Changes

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.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1635866847|title=The Lavender Companion|author=Jessica Dunham and Terry Barlin Vesci|rating=4.5|classgenre=Lifestyle|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 -"wikitable" cellpadding="15" 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.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0760381267|title=Verdura: Living a Garden Life|author=Perla Sofia Curbelo-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE-->Santiago|rating=3.5|genre=Lifestyle|summary=''The most important part of a garden is the one who enjoys it''.

<!-- Jankel -->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?}}{{Frontpage|-author=Sarah Wilson| styletitle="widthThis One Wild and Precious Life: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"the path back to connection in a fractured world|rating=3.5|genre= Lifestyle[[image:1999731506.jpg|linksummary=http://wwwMy 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.amazon Her answer is an unequivocal ''no, we are not''.co 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.uk/dp/1999731506/ref|isbn=1785633848}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1394159544|title=Recycling for Dummies|author=Sarah Winkler|rating=5|genre=nosim?tagLifestyle|summary=thebookbag-21]]''Recycling one ton of plastic can save up to 16.3 barrels of oil.''

[[imageAs 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:2starassuming 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.jpgs}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0760378134|linktitle=CategoryThe First-Time Gardener:Container Food Gardening|author=Pamela Farley|rating=5|genre=Home and Family|summary=If you've ever thought how good it would be to be able to pop out into the garden and pick some fruit and vegetables for a meal – but realised that you wouldn't know where to start, this is the book you need. It's comprehensive: you'll cover everything from why you should grow your own food, what you're going to grow, what you'll grow it in (both containers and soil), where you'll put these containers, how you'll water and fertilise them and you finish the main part of the book with a handy section on troubleshooting. There's also a good glossary. So, is it any good?}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1398508632|title=The Wilderness Cure|author=Mo Wilde|rating=5|genre=Lifestyle|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 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.}}{{Frontpage|author=Bjorn Natthiko Lindeblad, Caroline Bankeler, Navid Modiiri and Agnes Bromme (Translator)|title=I May Be Wrong|rating=5|genre= Autobiography|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.|isbn=1526644827}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category{{Frontpage|isbn=1732898731|title=The Boy Who Loved Boxes:A Children's Book for Adults|author=Michael Albanese |rating=4.5|genre=Lifestyle|Lifestyle]]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:Categoryit 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...}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1846276772|title=The End of Bias:Spirituality How We Change Our Minds|author=Jessica Nordell|rating=4.5|genre=Politics and ReligionSociety|Spirituality 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 Religion]]degrading for the individuals on the receiving end of the bias but it's not just the individuals who are negatively impacted.}}{{Frontpage|author=Erling Kagge|title=Walking: One Step At A Time|rating=5|genre= Lifestyle|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).

''Spiritual Atheist'' Erligg Kagge is a new 'bible' for Norwegian explorer who has walked to the spiritual not South Pole, the religious, according to North Pole and the taglinesummit of Everest. This He knows a thing or two about walking. However, this isn't a travelogue about any of those epic journeys, it is instead a taboo smashing book which solves the problem thoughtful exploration of modernity and explains how what it means to be walk. It is a plenitude of unnumbered essays about walking. There is no 'spiritual technologistcontents' who can live page and love freely in I haven'spiritual fullnesst 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.|isbn=0241357705}}{{Frontpage|author=Richard Brook|title=Understanding Human Nature: A User' without relying on s Guide to Life|rating=4.5|genre=Lifestyle|summary= I am a belief 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 godthe way that it does now. Touching on everything from I believe it came to me not just because I was likely to give it a favourable review [ 'brain science' 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 AIlike the book, Jankel offers even if it doesn't always turn out that way'' ] – but also because it is a 'path book I needed to meaning'read, allowing us right now.|isbn=1800461682}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0753558378|title=Effortless: Make It Easier to move beyond consumerism towards an ethical lifeDo What Matters|author=Greg McKeown|rating=4. [[Spiritual Atheist by Nick Seneca Jankel5|genre=Lifestyle|Full Review]]summary=''The marginal return of working harder was, in fact, negative.''

