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Find out moreLooking to change your life? Whether it’s physical, emotional or spiritual change you seek, these books may have some answers. If you’re seeking to enlighten, enlarge or explore your mind, check out our Mind & Body section for a more comprehensive range of books.
It can be challenging to travel at your own pace in the modern world without falling for the temptations of fast planes, cheap airlines, last-minute tickets, quick-fix travel apps and overzealous tour operators. To actually take a back seat and allow yourself time to embrace the ebb and flow of travel requires a more thoughtful and philosophical way of journeying. Slow Travel: A Movement is a beautifully designed and practical compendium of places, activities, tours and experiences that will inspire you to get on the road in your own time and on your own terms. This book explores slow travel as a physical or philosophical endeavor, taking readers off the beaten track and through nature, and unveils journeys that will nurture talent and ignite the inner-self. In this fast-paced world, it's worth adjusting your vacation time to a pace we can all strive to keep up with.
This book is an invitation to come home to your authentic self in a world that is frequently mesmerized by spin, narcissism, fantasy, and exhibitionism. Psychology and classic wisdom literature have, in various ways, long recognized the value for simply becoming who you are (i.e., ordinariness). However, this call is becoming increasingly drowned out by the many other voices that emphasize publicity and image-making over authenticity and humility. Renowned therapist and author Robert Wicks has written The Tao of Ordinariness as a way of beginning to address these tendencies in contemporary society. In this new countercultural work, the strength and joy of exploring who you are - and proceeding to share yourself with others in a way that they too can reclaim themselves - is revisited from a range of vantage points. The author specifically reexamines themes of humility, simplicity, letting go, self-awareness, alonetime, resilience, and mentoring. In an era when people increasingly measure self-worth by external measures, such as the number of likes and views and followers on social media feeds (which have many individuals chasing impossible fantasies and living with a constant fear of missing out ), Wicks offers a return to your authentic self.
Put an end to dieting and replace weight-loss struggles with this easy approach to a healthy, plant-based lifestyle, from the bestselling author of How Not to Die. Every month seems to bring a trendy new diet or a new fad to try in order to lose weight - but these diets aren't making us any happier or healthier. As obesity rates and associated disease and impairments continue to rise, it's time for a different approach. How Not to Diet is a treasure trove of buried data and cutting-edge dietary research that Dr Michael Greger has translated into accessible, actionable advice with exciting tools and tricks that will help you to safely lose weight and eliminate unwanted body fat - for good. Dr Greger, renowned nutrition expert, physician, and founder of nutritionfacts.org, explores the many causes of obesity - from our genes to the portions on our plate to other environmental factors - and the many consequences, from diabetes to cancer to mental health issues. From there, Dr Greger breaks down a variety of approaches to weight loss, honing in on the optimal criteria that enable success, including: a diet high in fibre and water, a diet low in fat, salt, and sugar, and diet full of anti-inflammatory foods. How Not to Diet then goes beyond food to explore the many other weight-loss accelerators available to us in our body's systems, revealing how plant-based meals can be eaten at specific times to maximize our bodies' natural fat-burning activities. Dr Greger provides a clear plan not only for the ultimate weight loss diet, but also the approach we must take to unlock its greatest efficacy
The must-have guide for getting sh*t done! Written for those who finds it hard to Get Sh*t Done, this book is designed to have a profound, life-changing effect on anyone who wants to adopt and implement the elements of greater productivity. New York Times bestselling author Jeffrey Gitomer explains why we are so often stymied by procrastination and reveals the strategies to achieve and profit more.
488 Rules for Life is Kitty Flanagan's way of making the world a more pleasant place to live. Providing you with the antidote to every annoying little thing, these rules are not made to be broken. 488 Rules for Life is not a self-help book, because it's not you who needs help, it's other people. Whether they're walking and texting, asphyxiating you on public transport with their noxious perfume cloud, or leaving one useless square of toilet paper on the roll, a lot of people just don't know the rules. But thanks to Kitty Flanagan's comprehensive guide to modern behaviour, our world will soon be a much better place. A place where people don't ruin the fruit salad by putting banana in it ... where your co-workers respect your olfactory system and don't reheat their fish curry in the office microwave ... where middle-aged men don't have ponytails ... Other rules to live by include: 1. Men must wear shorts over leggings The gym is no place for people to discover whether or not you are circumcised. That's a private discussion for another place and time. 2. Team bonding activities should be optional Some people love it when management decides that an afternoon of bowling or paintballing or (god forbid) karaoke will help everyone work better as a team. Others would rather be dead. 3. Don't ever mention your 'happy place' To me, this sounds less like a pleasant, fun state of mind and more like some kind of utopian wank palace you've had built in the basement. What started as a personal joke is now a quintessential reference book with the power to change society. (Or, at least, make it a bit less irritating.)
