"How history's greatest artists failed, floundered and made something brilliant anyway." The notion that famous artists were destined for greatness, somehow chosen or fated, and they they lead charmed lives is put under the microscope in this book. What the author explores is a less dramatic and more realistic truth: often artists are famous because …
"Why we dream and what it means for our health." We're currently in a social climate that doesn't value sleep and rest, and rewards busy-ness and productivity. When the author found out that most people aren't sleeping properly and a lot of people aren't hitting REM sleep, and therefore not dreaming, she became fascinated by …
"Proven Strategies, Profound Results." Emotional regulation and emotional intelligence are two of the most important skills for a happy, successful life. In Marc Brackett's latest book, he makes the point that these skills are the cornerstones of our lives, key to career, friendship, love, etc. And yet, these are not skills that are often talked …
Continue reading Dealing With Feeling: Use Your Emotions To Get The Life You Want by Marc Brackett
The new science of how hormones impact every aspect of our health. A lot has been said about hormones and how they can help and heal our bodies, or cause damage, but into all of this has been thrown a lot of pseudo-science and speculation. In this book, Dr Max Nieuwdorp, a University of Amsterdam …
Continue reading The Power Of Hormones by Max Nieuwdorp, MD PhD.
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
I guess the title of the book tells you it all. This book is a slim volume of broad bios of women who have done remarkable things. The women chosen for inclusion are really interesting. There's some of the ones you would expect, like Florence Nightingale or Marie Curie, but there's plenty of women from …
Continue reading Extraordinary Women In History by Leah Gail
Kati Morton has a popular YouTube and social media presence sharing her advice and knowledge of psychology with her viewers. This is her second book and focuses on trauma, PTSD and emotional stress, with a nod to issues arising from recent world events, like our increasing online lives and the pandemic. On the whole, it's …
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
