Difference between revisions of "Newest Lifestyle Reviews"

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{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Nick Weatherhogg
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|isbn=1454955546
|title=Living With Depression
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|title=Sugarless
|rating=4
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|author=Nicole M Avena
 +
|rating=5
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=Nick Weatherhogg has been diagnosed as suffering from severe depression.  Many of you will be nodding wisely and thinking that you know how he feels: but there are two points he wants to make here.  You ''don't'' know how he feelsThis is ''his'' depression and only he knows what it feels like - if he's able to think or express how he's feelingThe other point is that there's a big difference between ''feeling'' depressed and ''being'' depressed - ''fepression'' and ''bepression'' as he terms themHe's right: I've been there. My feelings, my experience will have been different, but I do know that it was hellish.  He describes the experience as ''a mental state in which your brain regularly and consistently lies to you.''
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|summary=''This isn't a diet bookThe last thing anyone needs is another diet book.''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1524663662</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 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.
 
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{{newreview<!-- remove 12/1 -->
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{{Frontpage
|author=Jo Bird
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|isbn=1635866847
|title=Web to Success
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|title=The Lavender Companion
 +
|author=Jessica Dunham and Terry Barlin Vesci
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=[[:Category:Jo Bird|Jo Bird]] (illustrator, designer and… errr.. .wall tattooist) had a lightbulb moment about positive thinking, self-improvement and success.  The road to an improved self isn't linear in a 'change this thing and all will be fine' way; it's a web that connects and intersects several paths and subjects that can be summarised under three headingsAll successful people (socially as much as professionally) know about self-awareness, personal development and emotional awarenessAfter having a shot at principles of self-improvement herself, Jo shares the fruit of her experience across a wealth of fields to make one heck of a self-help book.
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|summary=It's strange, the things that make you ''immediately'' feel that this is the book for youBefore 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 sanctionedYou 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>152466622X</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
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{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Mary Ellen Guiney
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|isbn=0760381267
|title=Vietnamese Voices
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|title=Verdura: Living a Garden Life
 +
|author=Perla Sofia Curbelo-Santiago
 
|rating=3.5
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=Mary Ellen Guiney has been diagnosed at various times with schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder.  The resulting treatment of choice is the conventional western medicine approach and drug regimens that brought with them unpleasant side-effects. Determined to find a better way of symptom control, using her biochemical background, Mary Ellen begins to investigate alternative eastern medicine and therapies in addition to looking at the effect of nutrition and exerciseThe results are here: this is Mary Ellen's story written in her own words.
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|summary=''The most important part of a garden is the one who enjoys it''.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1524663123</amazonuk>
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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?
 
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{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Patrick Mbaya
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|author=Sarah Wilson
|title= My Brain Is Out Of Control
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|title=This One Wild and Precious Life: the path back to connection in a fractured world
|rating= 4
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|rating=3.5
|genre= Home and Family
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|genre= Lifestyle
|summary=Dr Patrick Mbaya was enjoying life as a consultant psychiatrist, husband and father. His career was going well and he enjoyed making ill people better. His marriage was solid and fulfilling and his two children were exploring their potential, often through the uplifting power of music. Life was good. But then...
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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>1524636649</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1785633848
 
