Health & Wellbeing Books

Book SynopsisTaken together, the luminaries and five planets express a totality of our human nature and life concerns: our failings and deceptions, the changing conditions of our lives, and our possibilities for living abundantly. They account for both personal uniqueness and our lives as connected to the larger world. How have the original significance of these planets been reduced in modern astrology and at what cost? By reclaiming and redeveloping the significance of these seven planetary bodies, astrology can become more relevant to the real issues that people have. This book gives fascinating background on the development of these planets in the pre-modern world, as well as exploring new ways their traditions can be looked at today. Joseph Crane's scholarship and profound reverence for the importance of virtue and character in our troubled world is evident in his exploration of solar and lunar heroism, wisdom, friendship, and love, and his discussion of how to find these qualities in the natal chart. Wisdom seekers and astrologers of all kinds, looking to deepen their understanding and practice, will find this book a worthy guide.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements viii Introduction: Origins and Purposes ix Our Connected and Singular Lives xii Some Conventions and What Is Ahead xiii Chapter One: Astrology's Many Voices 1 Natal Astrology, Newer and Older 1 We All Want to Be Happy - But What is That? 3 Astrology's Polyphony 10 Astrological Applications 15 Part One: Living The Luminaries 25 Chapter Two: Soul and Will, After-Life and In-Life 27 Lunar and Solar Souls 27 The "I Will", "I Won't", and "I Can't" 31 Survival and Possibility: Two Examples 38 Calling and Being Called 43 Addiction: Paths of Misery and Redemption 46 Changes of Life: Spiritual Tranformations 49 Chapter Three: The Moon's Many Appearances 53 Astrology's Traditional Moon 53 The Body Moon 55 What Is Happening Right Now 61 The Rhythm (and Adaptation) Section 67 Moon and Saturn - Other Possibilities 69 Envy, Resentment, and the Lunar Side of Bigotry 70 Lunar Values and Heroics 72 Chapter Four: Astrology's Sun, Its Shadows, and the Stories We Tell 77 The Traditional Sun 77 How to Recognize a Solar Person 82 The Solar Luminary Develops Within Us 88 Pride Before, During, After the Fall 89 Identity and the Stories We Tell 92 The Imprint of History, Personal and Cultural 95 Chapter Five: Twelve Ways to Be Heroic 101 Solar and Lunar Heroes 100 Heracles as Solar-Hero and Everybody 102 Zodiacal Identity and Solar Heroism 105 Part Two: Planetary Excellence and Not So Much 115 Chapter Six: Planetary Character 117 Planets Dignified and Disposing 118 Who is in Charge Around Here? 126 Chapter Seven: The Wit and Wisdom of Mercury 131 Mercury's Households and a Tall Tale 132 Mercury and Realpolitik 134 The Excellences and Corruptions of Mercury 138 Great Things Come from Debilitated Planets 143 Mercury in Decline, Saturn as Remedy 148 Chapter Eight: Venus, For a Good Time 155 A Glittering Example 155 "The Fair Planet that Inclines Us to Love" 158 Venus in Contrast 159 The Sensory and the Sublime 161 Music and Love 163 Transcendent and Practical: Music and Marriage 166 Power and Sociability 170 Sex and Being Funny 173 The Life of The Rose 175 Venus and "Obscenity" 178 Chapter Nine: Mars: Good-Doer and No-Good Doer 183 Medieval Literary Elemental Mars 183 Quality, Sect and Dignity 184 Mars as People 186 My Favorite "Martian" 187 Mars with Other Purposes 189 Adversarial Mars 195

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Book SynopsisWhether we are exploring a new idea, new career, or new endeavour, we encounter self-doubt, fear of failure and risks. Drawing on behavioural economics, psychology, and self-leadership principles, these strategies/exercises will give you a jumpstart and position you for success immediately after launch. This book draws on Sanyin's experience in behavioural science and economics, interviews on innovation, and in mentoring entrepreneurs. It also draws on ideas such as turning failures into brilliant mistakes, and many more. Short, sharp, snappy and impactful. This book makes any launch achievable.Trade ReviewThe Launch Book is not just for adults. I would recommend this book for young readers who are hungry for advice and planning for the future. Sanyin is an authentic storyteller that will inspire you to take leaps that you did not know you could.--Asheesh Advani, President & CEO, Junior Achievement Worldwide.

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Book SynopsisAn absolutely charming book of doggy wisdom to help you through life’s peaks and troughs. Plum returns with a charming book of doggy wisdom to help you through life's peaks and troughs.Her first book, Plumdog, made her thousands of new friends. Every one of them will want Plum's guidance as she leads us on the Path to Perfection.Trade Review[It is] both funny and charming. * Bookseller *[Clark] has come up with a winner in this charming and wittily illustrated book of doggy wisdom; funny, quirky and full of character. * Your Dog *[It has] quirky, playful illustrations, she offers snippets of doggy wisdom to guide young and old readers through life’s peaks and troughs. * Daily Express, Book of the Year *

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Book SynopsisAre you plagued by constant negative dialogue running around in your head? Like the incessant quacking of a duck? In this powerful book, Bobby Cappuccio and Pete Cohen give you a host of great strategies and insights to help you to Shut The Duck Up! - for good!In this inspirational book, Bobby Cappuccio and Pete Cohen encourage you to make big life changes in ten little minutes. Bobby and Pete have spent years collecting the 50 secrets of personal change that will amaze, inspire and motivate you. And in this ground-breaking book, they help you to Shut The Duck Up! and replace the old, negative dialogue in your head with inspirational stories.Bobby Cappuccio and Pete Cohen are both television personalities, international speakers and trainers. They work with the world's largest companies to facilitate remarkable changes in their businesses.

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Book SynopsisEat Nourish Flourish is a 12 step plan and recipe book to enable you and your family to establish a healthy, sustainable relationship with the food you eat. It features 60 recipes which are not only healthy, hearty and delicious but they are also all simple-to-make, which is so important when you are trying to change the habits of the whole family. Written by food coach and mother of three Carey Davis-Munro, she knows only too well that for positive change to be sustainable, gain the support of your loved ones, and have a long-lasting impact, it needs to be a process. You'll need to bring your family along with you, throughout the education, the understanding, the planning, the cooking, and - of course - the passion. And that's where Eat Nourish Flourish comes in. There are many complex psychological reasons as to why we don't invest the time, energy, and money in healthy eating, so Carey primarily focuses on changing the relationship you have with food for the better. Alongside the 12 step plan, Carey has also created 60 flexitarian recipes which once you have restocked your food cupboard, are all simple to make whether it's a quick midweek tea, breakfast-on-the-go or a fully fledged evening meal. Standout dishes include Butternut Squash and Porcini Risotto, Aubergine Rogan Josh, Butternut Aloo and Raita and Baked Salmon Steaks with Ginger, Lime, Chilli and Tamari. Snacks and sweet treats include Crispy Chickpeas and Healthy Millionaires while there are also plenty of soups, salads and sides to choose from too. But this is so much more than a recipe book. It's about empowering you to make positive changes that will last and, ultimately, giving you and your family all the tools you need to live a long and healthy life.Trade Review"This book I think is going to be a game changer; from the minute I read it it gave me real ‘food for thought’ in every sense of the word! It explains and asks questions, gives you delicious recipes, and helps you really put the whole picture together. It’s both relevant and helpful and has recipe photos that ooze off the page!" - Emma Forbes, radio and television presenter As a new father, athlete and wellbeing advocate, I recognised long ago that food is key to performance at any level and health on all levels. It is not always easy, however, to break bad habits, or understand about the right foods to eat when we are bombarded with skewed marketing and supermarket shelves filled with products that offer very little nutrition. What Carey has done in this book is to skilfully combine her craft of coaching with the lessons from her personal food journey to offer those wishing to upgrade their choices and habits an invaluable tool to do so themselves. So much more than a recipe book, with some fabulous ideas for meals, snacks and healthier substitutes, Carey invites us all to examine our relationship with food, which is fundamental to longevity and quality of life. This is very much a book for NOW, when we should all be prioritising our physical and mental health and looking to our gut to provide us with immunity.- Leon Taylor, BBC commentator, mentor and wellbeing advocate ( Headspace trainer)

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Book SynopsisWe live in a society where people struggle to look death in the eye. Death has become the territory of professionals and we rarely see a dead body, unless it is someone very close to us. Death has become hidden, and so more traumatic. This book shows that, if we start talking openly about death, it can change the way we live. It is a collection of stories and images about death, dying and bereavement. People from all walks of life share their experiences and what they have learned from accompanying others. Heartbreaking, angry, questioning and contradictory - laugh-aloud funny, even - the stories illuminate, inspire, reassure and inform. They are accompanied by commentaries from professionals working in end-of-life planning, health, bereavement and funeral care.Trade Review'Telling stories is fundamental to enabling people to find meaning in life and its losses. By bringing together so many people's first-hand experiences of death and dying with the wisdom and knowledge of those who work in the "death industry", this excellent book enables us to prepare better for the end of our own life's journey and make our own 'departures' as good as possible - for us and for those we love and who care for us. It is a book not just for the bereaved and dying but, as the title rightly says, for the living too.' Julia Samuel, psychotherapist, speaker and author of Grief Works and This Too Shall Pass / 'Nothing can fully prepare us for death, but this fabulous book is as close as we'll get. More than any other book I've read on the subject, and I've read many, this gives you directions and permission to have the death you want, either for yourself or for someone you love. The shared stories of death are wise, moving, useful and sometimes funny, and the expert commentaries offer excellent advice without being too prescriptive. Of course, we may not get the death we imagined - it can be a messy and unpredictable business. But this book gave me the sense of joining in and contributing to the most important conversation we may ever have. We are all going to die, but how we do it really matters. So let's start listening and talking...' Phil Hammond, NHS doctor, broadcaster, writer and comedianTable of ContentsIntroduction, 1. Getting ready, 2. The departure lounge, 3. Far too soon - prenatal deaths, stillbirths and abortions, 4. The wisdom of children - children and young people, 5. Out of the blue - suicide, disappearance, accidents and acts of violence, 6. Dementia stories, 7. It's not all about humans - deaths of animals, 8. What is dying like? 9. Now what? Just after a death 10. The funeral, 11. Grieving and remembering, 12. Death as a teacher, 13. The wider view, Postscript: Covid-19

