn=1526644827
 
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1732898731
|author=Sandy Donaghy
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|title=The Boy Who Loved Boxes: A Children's Book for Adults
|title=The Longest Journey: Nine Keys to Health, Wealth and Happiness
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|author=Michael Albanese
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=How many self-help books have you read where the ideas all seem very good, but they've not been tested in the fire, so to speak? The end result seems good, but you suspect that the starting point wasn't ''all'' that disadvantageous and more to the point, the cynic inside you wonders if the motivation for writing the book was financial gainHas it made you shy away from such books?  Now, I want you to drop the cynicism, because what we have here is a book that's written from the heart and not the wallet and the only motivation in writing it was to help peopleUnusual?  Yup; it is.
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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 happyAs 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>1425161065</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Roy Vickery
 
|title=Garlands, Conkers and Mother-Die: British and Irish Plant-Lore
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=History
 
|summary=For many centuries, plants have not only had practical uses as food, remedies, textiles and dyes, but have also symbolic and folkloric meaning in many different cultures. The term ''plant-lore'' has been coined to describe the profusion of the customs and beliefs associated with plants, and this book gathers together many of the plant-lore traditions of Britain and Ireland.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1441101950</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1846276772
|author=Cindy M Meston and David Buss
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|title=The End of Bias: How We Change Our Minds
|title=Why Women Have Sex: Understanding Sexual Motivation from Adventure to Revenge (and Everything in Between)
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|author=Jessica Nordell
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Popular Science
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|genre=Politics and Society
|summary=Many many years ago, a man who was far too young to be the fusty, dusty RE teacher he was shaping to be, asked my best friend and I why we were each having sex with our girlfriends.  Even aged fifteen I thought something along the lines of 'well, if he doesn't know by now, he never will', and listed that it was great fun, a very enjoyable sensation, showed an appetite for the relationship, and that sex proved the ultimate in bonding - how much closer, to be blunt, could you be to someone than actually inside them?  I'll come clean now and admit said girlfriend was not real, but several have been since, and I have had heaps of fun finding out how - and perhaps why - women have sex.  I was never to know, until now, there are 237 reasons for it.
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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 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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099546639</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
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|author=Erling Kagge
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|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=Karen Wilkin
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|isbn=0241357705
|title=Elegant Enigmas: The Art of Edward Gorey
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|summary=I'm all in favour of Edward Gorey becoming a bigger name, especially here in the UK, where his output is certainly less lauded than in his native USA. It's evident from the bright, glossy pages here that he was an extraordinary talent. Polymath and know-all in real life, in his ink drawings he can show the complexity of someone like Dore, while using his draughtsmanship to pen macabre whimsy, like an old-fashioned love-child of Mervyn Peake and Edward Lear.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0764948040</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
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|author=Richard Brook
|author=Barbara Warmsley
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|title=Understanding Human Nature: A User's Guide to Life
|title=Make, Mend, Bake, Save and Shine!
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|rating=4.5
|rating=4
 
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=A slim, slither of a book with a big title. ''Green'' is the mantra on most pages, as well as tips on how to waste less - whether it's food, clothes or water from the tap. This book has a universal message. How to waste less. There is a nice introduction by seventysomething Barbara Walmsley, aka the charity [http://www.oxfam.org.uk/ Oxfam's] ''Green Granny.'' Certainly catchy but will it catch on? When I was delving inside the first couple of pages looking for the writer's name (it's not on the front cover) I discovered the phrase ''Printed And Bound In China.'' Defeating the message?
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|summary= 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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846013674</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1800461682
 
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=0753558378
|author=Simon Dawson
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|title=Effortless: Make It Easier to Do What Matters
|title=The Self-Sufficiency Bible: Window Boxes to Smallholdings - Hundreds of Ways to Become Self-Sufficient
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|author=Greg McKeown
|rating=4
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|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=The recent financial crises have taken people by surprise and instead of trying to ride the problem out and then get back to our old, profligate ways we've looked at how we can live more sustainably and less expensively.  Thrift is the new black and many people are taking pride in not spending money. I might take issue with whether or not Simon Dawson's book should be called a ''bible'' which suggests a completeness which is doesn't seem to exhibit, but it's an excellent starting point for those wanting to become more self-sufficient.  It also has the recipe for a chocolate sponge which takes just five minutes to make – and that takes a lot of beating.
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|summary=''The marginal return of working harder was, in fact, negative.''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1906787689</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Evany Thomas
 