An Ode to the NHS. The twisting and turning story of Henry's sciatica treatment. a non-fiction account of both private and public healthcare covering any and all aspects of Henry's illness including being temporarily paralysed, the characters on the wards, spinal surgery and recovery, addiction to pain medication and his treatment by the doctors nurses and physiotherapists throughout. This is a story of hope as well as a letter of gratitude. As someone who has grown up with parents working in the NHS, the work patterns and experiences of the staff were familiar to me. I also found this a very insightful read, it is not only about Henry's diagnosis and treatment, but about how desperately we need the NHS to keep going, and how much the human mind and body can endure. The characters described throughout keep you interested in their treatment as well as Henry's and provide light relief during darker periods of his journey. They act as a balm to the reader as well as the writer while describing the weeks and months of constant pain, worry, doubt and depression that would have otherwise been all-encompassing. A brilliant book full of the ups and downs of a long term and life-changing illness, made even more endearing that 50% of the proceeds go to the charity that supports the NHS hospital so frequently mentioned throughout. Charlotte Walker, A LoveReading Ambassador
You can be the leader you want to be--today and every day. Do you find yourself wishing you had more hours in the day? Do you want to do more, yet feel you just can't add another thing to your plate without being overwhelmed by stress or compromising your health, relationships, and integrity? No doubt, as a leader, there are some days when you feel the flow. You're able to make a difference and achieve big goals. You feel confident and energized. On days like this, you are your best self--the leader you want to be. But on other days, you go down a different, negative path, with pressures and doubts making you feel like a lesser version of yourself. How can you be the leader you want to be, every day? The answer is more than a time-management system or a silver-bullet solution for changing your routines. Leadership expert and coach Amy Jen Su's powerful new book helps readers discover that the answer lies within. By focusing in specific ways on five key leadership elements--Purpose, Process, People, Presence, and Peace--you can increase your time, capacity, energy, and ultimately your impact, with less stress and more equanimity. Drawing on rich and instructive stories of clients, leaders, artists, and athletes, as well as on research by experts, the author brings together the best of both Western management thinking and Eastern philosophy to provide a holistic yet hands-on approach. The Leader You Want to Be is your indispensable guide to tapping into and expanding your leadership capacity so that you can be your best, sustain yourself, and thrive as a leader.
Featuring over fifty stylishly rendered boards, this is an interactive doodle book with a difference, and certainly takes the lingering trend for adult colouring-in books to the next level. Most of the book comprises unfinished boards for users to transform into their own tabletop games – twenty designs in all, followed by twenty-five sets of rules for players to choose to follow, each of which encourages creativity with suggestions for fashioning your own versions of classic board games. There’s also plenty of options for users to invent their own entirely new games, with a superb “Stuck for Ideas?” section that suggests fun themes and mash-ups, among them “Throne of Crowns” and “Uninvited Ghost”. There are suggestions specially devised for younger players too (for example “The Magical Maze” and “Lost Pets”) making this a compendium of creativity for all ages. Taking an average of half an hour to create each game and a further half an hour to play, this provides a plethora of opportunities to exercise one’s cerebral muscles while having a whole lot of fun.
'The vegan Jamie Olivers.' The Times Save the Planet and Feel Amazing BOSH!, the pioneers of simple, easy and delicious plant-based cooking, are here to make a sustainable and ethical lifestyle accessible to everyone. BOSH! How to Live Vegan will help you make a few positive changes that will have a huge impact on the world around you. It covers all aspects of vegan living, everything from food to toiletries to travel. Should you be eating avocados? Is it still ok to wear an old leather belt? What do you tell your friends when they offer you a glass of non-vegan wine? Henry and Ian will answer these questions and more in this fully-comprehensive guide to the how and the why of a plant-based lifestyle. Henry and Ian answer all the questions and more, with easy tips and simple hacks to help you live a more sustainable life. Whether you're already vegan or just about to start on your vegan journey, this is all the inspiration you need.