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{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Jonathan S Lee
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|isbn=1394159544
|title=Lean Gains
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|title=Recycling for Dummies
|rating=4
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|author=Sarah Winkler
|genre=Sport
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|rating=5
|summary=I don't often begin a book by telling you what it ''isn't'' but in this case I think it's important.  If you're a fairly sedentary person or a casual sportsman or woman looking to shed a few pounds then you won't get the best out of this book.  You'll find some good advice about diet, but I'm afraid that much of it is going to go over your headOf course you could always take up a sport seriously...  On the other hand, if you ''are'' a serious sportsman then you could find that the advice in ''Lean Gains'' could lift you up to the next level of performance.
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|genre=Lifestyle
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>152463493X</amazonuk>
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|summary=''Recycling one ton of plastic can save up to 16.3 barrels of oil.''
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 +
''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 decomposeA glass bottle will take up to 1 million years.
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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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{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Laura Slater
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|isbn=0760378134
|title=Hollywood Beauty: Vintage Secrets
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|title=The First-Time Gardener: Container Food Gardening
|rating=4
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|author=Pamela Farley
|genre=Lifestyle
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|rating=5
|summary=I have vivid memories from my youth of seeing the Hollywood beauties on the television or at the cinema and wishing that ''I'' could look like that and - of course, no matter how I tried, I never couldThe look of Marilyn Monroe, Rita Hayworth, Audrey Hepburn, Brigitte Bardot, Ava Gardner and Sofia Loren always eluded me.  To begin with, I lacked knowledge.  Despite being reasonably petite my oblong face was never going to look anything like Audrey Hepburn's.  I lacked quite a few of Brigitte Bardot's attributes too.  Gradually, I realised that developing my own style was the best way to go, but I'll confess that there are still ''elements'' of the stars' looks which I'd love to copyThat's where ''Vintage Secrets: Hollywood Beauty'' comes in.
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|genre=Home and Family
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0859655083</amazonuk>
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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?
 
}}
 
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{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Yuchi Yang
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|isbn=1398508632
|title=A Food Guide to Lowering Blood Pressure: 6 Simple Steps
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|title=The Wilderness Cure
|rating=4
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|author=Mo Wilde
 +
|rating=5
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=Yuchi Yang has been a registered dietitian for over twenty years and she's allowing us the benefit of her knowledge to help us to reduce our blood pressure ''without'' taking medication, although she does stress that if you ''are'' taking medication you shouldn't stop doing so without consulting your doctorYou can reduce your BP in six steps, which are actually a lot simpler than they soundDoes it work? Yes, it does: I've been eating this way for more than two years and I've gone from having 'very worrying' blood pressure readings to getting a smile when they're taken and being told that my BP is perfectly normal - and that's without taking medication of any sort.
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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 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 dehydratorShe 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>1539803422</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Michael Long
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|author=Bjorn Natthiko Lindeblad, Caroline Bankeler, Navid Modiiri and  Agnes Bromme (Translator)
|title=The Mock Olympian
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|title=I May Be Wrong
|rating=4
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|rating=5
|genre=Sport
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|genre= Autobiography
|summary=It started with an idle conversation just before the 2012 London Olympics: Michael Long's friend Sarah gave him a book as part of his birthday present.  It was ''Time Out's'' guide to the history of the Olympics and it covered each of the summer Olympics in chronological order from the inaugural games in Athens in 1896.  Sarah's boyfriend James commented that with all the running Michael did, he'd probably have run in most of the Olympic citiesAlthough Long had done a goodly number of runs, bike rides and triathlons he'd only competed in two of the twenty three cities - London and AthensNow most of us would have left it at that, but that's not the Michael Long you're going to come to know and love.  He saw it as a ''challenge'' and what's more he blogged about it and then wrote this book.
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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 bookI know, having read the book in question, that Lindeblad would disagree with that thoughtHe 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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1524662887</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1526644827
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1732898731
|author=Numba Pinkerton
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|title=The Boy Who Loved Boxes: A Children's Book for Adults
|title=The No Black Project
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|author=Michael Albanese
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=I don't like shopping for clothes, but there's no valid reason why. I'm small, but reasonably slim - a size 10 petite usually fits me perfectly - and I'm lucky to be able to afford to buy whatever clothes I want.  The trouble is that I lack the confidence to know what is going to suit me and to be honest it's very difficult to get excited about a trip which will almost certainly end up with another pair of smart black trousers and a matching top.  I never feel that I look particularly good in black, but I've resorted to it because it can usually take me anywhere and is unlikely to cause offenceSo, how did I feel when I was given a copy of ''The No Black Project''?  Well, to be honest, I felt a little scared...
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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 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 boxesLook carefully at the pictures and you'll see that one of them has a padlock...
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1533506957</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Robert Short
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|isbn=1846276772
|title=101 Things To Do When You're Not Drinking
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|title=The End of Bias: How We Change Our Minds
|rating=4
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|author=Jessica Nordell
|genre=Lifestyle
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|rating=4.5
|summary=If you're thinking about giving up alcohol long term, short term or for Dry January then you might be wondering if it's going to leave one helluva hole in your social life.  You might be thinking about what you'll do with the time you normally spend out socialising (just having a quick one before you get the train home...) as well as the time you spend recovering from having had ''just'' one too many the night beforeSunday mornings will loom large as uncharted and largely unknown territory.  Robert Short has a few answers for you - well 101 of them in fact - in a pocket-size book which should give you some inspiration.
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|genre=Politics and Society
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1780722877</amazonuk>
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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 acknowledgedIt'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.
 
