The tag line for this book is "How do to more of what matters to you" and it's focus is on the idea that the secret to productivity is joy and not discipline. The author is YouTuber Dr Ali Abdaal, who is a medical doctor, entrepreneur and productivity expert, and the book reflects his journey …
I was so excited when I requested this book, and it did not disappoint. People are basically decent, and the world is not as bad as you think. That's essentially the premise of this book. But it's not a light, fluffy, motivational book, it's actually a well researched and absolutely fascinating read. I came to …
Continue reading Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman
Jane Goodall is an naturalist and primatologist whose work revolutionised how we understand animal intelligence. From her work with chimpanzees and other animals in Gombe, Tanzania, she came to understand the impact that people had on ecology and so she also became an activist as well. She's now in her 80's and speaks regularly about …
Continue reading The Book Of Hope by Jane Goodall and Douglas Abrams
"Uncommon Advice from History's Least Likely Self-Help Guru." I was in my early teens when I first read Poe, which seems to be about the average time to start reading him. My copy of his stories had beautiful illustrations by Arthur Rackham, if I remember correctly, and I loved his dark stories of madness, horror …
Continue reading Poe For Your Problems by Catherine Baab-Muguira
Strawberry I've never been a very good gardener, but this year I've started to get the hang of it and it's really blooming out there on the balcony. We live in an apartment, so it's all pots, but there's a lot you can do on a balcony or windowsill that can be really rewarding as …
The authors of this book make up a pair called The Minimalists, who started a blog together and later a successful podcast about decluttering and simplifying your life. This book is partly their memoir of growing up under difficult circumstances and not having much, to leading lives of debt and unhappiness. At this point they …
Continue reading Love People Use Things by Joshua Fields Milburn & Ryan Nicodemus
John Paul Brammer is an LGBTQ writer and artist whose advice column, Hola Papi, was originally on a Grindr affiliated site. This book is his memoir, written in the form of advice letters or essays, and talks about the life and relationship lessons that he's learned. I loved this book so much. The authors voice …
When Samuel was 15, he took on an odd job one Summer moving boxes, and had an accident that changed his life forever. One of the boxes had an improperly stored jar of sulfuric acid which exploded and splashed his face and body, scarring him for life. He was lucky to be alive, and to …
With the way the world is today, friendship is more important than ever, helping us through and keeping us sane, giving us the emotional support. I felt like this book would be a good one to read and share with you all right now, so I took it on without realising that it was written …
Continue reading Big Friendship: How We Keep Each Other Close by Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman
Perhaps I'm lucky because I don't mind staying home too much, but even for someone like me, this lockdown is hard. We're all in it togerher, which definitely helps, but it's easy for sad thoughts and fear to creep in. Here's a list of things that are making me happy at the moment, maybe they'll …
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