<!That's what happened to Patrick McGinnis. It's no exaggeration to say that he devoted his life to the company he worked for, struggling through, even when he was ill, only to find that he was working for a bankrupt company. His stock had fallen by 97%, he had lost his health and his job had little value. He made a bargain with God; if he survived, he would make some changes. He did survive and came through stronger -- Mackay -->and richer. There is, you see, a different way: ''great things are not reserved for those who bleed, for those who almost break.''}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1523092734|-title=A Women's Guide to Claiming Space| styleauthor="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"Eliza Van Cort|rating=5[[image:Mackay_Trials.jpg|leftgenre=Politics and Society|linksummary=https://www.amazon''She brings a hug-kick-thunderclap that every woman needs in her life.coAgain and again and again.uk/gp/product/1524683094?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1524683094]]'' (Alma Derricks, former CMO, Cirque du Soleil RSD)

| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Trials ''To claim space is to live the life of choosing unapologetically and Tribulations of a Travelling Prostitute by Andrew Mackay]]===bravely. It is to live the life you've always wanted.''

[[imageSometimes 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:3it's something far more effective, but discussion at the moment seems to be about how women can be ''protected''.5star 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.jpg If all women did this, those few men who are violent to women would realise that we are not just an easy target to be used to prove that they are big men.}}{{Frontpage|linkisbn=Category1529109116|title=Call Me Red:{{{A Shepherd's Journey|author=Hannah Jackson|rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle=4.5|genre=Lifestyle]], [[:Category:Business and Finance|Business and Finance]] summary=''I want the image of a British farmer to simply be that of a person who is proudly employed in feeding the nation. I don't think that is too much to ask.''

Just chance you think 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 youhe'll be a farmer. It're picking s not always the case though. Hannah Jackson was born and brought up on the Wirral: she'd never set foot on a book about what can go wrong in life for an itinerant sex worker Icommercial farm until she was twenty although she'd better explain exactly what it always had a deep love of animals. Her original intention was that author Andrew Mackay did for thirty three years. A travelling prostitute is a worker who is employed by one company but his services are sold out she would become 'Dr Jackson, whale scientist' and she was well on her way to other countries, usually at achieving this when her life changed on a substantial profit family holiday to the employing company 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 lot shepherd. With the determination that you'll soon realise is an essential part of inconvenience her, she set about achieving her ambition.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1786495902|title=The Natural Health Service: How Nature Can Mend Your Mind|author=Isabel Hardman|rating=5|genre=Lifestyle|summary=Isabel Hardman suffered a trauma which she chooses not to the employeeshare. Mackay was an engineer She says that a friend who knew all that 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 know about turbines sedated and generatorsreturned home to begin long-term sick leave. That was what brought me to this book: 2020 was the year when the bins went out more often than I did.}}{{Frontpage|author=Lauren Martin|title=The Book of Moods|rating=5|genre=Lifestyle|summary= I was in a great mood when I first learnt of this book, or if he didnand because sarcasm doesn't could soon be up to speed to always translate well into writing, imagine the extent of word ''great'' being able to teach other peopledelivered with an eye roll and a sigh, through clenched teeth. Occasionally his skills were used 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 UKyear, and normally I'm happy to, but frequently he that day the weather was miserable and I was abroadmiserable, 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". Just every now Wow. I had never needed this book more.|isbn=1538733625}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0008420386|title=Failosophy: A handbook for when things go wrong|author=Elizabeth Day|rating=4|genre=Lifestyle|summary=What do Malcolm Gladwell, Alain de Botton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Lemn Sissay, Nigel Slater, Emeli Sandé, Meera Syal, Dame Kelly Holmes and again he would be Andrew Scott have in those parts of the world which has 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 rest results of us green with envythese discussions in ''Failosophy''}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1504321383|title=Single, Again, and Again, but then there were those areas which feature heavily in the news and Again|author=Louisa Pateman|rating=4.5|genre=Autobiography|summary=''You can't be happy and fulfilled on your own. You are not in complete until you find a good wayman''. [[Trials and Tribulations of a Travelling Prostitute by Andrew Mackay|Full Review]]