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{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Tonia Vojtkofsky
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|author=Erling Kagge
|title=Keep Your Brain Stronger for Longer
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|title=Walking: One Step At A Time
|rating=4
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|rating=5
|genre=Lifestyle
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|genre= Lifestyle
|summary=On the front of the book it says that our brains need a well-rounded workout just like our bodies.  A decade or two ago I wouldn't have given very much thought to this - my body ''and'' my brain seemed to get all the workout they needed without me adding to their burdens, but close on the beginning of my eighth decade I've noticed something. I keep losing words: nothing major, you know, but this morning I couldn't remember the name of a flower which I hadn't seen since this time last year - until about half an hour later, when, of course it was no longer relevant.  When you're young you don't worry about what you'll suffer from in old age. As you get older you develop dreads and one of the biggest for people who are still hale and hearty is that they'll develop dementia.
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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).
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1780722842</amazonuk>
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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.
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|isbn=0241357705
 
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{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Margery Allingham and Julia Jones
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|author=Richard Brook
|title=Beloved Old Age and What to Do About it: Margery Allingham's the Relay
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|title=Understanding Human Nature: A User's Guide to Life
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Home and Family
 
|summary=We remember [[:Category:Margery Allingham|Margery Allingham]] as a novelist from the golden age of crime, perhaps not as famous as Agatha Christie or Dorothy L Sayers but certainly well regarded by those who appreciate good writing and excellent plotting.  Her last completed book was not a novel but ''The Relay'', a combined account of caring for three elderly relatives, (Em, Maud and Grace) between 1959 and 1961 and suggestions as to how other people might achieve a good old age for their relatives.  Margery died in 1966 and ''The Relay'' was never published in the form in which it was written.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1899262296</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Jack Pendarvis
 
|title=Cigarette Lighter (Object Lessons)
 
|rating=3
 
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=I have a favourite cigarette lighterThat sentence may become more strange to you when you consider the fact that I have never smoked.  I don't know how but I got it as a freebie donkey's years ago, and I loved its curvy bronzed lines, and the fact that I had to click down on a button instead of rub against a flint-wheel to light it. I optimistically took it with me at uni in case I found a girl good enough to be with even though she smoked (which took almost another twenty years, but that's a different story) – therefore I was carrying something so evidently not a match as a potential match-maker. Later, its semi-art deco styling made it perfect for a play I was in once, after which it dried up.  Now it's more or less a paperweight.  But if I can imbue such personal relevance in a bleeding fag lighter, just think what all of culture can do?
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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>1501307363</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1800461682
 
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{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Lydia Pyne
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|isbn=0753558378
|title=Bookshelf (Object Lessons)
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|title=Effortless: Make It Easier to Do What Matters
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|author=Greg McKeown
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=Could you imagine a whole book dedicated to a single lump of wood, or a few sections of metal?  I can't assume it would be great – with or without said item being ''an object with physical, historical and psychological components''But shove some distorted tree by-products on to said wood or metal, and lo and behold you have a bookshelf. Now you're talking – but could you even now imagine a whole book dedicated to it?
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|summary=''The marginal return of working harder was, in fact, negative.''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1501307320</amazonuk>
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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 valueHe 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.''
 