|title=The Secret Language of Sleep: A Couple's Guide to the Thirty-nine Positions
 
|rating=3
 
|genre=Home and Family
 
|summary=This volume takes the premise that the positions in which couples sleep together are an insight into their private mind.  Therefore, with the help of the line drawings of 39 (apparently all of THE 39) positions, one might see where one is going wrong.  It’s a chicken and egg situation where you might learn you’re with the wrong bed partner, and change either them or your nocturnal habits, or in order to change yourself alter things having reflected on the contents here – with the help as they suggest of a ceiling-mounted camcorder.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1932416471</amazonuk>
 
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{{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=Norah Vincent
 
|title=Voluntary Madness: My Year Lost and Found in the Loony Bin
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|summary=''Voluntary Madness'' is journalist Norah Vincent's account of her visits to three mental health facilities in America. The first is an urban, public hospital that houses mainly homeless, psychotic patients, many of whom are addicted to drugs. In this hospital, the doctors are overworked and jaded and medication is always the answer. Soon, the author finds that her latent depression (which led her to do the book in the first place) is returning. The process of being institutionalised breaks her sense of self-worth down astonishingly fast. Indeed, she suggests that it is the lack of autonomy in institutional life, even for those patients who voluntarily commit themselves, that makes it so hard for them to rebuild independent lives when they finally leave the institution.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099513439</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=Jean Hannah Edelstein
 
|title=Himglish and Femalese: Why Women Don't Get Why Men Don't Get Them
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|summary=Men aren't Martian and women don't hail from Venus. We're all Earthlings apparently; which seems like progress of a sort. Even so we still have trouble understanding each other because we speak different languages – Himglish and Femalese. Luckily Jean Hannah Edelstein is fluent in both and has written this light hearted volume to define the problem and translate.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848091729</amazonuk>
 
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{{newreview
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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 spaceIf 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.
|author=Jaki Scarcello
 
|title=Fifty and Fabulous: The Best Years of a Woman's Life
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|summary=When you open a package and find a bright pink book which proudly proclaims 'Fifty and Fabulous: the best years of a woman's life' you can be forgiven for wondering if this is going to be another of those books which recommends strenuous exercise regimes, strict diets and just a little nip and tuck under the chinPersonally, my heart sank because, er, well, I'm no longer fifty. Were my fabulous years behind me?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1906787603</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1529109116
|author=Keith Hern
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|title=Call Me Red: A Shepherd's Journey
|title=Bangers and Mash
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|author=Hannah Jackson
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Home and Family
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|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=Keith Hern found a small lump in his neck and when the results of the tests came through he tried to put the appointment off as he had something more pressing to do, but the doctor was insistent.  He knew then that he had cancer.  The lump in his neck was, in fact, a secondary tumour with the primary being in the back of his tongueBut for the secondary tumour the discovery of the primary might have been too late for successful treatment.  Keith takes us through the discovery of his cancer, his reactions to the diagnosis, his treatment and the titular meal of bangers and mash – the first solid food which he had attempted for some time.
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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 nationI don't think that is too much to ask.''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1904312772</amazonuk>
 
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{{newreview
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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.
|author=Susan Ostler
 
|title=Flirt Diva - For Women Who Want to be Bold and Sassy and have a Fabulous Life!
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|summary=There are lots of timetabled books on the market, that promise to transform everything from your employability to the size of your thighs in a certain number of weeks, if you commit to their programme, and this book is really just another one to add to the 'scheduled self-improvement' pile. Except we're not talking here about dropping a dress size in time for Christmas, or sailing through that oh-so-important interview to land the job of your dreams...for this book is a 6 week guide to ''Getting Loved Up'' that promises to put its participants (and as you'll learn, you're more than a mere reader with this title) on the fast track to romance. Gosh.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1904312799</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1786495902
|author=Mary Beard
+
|title=The Natural Health Service: How Nature Can Mend Your Mind
|title=It's A Don's Life
+
|author=Isabel Hardman
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=Professor Mary Beard, feisty Cambridge classics don, keeps an eye open for architectural detail wherever she goes. Even on holiday, she notices the changing urban landscape and records interesting parallels with ancient cities in her sparky blog. She is engaged in writing a detailed history of Pompeii and suddenly realises, whilst perambulating the backstreets of the Mexican city of Oaxacan, that this is exactly what Pompeii must have been like. She observes the low rise shops, dirt tracks across dusty streets and the close juxtaposition of rich and poor. Impressive portals of grand residential properties tower above humble workshops, and this prompts her into imaginative reconstruction. In her blog, from which this intriguing book is culled, she tells us about just how Oaxacan encourages her to ponder again the curious cart ruts of Pompeii. She even finds walls splashed with political slogans that are just like Roman ''dipinti''. Indeed, here in Mexico, the local library displays an edifying message in Spanish which originates in Cicero's speech in his Pro Archia, ''Science and letters are the nourishment of youth and the diversion of old age.''
+
|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>1846682517</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Lauren Martin
|author=Dr Aaron Carroll and Dr Rachel Vreeman
+
|title=The Book of Moods
|title=Don't Swallow Your Gum
 