<!-- Omeiza -->|-| style="widthThis was what Louisa Pateman was brought up to believe. It wasn't unkind: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Omeiza_Parentingit was simply the adults in her life advising her as to what they thought would be best for her.jpg|left|link=https://www 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.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1524682853?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1524682853]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Parenting through Few girls are lucky enough to be brought up ''without'' the Eyes of expectation that they will marry and have children. It was a Child: Memoirs of My Childhood by Tabitha Ochekpe Omeiza]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:belief and it would be many years before Louisa would conclude that ''a belief is a choice''.}}{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:AutobiographyFrontpage|Autobiography]], [[:Categoryisbn=1538731738|title=Simple Abundance:Lifestyle365 Days to a Balanced and Joyful Life|author= Sarah Ban Breathnach|rating=5|genre=Lifestyle]] Tabitha Ochekpe Omeiza was brought up in Nigeria and came to Britain to study for her A levels when she was 18. Her parents used their savings to give her this opportunity and called |summary=Someone once said: it an investment in her future. Now a qualified pharmacist's not self-indulgence, married and with a child of her ownit's therapy! I think they were talking about shopping, Tabitha looks back at her childhood and reflects on the way her mother and father raised herbut it probably can be applied to most things. And she gives their parenting top marks 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. [[Parenting through the Eyes of a Child: Memoirs of My Childhood by Tabitha Ochekpe Omeiza}}{{Frontpage|Full Review]]author=Sharon Blackie|title=If Women Rose Rooted<!-- Kyncl -->|rating=5|-genre= Biography| stylesummary="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Kyncl_StreamI normally say that you can tell how much a book means to me by how many pages have corners turned down.jpg|left|link=https://www 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.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0753545926?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag I want to avoid clichés like 'powerful' 'inspiring' 'life-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0753545926]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"changing' – although it is definitely the first two and only time will tell about the third – but clichés exist for a reason and I'm not sure I can succinctly put it any better.|isbn=1912836017}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1543987877|title=Learn to Love: Guide to Healing Your Disappointing Love Life|author=[[Stream Punks by Robert Kyncl and Maany Peyvan]]=Dr Thomas Jordan|rating== [[image:4.5star.jpg5|linkgenre=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]], [[summary=''Learn to Love:Category: Entertainment|Entertainment]] I watch quite Guide to Healing Your Disappointing Love Life'' is a lot of YouTube. I play music videos when I want to listen to book about love relationships rather than a particular song I don't already have in my collectionbook about love. I use it to find out how to do things, with The two greatest emotions are love and grief and love is the instruction videos they seem to have for pretty much anythingopposite of grief: ''if you love'', Dr Thomas Jordan tells us, ''you will inevitably grieve''. At Your love relationships begin the gym, Imoment you'll stick it on on my phone, prop it up on re born and end only when you die. Whilst we all come into the cross trainer world hoping to give and watch some behind the scenes interviews with the cast of my favourite showsreceive love there are many people for whom love is not quite so simple. And Some people suffer multiple disappointments - sometimes I'll treat it as if it is Netflix, to watch series with new episodes releasing every few days, exclusively on YouTuberepeating the same mistakes - and this eventually becomes resignation. Having a new smart TV adds an extra For people who are making the same mistakes repeatedly, self-preservation, easy way to watch without having to plug in my laptop or squint at the form of resignation is a small phone screennecessity. So yes, I like YouTube and I use YouTube. But I didn't know a whole lot about the site it until I read this book.[[Stream Punks by Robert Kyncl and Maany Peyvan|Full Review]] <!-- Way -->}}{{Frontpage|-author=Michael Harris| styletitle="widthSolitude: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"In Pursuit of a Singular Life in a Crowded World|rating=5[[image:Way_Tea.jpg|leftgenre=Lifestyle|linksummary=https://www.amazon.coThis is not the book I was expecting it to be.uk/gp/product/1445670011?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbagFor some reason I expected it to be another self-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1445670011]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Tea Gardens (Britain's Heritage Series) by Twigs Way]]=== [[image:4starhelp 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''.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]] Harries examines how we're eroding solitude, [[:Category:History|History]] Tea Gardens really began in London in the late 18th century: which used to be a trip to Kings Cross or St Pancras was effectively a trip to the country in those days. Men had their coffee housesnatural part of our human life, but they were not places where women could or would be seenand why that matters. Tea was introduced to England in the 17th century but it was not until 1784 Of course he talks about how some people have found solitude and what has come of that the high duty was reduced from 119% to 12½% , and tea became eventually in the drink final chapter he talks about his own experience of choice for the nation. Until then the working classes had been fuelled largely by cheap gin. Onlyhaving deliberately sought it out, where would this beverage be drunk? One answer was but mostly he wanders down the pleasure gardens where the fashionable went to see alleys and be seen: by the mid 1600s tea was also being served in places such as Ranelagh Gardens-ways that his thinking about this lost art led him. [[Tea Gardens (Britain's Heritage Series) by Twigs Way|Full Review]]isbn=1847947662}}<!-- Nicholson -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=0753553236| styletitle="widthTiny Habits: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"The Small Changes That Change Everything|author=B J Fogg[[image:Nicholson_Tambourine.jpg|leftrating=5|linkgenre=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1524681822?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1524681822]] Lifestyle| stylesummary="verticalGo on, admit it -align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Mr Tambourine Man by Nicholson]]=== [[image:3you're not quite perfect.