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Book SynopsisRates of diagnosis of psychiatric disorders in children, such as depression, ADHD and autistic spectrum disorders, have shot up in recent years. So too has the prescription of antidepressant and antipsychotic drugs and stimulants. Yet the diagnoses are based on weak science, questionable research and powerful financial incentives. In this updated edition of his powerful critique, consultant child psychiatrist Sami Timimi questions why Western societies routinely seek to manage children’s behaviour with dangerous medication. He offers a humane and child-centred alternative that is about understanding our children’s distress, not medicating it, and practical advice that all parents, carers and teachers will find helpful.Trade Review'Sami Timimi examines the complexity of children’s mental health from a subjective, rather than an objective, viewpoint that prioritises a humanities perspective over a scientific one. If you think that makes for a wishy-washy read, you’re wrong. Timimi draws on cultural norms and social constructs, classification systems, competition, globalisation and commodification to make sense of why children are more likely than ever to be diagnosed with a mental health ‘condition’ and treated as such. This might ‘satisfy our understandable thirst for certainty’ but, he warns, it betrays a ‘more important need for truth and honesty’. Truth and honesty are what this straight-talking book delivers in abundance. Prescription drugs are put on trial; so too, uncomfortably but necessarily, are the talking therapies. This is a little book that packs a big punch. A must-read for anyone interested in understanding more about children’s distress and how to help them manage it. Which should be all of us.' – Jeanine Connor, child and adolescent psychotherapist and editor of BACP Children, Young People & Families journal 'We live in a time when ever-increasing rates of ‘mental disorders’ are being diagnosed in our children and more children are being labelled and medicated. This concise, accessible book by a practising child psychiatrist offers a critical perspective on these important issues. Timimi draws on wider societal discourses and historical and cultural contexts to critique the diagnoses of ADHD, autism, and depression, the efficacy of medication to treat them and the validity of the so-called gold standard studies that underpin them. This book stimulates critical thinking, reflection and analysis and encourages the reader to question and explore the dominant narratives around ‘mental health disorders’ in children and their treatment. This book is a great addition to the critical psychiatry literature but should be read by parents and carers too who want a different perspective to mainstream psychiatric understandings of their children and how to help them.' – Dr Karen Treisman, MBE, clinical psychologist, organisational consultant, trainer and writer on children’s mental health. 'The mainstream mental health system that labels and pathologises is responsible for creating countless victims. Tragically, many of them are children. This book is critical reading for anyone who cares about the wellbeing of children. This should mean all of us.' – Jo Watson, founder of adisorder4everyone.com and editor of Drop the Disorder! and We are the Change-Makers. Review for the first edition of this book: ‘Trust Timimi, not the medical mouthpieces of the pharmaceutical establishment he demolishes.’ – Oliver James, author of They F**k You Up: How to survive family lifeTable of ContentsSeries introduction, 1. The work of culture, 2. Childhood in today’s world, 3. Common diagnoses, 4. Common treatments used with children and adolescents, 5. Getting help, References, Indexes.

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Book SynopsisUsing bisexuality as a frame, Go the Way Your Blood Beats questions the division of sexuality into straight and gay, in a timely exploration of the complex histories and psychologies of human desire. A challenge to the idea that sexuality can either ever be fully known or neatly categorised, it is a meditation on desire's unknowability. Interwoven with anonymous addresses to past loves - the sex of whom remain obscure - the book demonstrates the universalism of human desire. Part essay, part memoir, part love letter, Go the Way Your Blood Beats asks us to see desire and sexuality as analogous with art - a mysterious, creative force.

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Book SynopsisAre you considering studying pharmacology or pharmacy at university? Do you want to know more about the course? Or where it could take you? From employment prospects and places to work to finding funding and writing the personal statement, this fully revised and updated edition of Getting into Pharmacy and Pharmacology provides you with all the information and guidance to submit your application and start a career in one of the UK’s growing industries. Learn what it takes from experienced admissions tutors from top universities to have your application at the top of the pile. Getting into Pharmacy and Pharmacology Courses includes: - A typical day in the life of a pharmacy and pharmacology student - Examples of courses and teaching methods - The requirements of entry for different pharmacy and pharmacology courses - Future career paths and industries to work in Founded in 1973, MPW, a group of independent sixth-form colleges, has one of the highest number of university placements each year of any independent school in the UK and has developed considerable expertise in the field of applications strategy. They author the Getting Into Guides which explain the application process for many popular university subjects.Table of ContentsAbout the author Acknowledgements Introduction Chapter 1 What are pharmacy and pharmacology? Chapter 2 Studying pharmacy and pharmacology Chapter 3 Choosing your course Chapter 4 Work experience Chapter 5 The UCAS application process Chapter 6 Personal statement Chapter 7 Interviews Chapter 8 Non-standard applications Chapter 9 Results day Chapter 10 Fees and funding Chapter 11 Careers in pharmacy and pharmacology Further information Glossary

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Book SynopsisNot sure what path to take once you leave school? Worried about choosing the ‘right’ option? Don’t panic! Faced with mounting student debt, and stories of graduates left without a job, it’s understandable to ask whether going to uni is REALLY worth it. Other paths into the workplace are now well-established, and graduates report feeling ill equipped for the world of work. So, is going to uni the right choice for you? This practical guide will help you find your answer. Author Michael Tefula helps you consider this decision from several perspectives, and includes the stories and advice of students that have chosen a range of different paths. With practical exercises that will guide you through the decision-making process, Is Going to Uni Worth It? will help you: - Decide what path to take if you don’t know what career you’re aiming for - Deal with parent and teacher expectations about your future - Consider whether apprenticeships offer a strong enough alternative to a degree - Work out the real price tag of each path - Take into account your learning preference and ideal work environment This book will lead you to a well-thought-out answer to one of the biggest decisions you will ever make. Table of ContentsPart One: Before You Decide1. The Art of Making Smart Choices2. Learning to Think Independently3. Getting to Know Your Underlying Dreams and AspirationsPart Two: Possible Paths4. Going to University5. Doing an Apprenticeship6. Working Your Way Up7. Taking Time Out to ThinkPart Three: How to Decide: The Five Key Factors8. Your Career Options9. Your Learning Preferences10. The Financial Costs11. The Future Financial Rewards12. Your Social LifePart 4: Making Your Choice13. It's Decision TimeSumming Up: Is Going to Uni Worth It - for You?Acknowledgements References

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Book SynopsisA ONE STOP SHOP of accessible information for all early years students to help you succeed in your degree, increase your employability skills and develop as an ethical and critically reflective practitioner. Part one gives guidance for students about learning in HE specifically in the context of early childhood education and care, including course requirements, academic skills and core knowledge. Chapters cover students’ roles and responsibilities, safeguarding, understanding policy, and professionalism and ethical practice. The second part of the book looks explicitly at applying this knowledge and understanding in the workplace before tackling the final research project. Table of ContentsPart 1: Learning in higher education Preparing for university and making effective use of induction How to become competent and confident in your learning Becoming a critically reflective thinker and learner Critical reading, critical writing and referencing Assessment and feedback Understanding and using policy and legislation Learning in a digital age Exploring creativity Working with others at university Part 2: Applying learning to the workplace Learning in the workplace Becoming a reflective practitioner Safeguarding: understanding your responsibilities Learning to be an ethical practitioner Doing your research project What next?