 
|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 down. All noises come due to this brilliant book.
+
|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>0141043369</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=1538733625
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=0008420386
|author=Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez
+
|title=Failosophy: A handbook for when things go wrong
|title=Perfumes: The A - Z Guide
+
|author=Elizabeth Day
|rating=5
+
|rating=4
 
|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.
+
|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''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846681278</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=1504321383
|author=Jeremy Clarkson
+
|title=Single, Again, and Again, and Again
|title=Driven to Distraction
+
|author=Louisa Pateman
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Entertainment
+
|genre=Autobiography
|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 hilarious.  And 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 again.  Or not.  And what is in between is pure gold dust.
+
|summary=''You can't be happy and fulfilled on your own.  You are not complete until you find a man''.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0718155548</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
+
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 herIt 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 afterFew girls are lucky enough to be brought up ''without'' the expectation that they will marry and have childrenIt was a belief and it would be many years before Louisa would conclude that ''a belief is a choice''.
|author=Brian Johnson
 
|title=Rockers and Rollers: An Automotive Autobiography
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Autobiography
 
|summary=Brian Johnson will probably go down as one of the luckiest men in showbizHe 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.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0718155424</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=1538731738
|author=James May
+
|title=Simple Abundance: 365 Days to a Balanced and Joyful Life
|title=Car Fever: Dispatches From Behind The Wheel
+
|author= Sarah Ban Breathnach
|rating=4
+
|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 programme.  How times change. These 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.
+
|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>0340994533</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Sharon Blackie
|author=Richard Mabey
+
|title=If Women Rose Rooted
|title=Wild Cooking
+
|rating=5
|rating=4
+
|genre= Biography
|genre=Cookery
+
|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=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.
+
|isbn=1912836017
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099522969</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=1543987877
|author=Deirdre Bounds
+
|title=Learn to Love: Guide to Healing Your Disappointing Love Life
|title=Fulfilled: A Personal Revolution in Seven Steps
+
|author=Dr Thomas Jordan
|rating=4
+
|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.
+
|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 resignationFor people who are making the same mistakes repeatedly, self-preservation, in the form of resignation is a necessity.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0273725521</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Michael Harris
|author=Elizabeth Ford and Daniela Drake
+
|title=Solitude: In Pursuit of a Singular Life in a Crowded World
|title=Smart Girls Marry Money
+
|rating=5
|rating=3.5
 
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|genre=Lifestyle
|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 her. On 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.
+
|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>0762435178</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=1847947662
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=0753553236
|author=Tracey Whitmore
+
|title=Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything
|title=How to Write an Impressive CV and Cover Letter: A Comprehensive Guide for the UK Job Seeker
+
|author=B J Fogg
|rating=1.5
+
|rating=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>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Jane Haynes
 
|title=Who Is It That Can Tell Me Who I Am?
 
|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 roomJane 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 therapistI've always thought of this kind of thing as very American, but this book is entirely British.
+
|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>1845299728</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=1785785516
|author=Denise Cullington
+
|title=Fucking Good Manners
|title=Breaking Up Blues
+
|author=Simon Griffin
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|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.  
+
|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>0415455472</amazonuk>
+
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=1999811402
 +
|title=Painting Snails
 +
|author=Stephen John Hartley
 +
|rating=4.5
 +
|genre=Autobiography
 +
|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 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.
 
}}
 
}}
 +
 +
Move on to [[Newest Literary Fiction Reviews]]

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

1529109116.jpg

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Review of

If Women Rose Rooted by Sharon Blackie

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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

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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

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Review of

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

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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

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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

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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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