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]] You still have those odd, [[:Category:Travel|Travel]] Back in 1965 we heard ''Mr Tambourine Man'' by the Byrds on the radio very regularlyquirky even loveable (to you) habits which seem to annoy other people. Nicholson was thirteen and saw the 45rpm recording Other people, of the song in the window of the local music store and would have loved to be able to buy it but didn't have the moneycourse, are sorely afflicted with some dreadful flaws which they could so easily correct, if only they would make just a little bit of effort. Thirteen-year olds didn't in those days unless it was a birthday Or put another way, I get cross with myself because I forget to do things or Christmas do some actions more than I should and you couldn't no matter how I try to make what seem to be quite monumental changes I never quite seem to get a part-time job until you were fifteento grips with the concepts. There would be a few I constantly fail and then I get cross with myself for failing. Lack of those badly-paid jobs before he finished his A levels and went willpower is another burden to add to New York for three monthsthe list. It's this trip which Nicholson feels turned him from being a boy into a man and allowed him to see the bigger picture.<br> <!-- Tuhus-Dubrow -->}}{{Frontpage|-isbn=1785785516| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Dubrow_Stereo.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1501322818/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Personal Stereo by Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]] These tiny 'Object Lessons', a range of books which are more like a long-form essay, explore often seemingly mundane items. Personal Stereo packs a lot of information into a small space. Split into three distinct sections: Novelty, Norm, and Nostalgia, 'Novelty' traces the origin of the Sony Walkman, from its conception by two Japanese business men to it becoming a recognised entity on the streets of America. 'Norm' follows on from the universal success of the personal stereo, relating this to the technology which it set the groundwork for, such as the ubiquitous proliferation of MP3s, the iPod, and Smartphones, leading to the eventual downfall in the popularity of the Walkman. Finally, in 'Nostalgia', Tuhus-Dubrow examines our need to hark back to a simpler time, when the personal stereo seemed the height of freedom. [[Personal Stereo by Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow|Full Review]] <!-- Moore -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Moore Bientot.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1782438610?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1782438610]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[A Bientot... by Roger Moore]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Autobiography|Autobiography]], [[:Category:Entertainment|Entertainment]], [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]] The news of the death of Sir Roger Moore in May 2017 came as a great shock: he was one of those people you knew would go on for ever. There was just one small glimmer of light in the sadness - the news that a matter of days before his death he'd delivered the finished manuscript of his book, ''À bientôt…'', to his publishers. Just a few months later a copy landed on my desk and I didn't even bother to look as though I could resist reading it straight away. [[A Bientot... by Roger Moore|Full Review]] <!-- Dubey -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Dubey_21.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1999838912/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[21 Doors to Happiness: Life Through Travel Experiences and Meditation by Chit Dubey]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]] I know that I'm not alone in having been brought up to ''achieve'', to look down on those who had different (''lesser'', it would have been said) aims, but there comes a point in life when you wonder about the point of it all. Do you need to keep on ''achieving'', and if so, ''why''? Many years ago I had a light-bulb moment when I realised that achieving more, having more money, more material possessions didn't make me happy - and surely the point of it all was to be ''happy''? Superficially that sounds very simple: live a life doing only what you want to do and pleasing yourself, but that doesn't bring happiness either. Chit Dubey believes that happiness is inside you and you just need to delve a little deeper to find it. [[21 Doors to Happiness: Life Through Travel Experiences and Meditation by Chit Dubey|Full Review]] <!-- Owusu -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Owusu_Psychosis.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1524680559/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[My Psychosis Story: A Story of Fear and Hope Through Adversity by Emmanuel Owusu]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]] ''My Psychosis Story'' recounts Emmanuel Owusu's journey into and eventually out of psychosis. In late 2014, during a visit home for Christmas, he found himself exhausted, anxious and unable to sleep. Symptoms persisted and soon he was suffering from noise sensitivity and intense headaches. Various visits to A&E failed to diagnose a physical cause. Things deteriorated further and possible diagnoses of anxiety and post traumatic concussion were suggested. And ''still'' things got worse. Eventually, Owusu's condition deteriorated so far that he was suffering from delusions and hallucinations. An ambulance was called and he was detained - sectioned - under the Mental Health Act in 2015. [[My Psychosis Story: A Story of Fear and Hope Through Adversity by Emmanuel Owusu|Full Review]] <!-- Hine -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Hine_Mind.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1473649285/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Mind of a Survivor by Megan Hine]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]] Megan Hine is probably the type of person that you'd want with you in a crisis situation. Cool, calm and capable; this survival expert is equally at home in desert, mountain, tundra and jungle environments. She's navigated her way around some of the most inhospitable regions on the planet and survived to tell the tale. But just what is it that makes some people more capable in a survival situation than others? Physical fitness? Bushcraft skills? Experience? Whilst all of these are important, Hine argues that ''attitude'' is one of the most important factors in survival. In this book, she examines how the right mindset can mean the difference between life and death when isolated in the wilderness. [[Mind of a Survivor by Megan Hine|Full Review]] <!-- Ikin -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Ikin_Kitchen.