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Book SynopsisWeaning Sense demystifies the weaning world helping you grow healthy tummies and happy babies (and mums) in no time! Packed full of delicious recipes, this book will help you feel less stressed and more informed when it comes to introducing your baby to solid food. Offering a weaning solution from expert authors based on your baby's sensory personality, this book helps you learn how to tap into your baby's cues on weaning and, using current research, gives you an easy-to-use, real food solution. As every baby is an individual, this book teaches you how to be mindful of your own baby's needs and advocates a collaborative baby-parent approach to help you know when is the best time to start weaning and what is the best technique to introduce them to solids. Chapters include:1. COLLAB weaning2. Cues3. Own person4. Led by science5. Age appropriate6. Baby friendly7. How to guide8. Ready stage, 4–6 months9. Steady stage, 6–10 months10. Go! stage, 10 months – toddler11. Recipes

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Book Synopsis'An amazing story of one woman's journey through mental illness... So inspiring and proving once again that exercise changes lives' Mel SykesSuffering from depression but desperate for 'normality', Rachel Cullen found herself in failing relationships, the wrong career and a reliance on alcohol and chocolate to get her through each day. Stuck in an endless cycle of mental misery, she put on a pair of old trainers. She'd never been able to think of herself as a 'runner' before, and the first time she forced herself out the door, she knew it would hurt. Everywhere. She just didn't realise how much it would heal her, too. Interspersed with Rachel's real diary entries, from teenage non-runner to London Marathon finisher (just months after giving birth), she questions if she really can outrun her demons.Trade ReviewBrave and inspiring, Running For My Life moved me to tears. It also moved me into my trainers and out for a run! -- Ruth FieldA searingly honest account of Rachel's amazing journey from sedentary teenager, lacking in confidence and self-esteem, through to accomplished and inspirational member of the running community. She kept me engaged from start to finish, with plenty of laughs along the way, and I'd thoroughly recommend this book to runners everywhere. -- Tom Williams, Global COO of parkrun and co-host of the Marathon Talk podcastIt's so inspirational to read how Rachel's discovery of a passion for running helped her to overcome her mental health struggles. For Rachel, running became so much more than purely keeping fit. It became something which enabled her to fully conquer the battles of severe anxiety and self-doubt. It's heartwarming to learn how Rachel has been able to -- Jo Pavey, medal-winning long-distance runnerI love this book for showing how with sheer determination and dogged tenacity you can overcome great difficulties, and that sport, from whatever point or age that you start, can change your life. She might even persuade me that one day I too could love running. -- Louise Minchin, BBC journalist and presenterWritten wittily, honestly and with a "take no crap" attitude, I could feel the warmth of [Rachel] as a person in her writing. Anyone who is hungry for change, looking for "the light" or even running their first marathon and needing a little insight; this book is FOR YOU! I loved every chapter of this book. -- Lipstick & Trainers blogWhat a heartfelt, moving, honest journey of self-discovery... this is a book you have to pick up in 2018. Rachel is a natural writer... I was laughing out loud at times, feeling sad at others, but most of all I was rooting for her the whole way through. -- Sissi Reads blogA rich, colourful and brutally honest account of one woman's fight to beat her mental health demons. Written with candid details and dark humour this book is a journey about a quest to live life in the happiest and healthiest way possible - chronicling all the ups and downs, the good, the bad and the downright ugly along the way! -- The Very Pink Notebook blogFull of heart and beautifully told... inspirational, melancholy and often very funny, it's kind of a road map of the inner soul - I loved it. -- Liz Loves Books blogI thought Running For My Life was excellent... honest, interesting and encouraging. I recommend it... to those who simply want a fascinating, surprisingly entertaining and informative read. It's a super book. -- Linda's Book Bag blog

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Book SynopsisUnlock your child’s potential by helping them build their strengths. As a strengths-based scientist for more than 20 years, Dr Lea Waters has witnessed first-hand how focusing on our children’s strengths, rather than correcting their weaknesses, can help build resilience and optimism, and offer protection from depression and anxiety. In this game-changing book, she argues that by throwing the ‘strength switch’ parents can encourage creativity, develop their children’s self-esteem and energy, and enhance achievement — and she offers easy-to-follow steps to teach parents how. With specific tips for interacting with your kids and your teens, The Strength Switch offers all the tools parents need to discover talents in their children, use positive emotions as a resource, build strong brains, and deal with problem behaviours and difficult emotions. This essential book will show parents how a small shift can yield enormous results.Trade Review‘Waters comes off as a thoughtful parenting realist … [her] clearly presented, easily implemented ideas will make sense to parents looking to escape the corrective mind-set that can make both them and their children feel defective or broken, especially in the children’s teen years.’ * Publishers Weekly *‘As parents, we often obsess about fixing our children’s weaknesses and neglect the importance of developing their strengths. This book is full of concrete ideas on how to change that.’ -- Adam Grant, PhD, New York Times bestselling author of Originals and Give and Take‘Practical tips for parents from the wise and wonderful Lea Waters! So many parents, including me, struggle to translate scientific research into real-world strategies. This terrific book not only helps us understand ourselves and our children better but also makes that understanding actionable!’ -- Angela Duckworth, PhD, New York Times bestselling author of Grit‘The Strength Switch gives parents hope that they can build their children’s creativity. By sharing parts of her own story of overcoming hardship, and presenting the latest science of positive psychology, Dr. Waters not only inspires parents to bring out the best in their children, but she inspires us all to be the best version of ourselves. A wise and warm book!’ -- Scott Barry Kaufman, co-author of Wired to Create: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Creative Mind‘Lea Waters points to a needed shift in the way we are parenting our children and teenagers. The Strength Switch rejects the current fad that drowns children in self-esteem and replaces it with research-based practices to help parents identify and develop their children’s best qualities. Inspiring and timely.’ -- Robert Biswas-Diener, co-author of The Upside of Your Dark Side‘This book will help you do something groundbreaking for your children — shift your view to see their best and help them develop their unique strengths. Follow the wisdom here and you will bring deep, lasting benefit to not only your child but yourself. Thanks to Dr. Lea Waters, strengths-based parenting has arrived!’ -- Ryan M. Niemiec, author of Character Strengths Interventions‘Lea Waters’ expertise, hope, and heart shine through the pages of The Strength Switch. She deftly draws on the science of positive emotions to help readers appreciate the vital role positivity plays in moving through hard times. This book will be a game-changer for unlocking your child’s potential.’ -- Barbara L. Fredrickson, author of Positivity and Love 2.0

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Book SynopsisIncludes recipes and a 28-day diet plan! Learn to heal depression, anxiety, brain fog, and other mental disorders without drugs. Every part of your body affects every other part of your body, and if any one area is not functioning properly, other systems will feel it, too. There is a fundamental connection between the brain, the gut, the microbiome, and the thyroid — which Dr Raphael Kellman calls ‘the whole brain’. In this lively, accessible book, he reveals how this system works to keep us healthy, and how, by making small changes, we can use it to heal mood and mental disorders without drugs. With a practical guide featuring meal plans, an exercise program, and a program of daily meditations and affirmations, The Whole Brain Diet will benefit people diagnosed with depression or anxiety, and those who just want to feel better in themselves.Trade ReviewPraise for The Microbiome Diet: ‘The leading edge of medical research is focused on the fundamental role of our microbiome in influencing every aspect of health and longevity. In The Microbiome Diet, Dr. Kellman masterfully presents a life-enhancing, actionable plan based on this emerging science in a way that is user-friendly, for all of us.’ —David Perlmutter, MD, author of the New York Times bestseller Grain Brain ‘Manage your microbiome for fast fat loss? Based on cutting-edge research, The Microbiome Diet shows you how optimal gut health can leave you lean, vibrant, sexy, and looking years younger. Filled with delicious recipes and practical, easy-to-implement strategies to become your healthiest self, I couldn't put this book down!’ — JJ Virgin, CNS, CHFS, author of the New York Times bestseller The Virgin Diet‘After decades of treating patients for depression, gastrointestinal problems, low thyroid, and a multitude of other ‘mysterious’ ailments, pioneer in holistic and functional medicine Dr. Raphael Kellman has connected the dots between the brain, the gut, the microbiome, and the thyroid. The Whole Brain Diet offers his groundbreaking plan to diminish anxiety and depression—and to give you more energy and vitality.’ -- Izabella Wentz, PharmD, FASCP, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Hashimoto’s Protocol‘With depression affecting more than 300 million people worldwide, a path to healing that takes into account multiple factors is long overdue. In The Whole Brain Diet, Dr. Raphael Kellman shares his groundbreaking research, showing the intimate connections between the gut, microbriome, thyroid, and brain, and then offers a proven, holistic plan that doesn’t rely on prescription medication.’ -- Mark Hyman, MD, Director of Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Functional Medicine, the Founder of The UltraWellness Center, ten-time #1 New York Times bestselling author‘Dr. Kellman has long been on the cutting-edge of health and science. Now, he introduces his groundbreaking concept of The Whole Brain Diet: If you want to improve brain function—if you want your mind to be focused, your memory to be sharp, and your mood to be hopeful—start with a healthier microbiome, heal your gut, and balance your thyroid. This book will show you how.’ -- Dr. Terry Wahls, author of The Wahls Protocol: A Radical New Way to Treat All Chronic Autoimmune Conditions‘Dr. Kellman has identified an interconnected system of organs he calls 'the whole brain.' He teaches you to control your anxiety, depression, and chronic fatigue starting with the microscopic world and working your way up from there. The Whole Brain Diet offers both a profound message and practical tools to own your mental states without medication. Highly recommended.’ -- Dave Asprey, founder and CEO of Bulletproof‘Kellman is a rare kind of doctor. An innovative functional medicine physician? Indeed, he is that — but he helps his patients heal with the spiritual wisdom of a Rabbi. His latest book, The Whole Brain Diet, connects the dots between your gut, microbiome, thyroid, and brain. Not only does it present actionable lifestyle remedies to help you heal physically and mentally it also offers a deeply spiritual understanding of the will to heal.’ -- Donna Gates, author of The Body Ecology Diet‘If you're one of the millions of US adults experiencing anxiety or depression, and you're looking for natural solutions, you'll want to read The Whole Brain Diet by Raphael Kellman, MD … [it] helps readers get started with healing from the inside out.’ * Taste for Life *‘In The Whole Brain Diet, Raphael Kellman, MD shares strategies that nourish the gut to lift mood, ease anxiety and end brain fog-for life!’ * Closer *