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{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Georgina Rodgers
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|isbn=1523092734
|title=Peace of Mind: A Book of Calm for Busy Mums
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|title=A Women's Guide to Claiming Space
|rating=3
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|author=Eliza Van Cort
|genre=Lifestyle
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|rating=5
|summary=The promise of a book bringing me calm was too much to resist! There it is, in the title, my job description (busy mum...well, that's just one of my jobs!) and that elusive state that many mums seem to be trying to find, peace of mind.  I have to say, I was looking forward to some insightful revelations into changing my lifeI think the problem, however, was quickly apparent in that like a busy mum, who is trying to wear a hundred masks at the same time, and carry out a multitude of roles, this book isn't entirely sure what it's trying to be, with everything from poetry and colouring to mindfulness and recipes.
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|genre=Politics and Society
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1473635519</amazonuk>
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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)
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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.''
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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.
 
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{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= Merinda D'Aprano
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|isbn=1529109116
|title= The Essential Guide to Your Prep School Journey (Head Teacher in Your Pocket)
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|title=Call Me Red: A Shepherd's Journey
|rating= 4.5
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|author=Hannah Jackson
|genre= Lifestyle
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|rating=4.5
|summary= As you might have gathered from the title, ''The Essential Guide to Your Prep School Journey'' is pitched at parents who intend on using the private sector to educate their children. And clearly, these are the parents who will benefit most from reading the book. However, there is a great deal of general advice within its pages which will prove helpful even to parents whose children will be travelling through the state sector. So if this is you, don't discount this book immediately. Such advice includes ''Why is reading so important?'', ''How can I promote a brave learner?'' and ''Is the internet safe for my child?'' - you can see that these are universally applicable topics and topics that all parents appreciate advice about.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0993550304</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=A A Milne and E H Shepard
 
|title=Winnie-the-Pooh's Little Book Of Wisdom
 
|rating=4
 
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=For a Bear of Very Little Brain Winnie-the-Pooh talks an awful lot of sense and we should be honoured that he's chosen to share with us a few of his wise words.  You see, occasionally (well, an awful lot of the time, if we're honest) we look for wisdom in the wrong places and forget about those who have a very simple approach to life and who may well have discovered the secret of happiness.  Pooh's take on life is very simple and none the worse for that.
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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>1405281278</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Rasmus Hougaard, Jacqueline Carter and Gillian Coutts
 
|title=One Second Ahead: Enhance Your Performance at Work with Mindfulness
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Business and Finance
 
|summary=Have you ever worked at a task and found your mind wandering to something else? Do you find yourself breaking off what you're doing to answer an email?  Do you try to multitask, thinking that you're being more efficient?  Do you have far too much to attend to, to complete and nowhere near enough time to do it all?
 
  
You do? Me tooYou need this book.
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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 thoughHannah 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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1137551909</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= Thomas W Hodgkinson and Hubert van den Bergh
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|isbn=1786495902
|title= How to Sound Cultured
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|title=The Natural Health Service: How Nature Can Mend Your Mind
|rating= 4
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|author=Isabel Hardman
|genre= Lifestyle
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|rating=5
|summary= Sometimes it can be hard to run with the big dogs, and while I know the names to drop in my field of work, some wider cultural references can pass me by. This is especially true for those from before my time and so I was delighted to find icons from all decades and centuries featured in this book. Badged as ''the 250 names that intellectuals love to drop into conversation'' this book features quotes and biographical titbits covering big names from every sector – science, the arts, philosophy.
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|genre=Lifestyle
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848319304</amazonuk>
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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.
 