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/144566884X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Kitchen Garden (Britain's Heritage Series) by Caroline Ikin]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]] I love visiting country houses, but you can keep the interiors and the flower gardens - what interests me is the kitchen garden: seeing one which has been restored to its former glory is a real treat, as was ''Britain's Heritage: The Country Garden'' when it landed on my desk. There was no longer any need to guess at the work that had been done: here was the history complete with glorious illustrations as well as some wonderful advertisements. ''Canary Guano. For Greenhouse and garden. Perfectly clean. May be used by a lady.'' is still making me giggle. [[The Kitchen Garden (Britain's Heritage Series) by Caroline Ikin|Full Review]] <!-- McNally -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Mcnally_Cracking.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1524662003/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Cracking the Obesity Crisis by Veronica M McNally]]=== [[image:1.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]] Any weight-related book, whether one that considers issues from a medical or sociological perspective, or one that provides advice on how to eat well or lose weight, whose opening pages feature such as controversial statements as: ''fat people are basically insecure, unhappy people trapped inside very unattractive bodies'', or ''Islamic people however are at an advantage as they do Ramadan and they are not overweight'', ''there is hope for overweight and obese people, but I don’t see a way back for the clinically aid [sic] morbidly obese'' or my personal favourite: ''as women’s hands are smooth and soft in many cases, females would be useful behind soldiers to be there as assistants to men quickly reloading magazines of bullets speedily'', any such book needs to provide an awful lot of valuable content in the pages that follow to have a chance of redeeming itself. [[Cracking the Obesity Crisis by Veronica M McNally|Full Review]] <!-- Darbyshire -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Darbyshire_Modern.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1784755168/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[This Modern Love by Will Darbyshire]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]] Love is love, but at the same time love is changing, the way we find it, the way we express it, the way we walk away from things. You can change a Facebook status and tell the entire world the ins and outs of your relationship, you can meet people online, you can conduct long distance relationships in much more real time than in the past when you had to rely on the postman to deliver your heartfelt, handwritten note. This book, a compilation of letters and other contributions, explores what love is in the 21st century. It's certainly international – there were 15,000 submissions from over 100 countries – and it's also touching, funny, frustrating and all those other things. [[This Modern Love by Will Darbyshire|Full Review]] <!-- Williams -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Williams_Grandpa.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1524667641/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Grandpa Diet and Diabetes by Laura Williams]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]] Nick's Mum is an accident and emergency nurse and life can get a bit hectic at times, particularly when she has to arrange for someone to look after Nick and his twin sister Emma. One day in the school holidays Grandpa had the pleasure of looking after the kids and Nick thought this was cool. Grandpa used to be a bit of a rocker, you see, and that's the sort of music he always has playing. He might have a stick but Nick's sure that he doesn't really need it - it's there just in case. He does have a problem though and Mum explains it by saying that Grandpa has to eat at the right time every day because he has diabetes. [[Grandpa Diet and Diabetes by Laura Williams|Full Review]] <!-- Way -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Way_Allotments.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1445665700/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Allotments (Britain's Heritage Series) by Twigs Way]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]] Allotments came about originally from the enclosure of land, primarily for sheep pasture. Fearing that the enclosures would leave peasants unable to feed themselves, Elizabeth I issued an act requiring all new cottages to have four acres of ground, something which has been honoured more by history than by Elizabeth's contemporaries. It was the first in a long line of legislation with that aim in mind - which largely failed to achieve their aims. [[Allotments (Britain's Heritage Series) by Twigs Way|Full Review]] <!-- Nicolau -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Nicolaou_Anxiety.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1524667412/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Anxiety-Elimination System by Nicos Nicolaou]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]] Nick Nicolau suffered a major panic attack and was told by his doctor that he would need medication to control the attacks and that there wasn't much more that he could do - apart that was, from going home to sleep. The next morning he had another attack which he could neither stop nor control and before long was having panic attacks every day and developed generalised anxiety and phobias. After a great deal of work and research he discovered how to reverse and beat his anxiety - and now he helps others to do the same. No one is born with a chemical imbalance in the brain and genes do not determine behaviour. The proof of the efficacy of his system is that through the course of a particularly challenging life event - his divorce - he didn't slip back into inappropriate anxiety. [[The Anxiety-Elimination System by Nicos Nicolaou|Full Review]] <!-- Kalu -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Kalu_Eat.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1524676942/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Eat With Pleasure by Akon Margaret Kalu]]=== [[image:3star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]] When you think about a certified nutrition coach you probably imagine someone who is going to be very strict with you about what you should or shouldn't be eating. You visualise someone who will insist that you eat worthy (and probably tasteless) food and completely avoid those foods which you really love. Gone will be the bar of chocolate and possibly even the mug of coffee which gets you going in the morning. It was particularly refreshing and something of a relief to encounter Akon Margaret Kalu - certified nutrition coach and food blogger at [http://www.therealakon.co.uk www.therealakon.co.uk]. She's outspoken. She believes that the occasional treat does you no harm so long as you don't make it a regular habit. In fact you're better having a small, occasional, indulgent snack than resisting and finally giving into cravings and ''binging''. In other words, she lives in the real world with the rest of us imperfect beings. [[Eat With Pleasure by Akon Margaret Kalu|Full Review]]  <!-- DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING FROM BELOW THIS LINE -->|} {{newreviewFucking Good Manners|author=Ruth Pearson|title=Say Yes to New Opportunities!Simon Griffin