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Book SynopsisNew York Times bestselling author Charles Graeber tells the astonishing story of the group of scientists working on a code that can enable the human immune system to fight — and perhaps even cure — cancer. For decades, scientists have puzzled over one of medicine’s greatest mysteries: why doesn’t our immune system fight cancer the way it does other diseases? The answer is a series of tricks that cancer has developed to turn off normal immune responses — tricks that scientists have only recently discovered, and now are learning to defeat. We are in the midst of a revolution in our understanding of cancer and how to beat it. Groundbreaking, riveting, and expertly told, The Breakthrough is the story of the game-changing and Nobel Prize-winning scientific discoveries that unleash our natural ability to recognise and defeat cancer, as told through the experiences of the patients, physicians, and immunotherapy researchers who are on the front lines. This is the incredible true story of the race to find a cure, and the definitive account of a historic moment in medical science.Trade Review‘Only Graeber, one of America's greatest non-fiction writers, could take a subject so complex, dense and sprawling and turn it into a rollicking high-tension medical thriller. Masterful.’ -- Douglas Rogers, award-winning journalist and author of The Last Resort‘A gripping chronicle of the 100-year overnight success of immunotherapy. For myself and millions of other cancer survivors, The Breakthrough is a book of immense and essential hope.’ -- Michael Fitzgerald, co-founder and CEO of Submittable and author of Radiant Days‘There is no villain more ruthless than cancer, which has robbed us all of loved ones who had to endure untold suffering before they succumbed. But after decades of frustration and toil, scientists finally understand how to vanquish the disease by activating the human body's natural defences. The intimate stories behind this triumph lie at the heart of Charles Graeber's The Breakthrough, an expertly crafted and exhilarating account of life-saving ingenuity at its most dazzling. You will never encounter another book so incisive about the art of medical sleuthing, or so poetic about our innate drive to hold on to all that's beautiful in this world for as long as we can.’ -- Brendan I. Koerner, Wired contributing editor and author of The Skies Belong to Us‘Lucid and informed … Graeber gives readers a basis for both understanding the challenges involved and for cautious optimism that a cure can be found.’ * Publishers Weekly *‘Graeber concisely reviews the science of cancer … The risks of tinkering with an intricate immune system are obviously high, even perilous. But the potential reward is a cure. Exciting reading.’ * Booklist *‘Imagine a vaccine that could cure cancer. As this book reports, that possibility may not be far off … [T]he book offers hope for more effective treatments in the near future. A readable survey of the emerging field of immunotherapy in cancer treatment.’ * Kirkus *‘In Mr Graeber’s hands, the evolution of immuno-oncology is both captivating and heartbreaking.’ -- David A. Shaywitz * The Wall Street Journal *‘Graeber’s writing is swift and clear, as if he can barely contain his enthusiasm for the subject — and, in fact, he can’t contain it ... One or two chapters are weighted down by talk of cell division and the like but, for the most part, Graeber paints vivid portraits of people who have cancer or are trying to conquer it ... a rare and thrilling thing: a hopeful, even inspiring, book about cancer.’ -- Chris Hewitt * Minneapolis Star Tribune *‘The extraordinary story of how medical research may finally have made the ultimate breakthrough – a cure for cancer.’ -- Bianca Nogrady * Sydney Morning Herald *‘The new book by Charles Graeber, The Breakthrough: Immunotherapy and the Race to Cure Cancer, artfully traces the history of old and new developments that may have — finally — resulted in an actual cure for the most dreaded of all diseases.’ -- Mimi Swartz * The New York Times *‘Fascinating and engaging … Written with the verve and tension of a medical thriller, Graeber vividly brings to life the scientists and physicians on the front-line battle with cancer and details in simple terms their efforts and breakthroughs.’ * Canberra Weekly *‘The Breakthrough not only provides good background and good understanding for patients, but is also a wonderful read, a book easily picked up but not easily put down — I'd recommend it for any patient interested in immunology of cancer.’ -- Dr. James L. Gulley MD, PhD, Director of Medical Oncology, Chief of Immunology, National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH)‘Crisp and suspenseful ... an inspiring medical narrative.’ * BBC *‘Graeber does it again. He takes a complex topic — this time advances in cancer treatment — and weaves an engaging narrative that engages you to the end. With cancer as a leading cause of illness and death, this book is a timely and important account of the challenges and possibilities for new horizons in cancer treatment.’ -- Diana J. Mason, PhD, Senior Policy Service Professor (George Washington University School of Nursing), Professor Emerita (Hunter College, City University of New York)‘[A] deft, detailed study of cancer immunotherapy ... From the once-discredited pioneer William Coley to immunologist and Nobel laureate James P. Allison, they form a brilliant, driven, admirably stubborn group that Graeber brings vividly to life.’ * Nature *‘Fascinating ... [Graeber] weaves human stories with accounts of scientific progress, looking beyond the “cut, burn, and poison techniques” — surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy — to focus on the myriad ways the immune system can attack cancer, and provides hope that a cure might not be beyond imagination.’ * The National Book Review *‘The Breakthrough, reads like a crime thriller because that's what it is — the true story of a dedicated, persistent group of doctors and scientists stalking a killer: cancer … Brilliant.’ * Australian Financial Review *‘An entertaining and moving portrait of [Charles Graeber’s] trade ... As skilled a wordsmith as a surgeon.’ -- Robin Osborne * GPSpeak *Praise for The Good Nurse: ‘A stunning book … that should and does bring to mind In Cold Blood … the story appeals to prurient interests, as does any graphic tale of true crime. But The Good Nurse succeeds in being about much more than Mr. Cullen's murderous kinks. The causes of his pathology are not interesting. But the eagerness of ambitious hospital administrators to cover up his misdeeds is revelatory. And the police investigation that brought him down is a thriller in every sense of that word.’ * New York Times *Praise for The Good Nurse: ‘The most terrifying book published this year. It is also one of the most thoughtful … From a long series of conversations with Cullen, the detectives who solved the case and Amy, a nurse who once was Cullen's best friend and eventually got him to confess, among many other sources, Graeber has crafted a book that is a revelation. The Good Nurse is gripping, sad, suspenseful, rhythmic and beautifully documented (the endnotes to this book are impressive).’ * Kirkus Reviews *Praise for The Good Nurse: ‘Graeber doesn't pull punches … A deeply unsettling addition to the true crime genre.’ * Publishers Weekly *Praise for The Good Nurse: ‘Engrossing … hard-to-put-down … On one level, The Good Nurse is an absorbing story of a serial killer operating within the walls of what most view as a trusted institution. On another, it's an intriguing detective story. And on another it's an indictment of the hospital industry.’ * The New Jersey Star-Ledger *Praise for The Good Nurse: ‘A remarkable new book … gripping and brilliantly written.’ * Healthcare Risk Management *