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{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Tony Crabbe
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|author=Lauren Martin
|title=Busy: How to Thrive in a World of Too Much
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|title=The Book of Moods
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=Serendipity often brings you to the important books.  Recently I heard myself say to a friend: ''I'm far too busy to do some of the important stuff''. It pulled me up short: there was definitely something wrong here - and then I had the opportunity to listen to an audio download of ''Busy'' and I knew that it was something I ''had'' to do and take notice of if I was to stop going ''backwards''. Because that was what I was doing.
+
|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>B01727ER84</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=1538733625
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=Rachel Kelly and Jonathan Pugh
+
|isbn=0008420386
|title=Walking on Sunshine: 52 Small Steps to Happiness
+
|title=Failosophy: A handbook for when things go wrong
 +
|author=Elizabeth Day
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=How would you like 52 tips on how to be happierNo this isn't an offer to sign up to a dodgy website - it's a small book which you could pop into a bag and which will give you tips, tools and positive idea about how you can make your life happier, less complicated and more fulfillingOpen it at random, if that's what you feel like doing, or work your way through it reading one tip per week - they're helpfully divided into the four seasons - and savour just a couple of pages of elegant writing which will give you something to think about or something positive to do (or not do - if you see what I mean).
+
|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 commonThey'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>1780722524</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author= Ilka Heinemann
+
|isbn=1504321383
|title=101 Things to do Instead of Playing on Your Phone
+
|title=Single, Again, and Again, and Again
|rating= 5
+
|author=Louisa Pateman
|genre= Lifestyle
+
|rating=4.5
|summary= There's a great joke I saw online recently. One cartoon person says to the other, ''What's your favourite position in bed?'' and the other replies ''Closest to the plug so I can still use my phone while it's charging''. It's funny because it's true.
+
|genre=Autobiography
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>178072246X</amazonuk>
+
|summary=''You can't be happy and fulfilled on your own.  You are not complete until you find a man''.
 +
 
 +
This was what Louisa Pateman was brought up to believe.  It wasn't unkind: it was simply the adults in her life advising her as to what they thought would be best for her.  It was reinforced by all those fairy tales where the girl (she's usually fairly young) is rescued by the handsome prince who then marries her so that they can live happily ever after.  Few girls are lucky enough to be brought up ''without'' the expectation that they will marry and have children. It was a belief and it would be many years before Louisa would conclude that ''a belief is a choice''.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=Brene Brown
+
|isbn=1538731738
|title=Rising Strong
+
|title=Simple Abundance: 365 Days to a Balanced and Joyful Life
|rating=4
+
|author= Sarah Ban Breathnach
 +
|rating=5
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=This is Brené Brown's fourth book. Like Elizabeth Gilbert, she is well known for her TED talk. As a professor at the University of Houston, she has spent the last 13 years working with people's stories. Such a qualitative approach, based on anecdote and experience, is relatively rare in the social sciences but certainly makes her work more accessible to laymen. Her books fall into the 'self-help' arena, but without any of the negative connotations of that term. Here she makes her research relevant to everyday life by weaving in pop culture references and telling stories from her family and professional life.
+
|summary=Someone once said: it's not self-indulgence, it's therapy!  I think they were talking about shopping, but it probably can be applied to most things. In my case, it applies to writing about things because I want to, rather than because I can sell it or because I've got something to sell.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0091955033</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=Lee Crutchley
+
|author=Sharon Blackie
|title=How to Be Happy (or at least less sad): A Creative Workbook
+
|title=If Women Rose Rooted
|rating=4
+
|rating=5
|genre=Lifestyle
+
|genre= Biography
|summary=I gave up hoping for happiness many years ago and settled instead for enjoying contentment when it arrived and trying to make the most of it.  'Happiness' seemed to be rather like 'privileges' - something which you shouldn't expect as of right.  Most of the time it works well, but just occasionally an extra boost - a new approach - is needed.  Lee Crutchley has suffered from depression and he knows that this book is not going to help when you're clinically depressed, but those of us who have been down that road know that there are certain laybys where you stop and possibly turn around.
+
|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 borrowedI 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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0241201950</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=1912836017
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=Simon Dawson
+
|isbn=1543987877
|title=The Sty's the Limit: When Middle Age Gets Mucky
+
|title=Learn to Love: Guide to Healing Your Disappointing Love Life
 +
|author=Dr Thomas Jordan
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=Simon Dawson has met something he cannot beat.  He can't come to terms with it eitherIt's called Getting Older: not the 'getting older' which we all do day by day, but that moment when you realise that you've moved on to an entirely different stage in your life - and no one actually asked you if you wanted to go on the journey.  For Simon it's Middle Age that's taken him by surprise: bits of the body have stopped working as they ought to and he's realised that if he's going to look in the mirror, bare-chested, then he shouldn't do it when he's standing next to a fit teenage boy.
+
|summary=''Learn to Love: Guide to Healing Your Disappointing Love Life'' is a book about love relationships rather than a book about loveThe 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>1409160858</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=Elizabeth Swados
+
|author=Michael Harris
|title=My Depression : A Picture Book
+
|title=Solitude: In Pursuit of a Singular Life in a Crowded World
|rating=4
+
|rating=5
|genre=Autobiography
 