|summary=Ruth Pearson was deputy head of her school and was studying for Manners maketh man, they say. It certainly makes life easier if everybody abides by a Masters degree when she suffered an emotional breakdown as a result set of the stresses conventions, some of the jobwhich are ages old and other which have evolved over time. The breakdown was so severe that she was afraid Manners are not about how much to tip or how you should behave if you get an invitation to return Buckingham Palace, they have nothing to do with class or financial status: they're about getting the classroombasics 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 rather than sitting back it's best if we learn to distinguish between our public and private lives and letting the circumstances overwhelm her she allowed what had happened to become a catalyst which would help her to change her lifeact appropriately. In ''Say Yes to New OpportunitiesFucking Good Manners'' she shares what she learned from aims to help us on the experience. To come back from this situation requires strength, honesty and a sense of purpose, all of which Pearson demonstrates quite clearly throughout this bookway.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1524676616</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|isbn=1999811402|title=Confessions of Modern WomenPainting Snails|author=Spadge WhittakerStephen John Hartley

|genre=LifestyleAutobiography|summary=SheIt's back! Huzzah! Do 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 remember 're not going to get advice on what to plant when Spadge Whittaker [[Braver Than Britainand 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, Occasionally by Spadge Whittaker|faced her finally got into medical school and is now an A&E consultant (and ourpart-time) deepest fears]]? We loved . 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 she did '? Yep - that's the one. EXCEPT FOR THE SPIDERS It's an autobiography. }}

This time, Spadge has turned her attention Move on to what it means to be a modern woman in twenty-first century, digital Britain. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0993429912</amazonuk>}}[[Newest Literary Fiction Reviews]]