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Book SynopsisAn intense, lyrical, witty, and humane exploration of a state we too often consider only superficially. At once philosophical and poetical, Insomnia ranges widely over history and culture, literature and art, exploring a threshold experience that is intimately involved with trespass and contamination: the illicit importing of day into night. Trade Review'Every insomniac knows how sleeplessness warps and deforms reality. Marina Benjamin anatomises its endless nights and red-eyed mornings, finding a sublime language for this strange state of lack. Her writing is often reminiscent of Anne Carson: beautiful, jagged and precise.' -- Olivia Laing, author of The Lonely City‘A sublime view of the treasures and torments to be found in wakefulness. Entertaining and existential, the brightest star in this erudite, nocturnal reverie in search of lost sleep, is the beauty of the writing itself.’ -- Deborah Levy, author of Hot Milk‘Marina Benjamin is the Scheherazade of sleeplessness, spinning tale upon tale, insight upon insight, in frayed and astonishing and finally ecstatic loops.’ -- Francis Spufford, author of Golden Hill‘Benjamin writes beautifully. This is a graceful rumination on the ‘wicked kind of trespass’ that is insomnia, a work cogent and allusive as a lucid dream, a palimpsest of insights to dip into, day or night.’ -- Anna Funder author of Stasiland and All That I Am‘Insomnia reads with the surreal and suspended cadence of those lonely hours in the night that only the sleep-less experience. It is, therefore, a kind and intimate companion to our meandering, agitated, non-knowing, spiritually naked thoughts at such hours. Keep it by your bedside lamp!’ -- Sarah Wilson, author of First, We Make the Beast Beautiful‘Will nurture you at any wakeful hour.' -- Joanne Limburg‘A few years ago, I signed up for a sleep therapy group that was strikingly similar to the one Benjamin goes through for her own insomnia in her aptly named book Insomnia. What was most unsettling about this group was our sleep therapist's insistence that our individual struggles with sleep were neither as exceptional nor as debilitating as we insisted they were. With seemingly no way out of our sleepless nights, we had chosen to burnish them and, as Benjamin quotes from a shrink, we fell “in love with our neuroses”. What Benjamin accomplishes with her book is to capture the contradiction of not wanting to be alone and wanting to be the only one that so many insomniacs experience. Writing not just about her own experience, but of fellow insomniacs throughout history, she seems to argue that insomnia gifts as much as it robs, and that insomniacs are, in the end, as protective of their sleeplessness as the snippets of rest they manage to steal. Having finished her book, I am happier to belong to this particular clan. To lie awake in solidarity.’ -- Lillian Li, author of Number One Chinese Restaurant‘Benjamin’s impassioned and elegant memoir is not just an intimate account of a disorder for which there is still no straightforward cure, but a defiant celebration of its paradoxical potential … This provocative, at times anguished book has by the end completely overthrown our expectations by repositioning insomnia as a form of resistance, linked to the author’s own freedom to create.’ -- Elizabeth Lowry * The Guardian *‘Anyone who has suffered through the wide-eyed hell of a sleepless night will find something painfully recognisable in Marina Benjamin’s searingly honest memoir about her years battling for rest … Insomnia has a dreamlike quality, structured as a series of fragmented and sometimes unrelated thoughts and memories … [There are] moments of stunning poetry, suddenly interrupted by passages of fevered introspection … At its heart this is a book about desire, and the constant dynamic tussle between hunger and satiation. What does it mean to exist on the threshold of darkness and light?’ -- Lucy Hunter Johnston * Evening Standard *‘A genre of memoir currently in vogue involves entwining the author’s personal story with the cultural history of a given phenomenon, so that each may illuminate the other. Mellow introspection and anecdotal whimsy are spliced with tidbits of cultural criticism … Benjamin’s is a refreshingly grounded and sanguine voice.’ -- Houman Barekat * The Spectator *‘A beautiful book to keep you awake.’ -- Philip Hoare‘Clever, wise and witty — and ever so slightly cosmic too. This is for us who know what it is to be forlorn at 3am ...’ * Shahidha Bari *‘A wonderful, sometimes painful compendium of thoughts about sleeplessness and its meanings. I recognised its nocturnal terrain.’ -- Gerard Woodward‘This is a really wonderful book — good for night owls too, even if you are not an insomniac. And just for those who are interested in the imagination and creativity.’ -- Diana Henry‘Marina Benjamin’s slim meditation on sleeplessness makes for interesting bedtime reading … Art, philosophy and science jostle together, the fragments flowing in and out of each other. Things that seem unrelated on the surface become entwined with one another.’ * Oh Comely *‘As well as a very personal account, it is also a very idiosyncratic cultural history of sleeplessness, a poetic meditation on what we lose and what we gain from these unwilled encounters with brute night. The fragmented structure fits well with the subject, and Benjamin is excellent at describing the jagged loops and whirrs of a mind failing to find rest.’ -- Ella Walker * The Herald *‘A beautiful, lyrical and intelligent memoir that examines those hours in which we lie awake in the dark … this is an elevating and illuminating read about that experience. So next time you can’t sleep, reach for this book.’ -- Marta Bausells, ‘Book Club’ * Elle *‘[Insomnia is] a memoir in roving fragments that mirror the workings of a sleepless mind.’ -- Lilly Dancyger * Vulture *‘It’s a book about insomnia’s existential and somatic qualities … Insomnia is a striking reminder of how strange we remain to ourselves. We spend a third of our lives in sleep, but our relationship with that condition is, as Benjamin describes it, “perverse” and “fundamentally embattled”. Read this at night at your own peril.’ * The Saturday Paper *‘Reading Marina Benjamin’s memoir, Insomnia, has made me feel less alone in all that sleeplessness. She has made me feel seen … Insomnia is a lyrical, thoughtful meditation on sleeplessness. It’s about Odysseus and Penelope, Oedipus and Athena, Nabokov and Gilgamesh, and Rumi and Robinson Crusoe. It’s about art and literature and mythology and creativity and productivity and peace. It’s not about fixing it so much as understanding it. It’s a book to make you feel less alone.' * Refinery29 *‘Ought to be read not as self-help, but as an addition to that venerable philosophical genre, the consolation. It might keep you awake, but in solving and inquiring company’ -- Brian Dillon * 4Columns *‘Rich with imagery … One does not read it in a linear sense as dip in to absorb it piece by piece. Like the consciousness of the insomniac, it feels unmoored by temporal reality.’ -- Nicky Woolf * New Statesman *‘For anyone sleep deprived, this will offer unexpected comforts.’ * Saga Magazine *‘Elegant.’ -- Colin Grant * The Observer *‘A darkly thrilling beauty of a book … Benjamin’s talent is Arachne-like. The materials she integrates are eclectic, and the resulting constructed web of her thoughts is architecturally robust and resplendent with dazzling prose.’ -- Tali Lavi * Australian Book Review *‘A short, ludic book about long white nights ... [Benjamin] writes feelingly about the frustrations of being awake when you don’t want to be ... Her moans about her futile thought-loops alternate with flattering descriptions of her radiant nocturnal consciousness.’ -- Zoë Heller * The New Yorker *‘Insomnia is not so much a lament for lost oblivion as a defiant hymn to the wild isle of Insomnia.’ -- Fiona Capp * Sydney Morning Herald *‘Whatever the roots of her insomnia, in this book, Marina Benjamin embraces her condition and effects an alchemical transformation of it into something rich and strange … Benjamin’s willingness to look at her world “at a tilt” allows her vision of profusion and creative potentiality to illuminate, and set against, the terrors of the night.’ -- Howard Cooper * Jewish Chronicle *‘[Insomnia] will provoke you to think more deeply about sleeping and wakefulness — the mythology and politics of something we take for granted, until it eludes us.’ -- Sarah Ditum * In The Moment *‘Candid … thought-provoking.’ * New Books *‘Conjuring a spell over those dark hours that threaten to overtake her, Benjamin’s writing, like Scheherazade’s fables, manipulates and even dispels time. One finishes her book as if emerging, ironically, out of a dream: we cannot say how long it lasted, only that the sensation will, we hope, stay with us for a while.’ -- Rajat Singh * The Rumpus *‘Velvety ruminations on night wakefulness ... Benjamin’s mind works like a wide-roving trawler that rakes an area repeatedly before moving on to adjacent territory ... Insomnia turns out to be somewhat of a celebration of sleeplessness as well as a lament ... and is filled with memorable images.’ -- Heller McAlpin * NPR *‘A work that takes its structure from the insomniac’s mind, flitting restlessly between ideas to build what may be described as a philosophical portrait of sleeplessness ... This strange, entrancing book is in many ways a love letter, albeit one to a particularly irritating lover. Benjamin wants, she writes, “to flip disruption and affliction into opportunity, and puncture the darkness with stabs of light”.’ -- Jane McCredie * Weekend Australian *'Best read at those hours of night when sleep is elusive, this magical book is a series of meditations and cultural explorations into a state that at some time affects us all.' -- Thomas Arnold Fanning, author of Mind on FirePraise for The Middlepause: ‘Benjamin has conjured something philosophically poised and poetic from an unlikely subject, as much about the sanctuary of place and coming to terms with time, seasons and life’s cycles, and all rendered with clarity and calm.’ * The Saturday Age *Praise for The Middlepause: ‘Lucid and sophisticated … A restrained but wonderful guide to the convulsive changes of 50 and over … This is a book that yields valuable insights on almost every page.’ * The Guardian *Praise for The Middlepause: ‘Women do a lot of things to mark turning fifty. Go to a resort! Have a bang-up party! Far, far better: read The Middlepause.’ * Jill Lepore, author of The Secret History of Wonder Woman *

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Book SynopsisThe perfect introduction to mindfulness, with an explanation of how it works, inspirational quotations and practical exercises for every day. Mindfulnessness is a practical, easy way to find peace in today's frantic world. You don't need a mat or a special room or to go on a retreat. You can work it into your daily routine – even at your desk. Mindfulness is about intensely living in the moment – being aware of your sensations, your thoughts and feelings and the world around you. It's like taking a holiday from your stresses and worries, helping to refresh you and give you a new perspective on what has been troubling you. This little book is a perfect introduction to mindfulness, with an explanation of how it works, inspirational quotations and practical 10-minute exercises for every day. There are attractive illustrations throughout to make it a perfect gift for yourself and others.

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Book SynopsisNow What? Is a reference book and guide offering practical advice to teenagers as they approach the key decisions regarding their futures, whether it be careers, university, apprenticeships or something else. The follow up to the No. 1 bestselling Amazon career guide, 'Is your school lying to you?' offers all new insights into the need for self reliance, adaptability and entrepreneurial spark to navigate and succeed in the new, post pandemic marketplace they'll be entering as adults. An honest, fresh and deliberately unacademic take on the evergreen issue of how best to advise teens on their choices free from bias and parental expectation. Now What? Challenges the myth that school will take care of this and empowers students to embrace their opportunities, achieve their goals and through self reliance, realise their ambitions.

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Book SynopsisMore Taste & Less Waste is all about creating fabulous food whilst minimising food waste. Not only is decreasing waste the socially responsible thing to do, but it can save you money too! Discover this stunning cookbook packed with handy tips and an enticing collection of 80 clever recipes that can make food waste a thing of the past . Each delicious recipe has a stunning colour photograph, nutritional information, cook's tips and information on preparation, storage and freezing. All the recipes serve 2 (but can easily be doubled or tripled to serve more) except the batch cooking in the Make & Freeze chapter; these serve more. As all have been triple-tested, you can be sure they'll work every time and taste amazing.Table of ContentsIntroduction; Shopping & Meal Planning; Storage & Preparation; Tips for Using Up Ingredients; Perfect Portions; Take One Ingredient: Make Two Meals; Take One Ingredient: Make Three Meals; Make & Freeze; Index.