*The Sunday Times bestseller* 'Reading this book made me feel more normal about the things I feel sometimes... It's a great book; however you're feeling, it'll help' - Ed Sheeran It's OK if everything might feel a bit overwhelming. It's OK to talk about it. It's OK to not want to talk about it. It's OK to find it funny. It's OK to be human. Over 70 people have shared their powerful, funny and moving stories exploring their own mental health, including Sam Smith, Emilia Clarke, Candice Carty-Williams and Adam Kay. One in four of us will experience a mental health issue. This book is here to tell you, or someone you care about, it's OK. With writing from: Adam Kay - Alastair Campbell - Alexis Caught - Ben Platt - Bryony Gordon - Candice Carty-Williams - Charlie Mackesy - Charly Cox - Chidera Eggerue - Claire Stancliffe - Davina McCall - Dawn O'Porter - Elizabeth Day - Elizabeth Uviebinene - Ella Purnell - Emilia Clarke - Emma Thompson - Eve Delaney - Fearne Cotton - Gabby Edlin - Gemma Styles - GIRLI (Milly Toomey) - Grace Beverley - Hannah Witton - Honey Ross - Hussain Manawer - Jack Rooke - James Blake - Jamie Flook - Jamie Windust - Jessie Cave - Jo Irwin - Jonah Freud - Jonny Benjamin - Jordan Stephens - Kai-Isaiah Jamal - Kate Weinberg - Kelechi Okafor - Khalil Aldabbas - KUCHENGA - Lauren Mahon - Lena Dunham - Maggie Matic - Martha Lane Fox - Mathew Kollamkulam - Matt Haig - Megan Crabbe - Michael Kitching - Michelle Elman - Miranda Hart - Mitch Price - Mona Chalabi - Montana Brown - Nadia Craddock - Naomi Campbell - Poorna Bell - Poppy Jamie - Reggie Yates - Ripley Parker - Robert Kazandjian - Rosa Mercuriadis - Saba Asif - Sam Smith - Scarlett Curtis - Scarlett Moffatt - Scottee - Sharon Chalkin Feldstein - Shonagh Marie - Simon Amstell - Steve Ali - Tanya Byron - Travon Free - Yomi Adegoke - Yusuf Al Majarhi
A thoughtful, sometimes emotionally painful, yet unforgettable medical memoir I feel everyone should read. Our expectations of our medical and emergency teams are high, we trust, we rely, we hope. When a best-selling novelist, with the most beautiful way with words, tells the story of her time as a junior doctor, you just have to sit up and listen. Each chapter begins with thoughts from different people and roles within the medical profession. Joanna Cannon opens her arms wide and lets you in to her story, her way with words ensures you can see a full and vivid picture. Heartbreakingly honest, we see how she is overstretched, twanging like elastic that is on the point of completely fraying. A number of times her words resonated so strongly, they gave me goose-bumps. She not only made me look with different eyes at our medical practitioners, she also made me think about my own thoughts and words. I don’t think I will ever forget her “we each measure words with different scales”. Breaking and Mending is one of my Liz Robinson picks of the month, and a LoveReading Star Book... I smiled, I cried, afterwards I sat and hugged it!
Climate change is the single biggest threat to human survival - and we are dealing with it all wrong. We take shorter showers to save water - because we don't know that producing one pound of meat requires the equivalent of six months' showers in water waste. We buy hybrid cars - because we don't know that just one day a week without meat consumption is equivalent to taking every car in America off the road. The link between meat-eating and the climate crisis isn't talked about - because our leaders think we're not ready to make small personal sacrifices to save our way of life. But these sacrifices need to be made - and they're so much easier than you think. You don't have to go cold turkey. Cutting out meat for just part of the day is enough to change the world. With his distinctive wit, insight and humanity, Jonathan Safran Foer presents this essential debate as no one else could, bringing it to vivid and urgent life, and offering us all a much-needed way out.
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We all need a little direction sometimes and this section is crammed full of great ideas for ways of improving your outlook, in all aspects of your wellbeing. Help from the shelf. From tips for good nutrition and taking care of your body (Optimism: Reflections on a Life of Action by Bob Brown) to coping with all the emotional situations in life, relationships, bereavements, stress, depression (Mind Whispering: A New Map to Freedom from Self-defeating Emotional Habits by Tara Bennett-Goleman). Discover the potential you have for being the ‘you’ you’ve always wanted to be or the ‘you’ you had no idea was in there.
Take a look at our monthly recommendations to find exactly what you’re looking for. Bear in mind though (and even ‘body and spirit’ too …), that just ‘reading’ them may not be enough. There’ll be homework!