|summary=If you have ever suffered from depression you'll find it very difficult to explain to other people how you're feeling.  You're not feeling ''just a little bit down''.  A treat or a dollop of positive thinking will not miraculously cure you.  You're definitely not swinging the lead, but suffering from a legitimate illness which deserves to be recognised.  Elizabeth Swados is a long-term sufferer from severe depression: she's also a talented storyteller and has told her the story of how depression feels for her - complete with drawings, which fill in those gaps which words can never fill for any sufferer from depression.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1609806042</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=William Alexander
 
|title=Flirting With French
 
|rating=4.5
 
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=I am not a bad linguist. I don’t tend to struggle with languages too much, especially when the goal is communicative fluency rather than precise grammatical accuracy, and I’ve taught English as a foreign language in a handful of countries too, so I have some ideas of what does and doesn’t work with language acquisition in adults. William Alexander is, perhaps, not so lucky. An American with a longing to be a Frenchman, he is devoting himself to learning the lingo and much more, and chronicles his efforts in this book.
+
|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>0715649957</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=1847947662
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=Amy Morin
+
|isbn=0753553236
|title=13 Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do
+
|title=Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything
 +
|author=B J Fogg
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Popular Science
+
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=When Amy Morin was just 26 and working as a psychologist and therapist her husband died suddenly, but even whilst she was reeling from the shock she realised that there were things which she must ''not'' doShe knew that she must not develop a sense of entitlement, feel resentment or succumb to self-pity.  That was ten years ago: since then Morin has remarried and worked with numerous patients using the principles which she applied to herselfShe's found 13 common habits which hold us back in life and developed strategies to combat themBut the best thing which she makes clear is that mental strength is not about acting tough - for instance, if you've suffered a bereavement, you need to grieve -  it's about having the mental wherewithal to overcome life's challenges.
+
|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>0008105936</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=John Kemp
+
|isbn=1785785516
|title=Caring for Shirley
+
|title=Fucking Good Manners
 +
|author=Simon Griffin
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 +
|genre=Lifestyle
 +
|summary=Manners maketh man, they say.  It certainly makes life easier if everybody abides by a set of conventions, some of which are ages old and other which have evolved over time.  Manners are not about how much to tip or how you should behave if you get an invitation to Buckingham Palace, they have nothing to do with class or financial status:  they're about getting the basics right before we try to deal with more difficult matters.  Of course we all have more relaxed manners when we're with family and friends, but it's best if we learn to distinguish between our public and private lives and to act appropriately.  ''Fucking Good Manners'' aims to help us on the way.
 +
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=1999811402
 +
|title=Painting Snails
 +
|author=Stephen John Hartley
 +
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Autobiography
 
|genre=Autobiography
|summary=John Kemp's wife, Shirley, suffered from dementia and loss of coordination and for eight years he was her full-time carer as she was unable to walk unaided (well, she ''could'' - but it was likely to result in a serious fall) and took care of all her most personal needsProbably the most heart-breaking part of this is that Shirley didn't recognise John as her husband - apart from 'give us a kiss', the question 'where's John?' was usually the first which sprang to her lips in any situationAlthough she could often have quite an affable disposition she was capable of kicking and biting when she was being 'encouraged' to do something which she didn't want to do.
+
|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 resultsThe 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 eitherDid we have a category for 'doing the impossible the hard way'?  Yep - that's the one.  It's an autobiography.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1479374245</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 +
 +
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

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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

1786495902.jpg

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

0008420386.jpg

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

1504321383.jpg

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

1538731738.jpg

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

1543987877.jpg

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

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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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