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Book SynopsisShantigarbha shows how we connect with each other in the space that opens up when we let go of our ideas of good and bad, right and wrong. When we feel safe and connected to ourselves, we don't need to use these labels, and we are also connected to the people around us with a sense of compassionate presence, intense closeness and empathy. To empathize with others, we need to learn how to empathize with ourselves, so that when we reach out, we do so from the inside out. To support this, in each chapter there are practical exercises for individual or group study. Shantigarbha also shows how through this empathy we can find a way to stay connected to our humanity, and contribute to a more peaceful world.Trade ReviewA timely book with the growing recognition in science, psychology and business of the important function of empathy and the painful consequences of the lack of empathy. Shantigarbha shows the essential links between mindfulness, empathy and compassion as expressions of a well integrated heart and mind. This book is essential reading for those who wish to explore this important area of inner work. - Christopher Titmuss, Insight Meditation teacher, co-founder of Gaia House retreat centre; An excellent book on empathy that teases out the centrality of this value in Buddhism as the foundation for the cultivation of compassion and loving kindness. In applying this and other insights to the therapeutic contexts of mindfulness and non-violent communication, he provides a sound conceptual basis for these therapies and illustrates concrete ways in which Buddhist practices can be realized in the world we live in today without having to subscribe to the doctrines or beliefs of traditional Buddhism. - Stephen Batchelor, Buddhist teacher and author, co-founder of Sharpham College

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Book SynopsisBuddhist meditator and scholar Bhikkhu Analayo introduces the Buddhist backgrounds to mindfulness, ranging from mindful eating to its formal cultivation as satipatthana (the foundations of mindfulness). He also offers a historical survey of the development of mindfulness in different Buddhist traditions. Providing an accessible guide, he offers practical exercises on how to develop mindfulness. The orally transmitted early teachings examined here provide a range of perspectives on mindfulness, with a clear overarching focus on the role of mindfulness in the path to `awakening', to an understanding of reality as it is. Analayo shows how mindfulness is a central tool for recognizing the influence of greed, anger and delusion, and how to emerge from these to progress on the path of practice to liberation. He shows how mindfulness brings about a clear vision of reality, fostering a gradual freeing of the mind from these influences, and enabling us to be more fully in touch with what is taking place and remain in the present; we learn to slow down and come to our senses. As well as being directed within, Analayo demonstrates how mindfulness helps us discern how what we do impacts others, and thus naturally strengthens our compassion, helping us avoid harming others and ourselves. Mindfulness is something to be practised, and at the end of each chapter Analayo provides instructions for developing mindfulness step by step, bringing it into our personal experience.Trade Review'A wise and helpful presentation of essential elements of the Buddha's teaching . . . it will be of great value for those who wish to put these teachings into practice. A wonderful Dharma gift.' - Joseph Goldstein, author of Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening; 'A gold mine for anyone who is working in the broad field of mindfulness-based programs for addressing health and wellbeing in the face of suffering - in any or all of its guises.' - Jon Kabat-Zinn, author of Meditation Is Not What You Think: Mindfulness and Why It Is So Important; 'Bhikkhu Analayo offers simple skilled mindfulness practices for each of the dimensions of this book. Open-minded practices of embodied mindfulness are described, beginning with eating and health, and continuing with mindfulness examining mind and body, our relation to death, and the nature of the mind itself. Significantly, by highlighting the earliest teachings on internal and external mindfulness, Bhikkhu Analayo shows how, individually and collectively, we can use mindfulness to bring a liberating understanding to ourselves and to the pressing problems of our global, social, modern world. We need this more than ever.' - Jack Kornfield, from the Foreword

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Book SynopsisYou're diagnosed with an aggressive cancer - what do you do? Devamitra - English actor and Buddhist teacher - describes the discomforts and indignities of being treated for prostate cancer. He also draws on the deep well of his Buddhist practice to work with his mind and meet fear, uncertainty and frailty with resolve. It is an entertaining read, full of wit and fantastically funny dialogue. If you or someone you know is facing a cancer diagnosis, this book will help light your way.Trade ReviewI read this book in one sitting! It is very amusing for such a fearful subject and demystifying in its impact. Devamitra captured it optically in one's mind and poetically, 'Life is gossamer at the mercy of shifting winds.' It has real whimsical charm. I hope it is read by many, especially men. - Corrine Bougaard, Founder, Artistic Director and Producer, Union Dance; Devamitra has written a compelling book about his cancer journey that straddles a wide range of emotions: gruelling, funny, poignant and uplifting. As a reader you are drawn into his world as he undergoes particularly challenging cancer treatment, whilst always maintaining a uniquely wry, even amused, perspective on life and death. All the way through he reflects on what Buddhism has to offer his predicament, and clearly the strength of his practice helps him to not only navigate this journey with character, but to emerge enriched. The timeless teachings of the Buddha are truly tested in the fires of his experience, and the confidence and faith he finds in these teachings can inspire confidence and faith in all of us. - Vidyamala Burch, co-founder of Breathworks, author of Living Well with Pain and Illness and Mindfulness for Health; Entertaining Cancer: The Buddhist Way is a remarkable book - honest, lucid, unflinching, funny and radical in its willingness to confront the facts of life and death. Devamitra's book tells the story of prostate cancer, and how his Buddhist practice met the challenges of diagnosis and treatment, even how cancer led to the deepening of his Buddhist practice and his love of life. Entertaining Cancer: The Buddhist Way is not just for those struggling with illness or the fear of death; anyone interested in how Buddhism can help us live with courage, wit and generosity will find answers in this book. - Maitreyabandhu, author of Life with Full Attention and The Journey and the Guide; Devamitra, a senior member of the Triratna Buddhist Order, provides a very entertaining memoir on his prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment. It is an acutely observed and often painful account of a long ordeal, yet one liberally laced with wit and irony, gratitude and compassion. He writes fluidly and candidly, revealing the frustrations, joys and contradictions of modern health care, with pithy and amusing sketches of the situations and personalities he encounters. Although the subject is serious, he writes with a light touch and always warmly. Many changeable thoughts and feelings come with the almost uncountable succession of ills afforded by the treatment, in stark contrast with the trivial presenting symptom of his cancer. The narrative flows easily, revealing almost incidentally to this reader, how life is on the 'other side' of the consulting desk; the interminable hours in the chemotherapy suite, holding a tight bladder under the 'Saturn' or 'Mars' radiation unit; and enduring the punishment of his legs, at one time becoming incessantly restless, another time lifeless with fatigue. There is systemic enervation that confines him to bed, a numbness that impairs finger function, the skin changes, fingernails and hair fall out and more. Yet consolation comes in the way of music and from the love and care of friends. Devamitra writes movingly of his appreciation for their help, his affection for them equal to his love for the Buddha's teaching and path, and how this savage trial provides opportunity for deep understanding of the impermanent and conditional nature of human life. He realizes how much he longs to live only for the Buddha's teaching and to communicate it, to reach out to those suffering and in need. Whenever the time comes for the author to leave us, this heartfelt, humorous and insightful account will no doubt be his 'parting kiss'. - Siladasa (Dr Mark R. Newton, FRACP); Quite often stories about cancer are framed in terms of a battle. This isn't always helpful, as it implies that disease progression means defeat or failure on the part of the sufferer. Devamitra frames his account with interweaving themes of struggle, victory and setback, yes, but also of calm and insight. He brings to the story his physicality as a serious, life-long swimmer; his variable energy levels from the disease and the treatment; the importance of friendship; and the impact of words spoken during consultations with his doctors, nurses and acupuncturist. We hear this story flavoured with his love of romantic poetry, his deep engagement with Buddhist teachings and practice, and his devotion to his teacher. I got to know Devamitra well in 1978, when he led the Buddhist retreat during which I joined the Triratna Buddhist Order. Our lives have intertwined since then in many ways, no doubt with some disagreements along the way! What a pleasure to read this book and get closer to the man and his wry, entertaining but deep reflections on life, cancer and everything. - William Stones, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and researcher in global health; Who would have thought that having cancer could be so instructive - and at times so amusing? Devamitra writes of his experiences with a style unique to him: beautifully crafted, engaging, witty, poignant, reflective and always disarmingly honest. If you have not had cancer you will surely understand what it means from reading this book. And if you have it now you will find a companion here who has faced with courage and clarity the terrors and indignities of this great test of character. Devamitra faces his test as a Buddhist, but he wears his Buddhism lightly, even though it is Buddhism that guides him through it. For him Buddhism is simply the truth about life, not a set of dogmatic beliefs, and so his writing is relevant whether or not you are a Buddhist. I recommend this book very highly. - Subhuti, author of Mind in HarmonyTable of ContentsAuthor's Acknowledgements Publisher's Acknowledgements Prologue Chapter 1 Diagnosis Chapter 2 Chemo Limbo - Impact Chapter 3 Chemo Sostenuto Chapter 4 Chemo's Parting Kiss Chapter 5 Chemo's Ghost Chapter 6 Susie and the Skunk Chapter 7 Living Paradoxes Chapter 8 Surviving Chapter 9 Testosterone Toll Epilogue Notes and References

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Book SynopsisThe Power of Authenticity: Three Principles of Leadership Success is a fascinating and candid account of the obstacles and triumphs that Dr Raja Al Gurg faced on her path to becoming one of the most influential businesswomen in the Arab world. Dr Al Gurg is the Chairperson and Managing Director at the Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group, an eminent family business in the UAE. In The Power of Authenticity she gives invaluable insight into the lessons she learned first as a secondary school principal before climbing the ladder of a diversified conglomerate that represents businesses ranging from retail to real estate. As a respected business leader in the region, Dr Al Gurg has defied conventional understandings about women in the Middle East, acknowledging that it was her handling of these all-too-pervasive challenges that ultimately shaped her leadership style and fostered her drive for success. Turning setbacks into strategies, she shares with readers the tactics and tools that she has gleaned from her illustrious career that will inspire the next generation of business leaders. Perfect for fans of Sheryl Sandberg, Indra Nooyi and Kashmir Maryam, Dr Al Gurg's lessons, and how they relate to her background and broader business philosophy, are a unique and essential contribution to literature on an increasingly competitive and diverse corporate world. By harnessing the emotional, intellectual, and spiritual energy that resides within each person, Dr Al Gurg explains how a leadership style based on personal authenticity can lead to business success. Along the way she considers What does it take to steer a company? How can a failure be turned into an advantage? How can women business leaders break down barriers and make a difference in the corporate world? Confident and encouraging, The Power of Authenticity answers these questions, and many more.

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Book Synopsis Recipes for natural cleaning products from green living blogger Wendy Graham. Learn how to make your home smell as fresh as a daisy with these eco-friendly, money-saving, germ-busting recipes. Using a base of essential oils and natural ingredients, these cleaning products are easy to make, are kinder to your skin and to the environment, while being as effective as any shop-bought solution. The recipes use simple, inexpensive ingredients that are widely available such as bicarbonate of soda, vinegar, salt and citrus fruit, and will leave your home sparkling clean. You can even customise the fragrances to make your home smell crisp, time and time again. Fresh Clean Home guides the reader from the kitchen to laundry and the bathroom, and also includes a section of recipes for specific household cleaning products, such as window and mirror cleaner, carpet and upholstery spot cleaner and sticky stuff remover. Clean every nook and cranny, with surface cleaners and bathroom shiners, laundry powder and fabric conditioner, kettle descaler and more, for a beautiful, fresh clean home.

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Book SynopsisLike many of us, Toni Terry has tried out every fitness and diet fad going. From gym memberships to detoxes, her characteristic determination got her through the punishing workouts and regimes. And yet, after a month or a year, she always got bored; something was missing and she wasn't quite achieving the results she'd hoped for. What changed and turned her into the social media phenomenon she is today was a whole new approach to fitness and eating well. And what was the magic ingredient? People. Feeling intimidated at the thought of working out on her own with a personal trainer, she hit on the idea of asking her friends to join her. As soon as she started exercising with friends and family, Toni not only started enjoying herself, she also grew more motivated, got the body she always wanted, and felt healthier and happier than ever before. The Buddy Workout will chronicle Toni's journey from her battle with a serious back condition as a teenager, to busy family life with world-class footballer John Terry and her passion for fitness and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Toni's easy-to-follow fitness programme includes workouts she does on a regular basis with her trainer Bradley Simmonds, and she'll also provide ideas for 5-minute workouts you can build into your busy life, top tips for keeping motivated and looking your best, as well as delicious and nutritious recipes you can share with family and friends.Trade ReviewI work out with Toni every week and I have to say I really look forward to our sessions together. We work really hard, motivate and push each other through the hard stuff, but best of all we laugh - a lot. Toni is the best workout buddy, totally inspirational and a real friend. -- Claire FewingsToni's been such a big motivation. She's helped me on my weight loss journey by supporting me through our training sessions with Bradley. We've now become workout buddies and great friends. I love training together and enjoying healthy, delicious food afterwards. -- Connie SimmondsTraining with Toni has been an absolute pleasure. Right from the outset I could see that she was incredibly determined and up for a challenge. The key I believe for Toni is that she enjoys her workouts, varies the exercise she does, involves her family and friends, and, by eating healthily, keeps in fantastic shape. -- Bradley SimmondsWe love being an active family and Toni has always been a great inspiration to me and our children Georgie and Summer. Toni has worked so hard to achieve her goals and I'm consistently in awe of how she's able to juggle family life with all of her training and other commitments. Being woken by the sound of the treadmill at 6am is a regular occurrence in the Terry household and she always makes sure we have a healthy breakfast before leaving for school or football. It's fantastic to see all of her hard work, enthusiasm and commitment to her health and fitness result in this book, one that I am sure will help inspire so many people. Toni is the perfect wife, mother and the rock of our family, and we are so proud of what she's achieved. -- John Terry

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Book SynopsisMaggy Van Eijk knows where the best place to cry in public is: the top deck of a bus, right at the front. She also knows that eating super salty liquorice or swimming in an icy cold pond are things that make you feel alive but aren't bad for you.Turning 27, Maggy had the worst mental health experience of her life so far. She ended a three-year relationship, was almost fired (twice), went to A&E over twelve times, saw three different therapists and had three different diagnoses. But she didn't let that year stop her. Taking pen to paper, Maggy started writing lists. Lists to remind her when she's anxious or when the world won't stop spinning, that everything will be okay, whether it's starfishing her heart out in bed first thing in the morning, or just simply phoning a friend.In her brave and important book, with a brand new chapter, Maggy lays bare the true reality of mental illness in the hope it can help others come out the other side too.

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Book SynopsisThe perfect parenting companion... Not suitable for children. Mums and Dads have always yearned for a rule book, a hitchhikers' guide if you will, that spelled out for them how to raise their children properly so they grow up to be well-rounded, decent and likeable adults. Well, that book doesn't exist. And it never will. So, why not read this one instead? We won't bullshit you with lies. We're here to make you laugh. The Little Book of Shit Baby Names ... and Other Pearls of Parenting Wisdom is the ideal antidote to a long day of looking after those little versions of yourself. This tiny tome is the perfect pick-me-up once you've dropped the kids off (at school, not a cliff) or put the baby down (to sleep) and you can finally reflect on how degrading and awful parenting is. This book will make you feel better if only because it'll teach you alternative, and perverted, lyrics to 'Wheels on the Bus'. Packed to the gills with hilarious jokes on all things baby-related, from how to avoid choosing a shit baby name, through to scores of bite-size parenting wisdom that may one day save your sanity from leaking out of your ears. Table of ContentsShit Baby Names - an A-Z of humorous/bad baby names • Parental Wit - jokes, quotes and funny things we say • Pearls of Wisdom - parenting facts • Bank of Mum & Dad - baby costs and parenting statistics • Hack It - parenting tips, tricks and hacks • Best Club in the World - things you love most about being a parent.

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Book SynopsisThe Little Book of Crystals is an inspiring introduction to everything you need to know to enhance your life using crystals. Whether you are hoping to harness the healing power of crystals for the first time, or have been collecting crystals from your local practitioner for some time, this portable guide is the perfect reference for your next browse. The Little Book of Crystals offers guidance on how to use crystals for healing, emotional purposes and in a myriad of practical situations, including to help children and animals. The usage of crystals for magic and spell-casting is also included, as well as practical information on how to buy, store and use crystals in a safe and effective way. Table of ContentsBuying, Preparing and Storing Crystals • Crystal Descriptions • All About Crystals • Crystal Chakra Colours • Crystals and Magic • Crystals and Nature • Crystals for Ailments.

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Book SynopsisThe Little Book of Astrology is an accessible introduction to everything you need to enhance your life using astrology. On Twitter and Instagram you will have no doubt seen memes poking fun at everyone's signs – but do you know what they really mean? The Little Book of Astrology breaks down each of the 12 sun signs, covering their traits, good and bad points, and attitudes to love, life and work. Each sign is explored in a clear and simple way – and perfect for anyone who wants to know more about the symbols, elements, qualities, birthstones and more about each sign. Table of ContentsAries • Taurus • Gemini • Cancer • Leo • Virgo • Libra • Scorpio • Sagittarius • Capricorn • Aquarius • Pisces.

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Book SynopsisThe Little Book of Meditation is a simple introduction to the practice of meditation.This fascinating and uplifting book shows how meditation benefits mental and physical health, aids the development of psychic ability and can even enhance a religious experience. Whether you want to learn about chakra healing, crystals, totem animals or colour meditation, the Little Book of Meditation is the perfect introductory guide, teaching you to avoid becoming overwhelmed by unwanted psychic experiences and outlining several simple meditations for the reader to try.Crystal Meditation Using crystals alongside of meditation is fast becoming popular. The vibrational frequencies of each different stone encourage the soul to experience different moods, which influence the way we think and feel.Amethyst If you are not feeling well, amethyst would be a good healing crystal and it can soothe a troubled mind. It is also said to be helpful after surgery or a prolonged illness as it can restore energy patterns. Many people keep a piece of amethyst by the bedside to ensure a good night's sleep.Table of ContentsThe History of Meditation • Meditation Today • Physical Health • Different Types of Meditation • How to Meditate • The Body Scan • Aids to Meditation • Crystal Meditation • Meditation with Nature • Meditation for the Soul • Other Interesting Techniques • Sensory Meditations with Colour and Taste.

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Book SynopsisThe Little Book of Nutrients is the best small guide to nutrients on the planet.This tiny title breaks down vitamins, minerals, trace elements and other food constituents to highlight their importance, and the way that they work to keep us healthy. It shows us the items that are essential for health and how to ensure that we are eating enough of them. And although much of the book is about plant-based foods, this isn't a book for vegans – it includes meat, poultry, fish, eggs and dairy foods, and even recommends a little red wine for a healthy diet.MineralsMagnesiumAnti-stress mineral that reduces muscle spasms and eases premenstrual syndrome.Best sources: nuts, figs, soya beans, wholegrain cereals, meat, fish, seafood.Table of ContentsKnow Your Nutrients • Vitamins • Minerals • Trace Minerals • A-Z of Amino Acids • Anti-Oxidants • Essential Fatty Acids • Protective Food Nutrients • Immune-Boosting Food Nutrients • Sea and Earth Foods • Probiotics • Super Grains and Seeds.

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Book SynopsisA pioneering cardiac surgeon expertly sews up the heart of surgery, the health of the nation, and the NHS. The Angina Monologues speeds from the transporting of a donor’s heart up the motorway hard shoulder, to cautionary stories of excessive intervention gone awry in US hospitals, to a traumatic trip to bring advanced cardiac surgery to the Palestinian West Bank. Nashef tells heart-stopping stories of transplants, coronary artery bypasses, aorta repair, and cardiac arrest. He also delivers humane advice about medical realities rarely observed: the futility of obsessing over diet, the necessity of calculating risks, the role of decision making, the resilience of doctor and patient alike, and the threadbare brilliance of the NHS. Nashef is a magnificently warm and likeable doctor and writer; and he has the best imaginable bedside manner.Trade Review‘Nashef's honest, unvarnished writing about his life and death work has given his readers new insights into the reality of life inside the operating theatre.’ -- Stephen Sackur * BBC World News HARDtalk *‘Enthralling and outspoken.’ -- Andrew Billen * The Times *‘It’s funny, sad, uplifting and hopeful. Samer Nashef’s writing style is easy for the lay person to understand (his description of how to do a heart transplant is unforgettable) but is also interesting to those who have some knowledge of cardiology ... Whether you work in medicine or are just interested in how heart problems can be corrected by surgery, this is a great read. I read this book in a couple of days because the stories were so varied and enthralling.’ * Sam Still Reading *Praise for The Naked Surgeon: ‘A Malcolm Gladwell-esque look at what happens in operating theatres … Nashef’s humanity and compassion shine through.’ * The Times *Praise for The Naked Surgeon: ‘One can’t help but think of Henry Marsh when reading Samer Nashef … [He] writes clearly, with plentiful moments of humour.’ * The Independent *Praise for The Naked Surgeon: ‘[The Naked Surgeon] takes a scalpel to the medical profession and asks if patients get the standard of care they have the right to expect from their surgeons … A valuable resource.’ * Irish Independent *

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Book SynopsisThis unofficial compilation reviews the 100 best TED talks about innovation from great minds worldwide. With quirky graphics and memorable quotes, Great TED Talks: Innovation will challenge your thinking, open your mind to new perspectives, and ignite your passion for innovation. Learn how to unlock that elusive idea from masters like Bill Gates or Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. Be open to new ways of thinking and discover how Sir Richard Branson has been wowing his customers with innovative experiences since before it became a trend. Find inspiration in unusual places, and explore new ways to collaborate with your team. Authenticity is key to your business; find out how Sheryl Sandberg stepped out of her comfort zone to find her voice, and how you can do the same. There are thousands of TED talks to navigate—this book curates the most inspiring and provides a commentary on the top 100 ways to boost your inventiveness, find new avenues to explore, and overcome your fears to unleash your full potential.

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Book Synopsis"1 Introduction Problem gambling is a powerful habit and its impact is often destructive for the individual gambling and those around him/her. Its addictive nature can lead to significant debts, severe anxiety and depression, relationship breakdown, social isolation, stress in families, loss of employment, criminal activities, and, tragically, suicide. As with any addictive behaviour, problem gambling creates an internal conflict. An individual gambling problematically may veer between wanting to quit gambling once and for all and succumbing to the urge to place another bet"--

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Book SynopsisWinner of the Hearst Big Book Awards, 2019 - Women's Health's Book of the Year_____________Shocking, brilliant, important. A fine addition to the feminist canon. - Emma Jane UnsworthFor the first time I feel like I PROPERLY understand my vagina! I wish I had read this 23 years ago! - Scarlett Curtis_____________From earliest childhood, girls are misled about their bodies, encouraged to describe their genitalia with cute and silly names rather than anatomically correct terms. In our schools and in our culture, we are coy about women while putting straight men's sexuality front and centre. Girls grow up feeling ashamed about their periods, about the appearance of their vulvas, about their own desires. They grow up without a full and honest sex education, and this lack of knowledge has serious consequences: the number of women attending cervical screening appointments in the UK is at a 20-year low while labiaplasty is the fastest growing type of plastic surgery in the world. Vagina provides girls and women with information they need about their own bodies - about the vagina, the hymen, the clitoris, the orgasm; about conditions like endometriosis and vulvodynia. It confronts taboos, such as abortion, miscarriage, infertility and masturbation. It tackles vital social issues like period poverty, female genital mutilation and the rights of transgender women. It is honest and moving as Lynn Enright shares her personal stories but this is about more than one woman - this is a book that will provoke thousands of conversations. We urgently need to talk about women's sexual and reproductive health, about our experiences of sex and pregnancy and pain and pleasure. Vagina: A Re-Education will help us do just that.Trade ReviewThis vital, honest and empathetic look at vaginas (and vulvas, and why we muddle the two) is a must read for all of us...thorough, fascinating and kind. * Grazia *Superb...fascinating, moving and sometimes enraging...a genuinely empowering book. * Irish Times * Vagina is an eye-opening read, it will make you angry at the torture and shame that has been inflicted on people with vaginas. * Sunday Independent (Ireland) *[A] warm and essential future classic...I can't recommend it enough. -- Alexandra HeminsleyThis myth-busting book will enlighten and educate you. * Red *By shining a long-overdue spotlight on the vagina, Lynn Enright gets to the heart of some of the most urgent issues in female health right now, from the truth about HRT to the gender pain gap. Vagina is vital reading for those who are in possession of one - and those who aren't. * Women's Health *Intelligent, searingly written, brave and generous, this book holds a mirror to many things. Far from a reductive take on genitalia, Enright tackles the stigma, lies, misinformation and squeamishness that persist in holding us all prisoner in a male-dominated world. It's the vagina's special power to make and remake that world for the better. Everyone, regardless of what lies beneath, should read it. -- Olivia SudjicAbsolutely incredible. It's educational and informative while also managing to be a fierce rallying cry for women. -- Louise O'NeillBy turns witty, humane and moving, Vagina: A Re-Education is a memoir, a guide and a polemic. Most importantly, it's a rousing manifesto for women everywhere, and Lynn Enright is a brave and brilliant writer. I only wish that it had existed when I was young. -- Rhiannon Lucy CosslettBeautiful, well-written and fascinating - for the first time I feel like I PROPERLY understand my vagina! I wish I had read this 23 years ago! -- Scarlett Curtis, author of FEMINISTS DON'T WEAR PINK (AND OTHER LIES)I absolutely loved VAGINA: A RE-EDUCATION. A re-education is right. I feel like I know my body a million times better after reading this book. It's an unflinching and beautifully composed blend of memoir, personal essay and academic investigation. It has the lyricism of the best kind of creative non-fiction, the rigour of passionately curated research, and the heft of timely and much-needed body-focused feminism. I want to give this book to every fifteen-year-old I know, including my former self. You think you know your vagina: think again. Shocking, brilliant, important. A fine addition to the feminist canon.I feel very glad this book is going to be in the world. [...] It's awesome. -- Emma Jane Unsworth, author of ANIMALS and HUNGRY, THE STARS AND EVERYTHINGVagina is the clear-eyed, empathetic, political book I wish I'd had at 17 instead of my useless sex-ed textbook; my 37-year-old self is so glad to have it now. -- Jean Hannah Edelstein, author of THIS REALLY ISN'T ABOUT YOUTable of Contents1: A Sex Re-Education 2: The Facts (If We Can Call Them That) 3: The Hymen, a Useless Symbol 4: The Clitoris, and How It's Ignored 5: The Orgasm, and Why Everything's Normal 6: Appearances, and Looking in the Mirror 7: Periods, and What Makes Them So Awful 8: Pain, As It Applies to Women 9: Fertility, Teaching It and Talking About It 10: Getting Pregnant, and What Comes Next 11: The Vagina and Menopause 12: Does My Vagina Define Me?

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Book Synopsis'Improvement is a major work of literature.' - Nick Hornby, The BelieverReyna knows her relationship with Boyd isn't perfect, yet as she visits him throughout his three-month stint in prison, their bond grows tighter. Kiki, now settled in New York after a journey that took her to Turkey and around the world, admires her niece's spirit but worries that she always picks the wrong man. Little does she know that the otherwise honourable Boyd is pulling Reyna into a scheme which violates his probation. When Reyna ultimately decides to remove herself for the sake of her four-year-old child, her small act of resistance sets into motion a tapestry of events that affect the lives of loved ones and strangers around them. A novel that examines conviction, connection and the possibility of generosity in the face of loss, Improvement is as intricately woven together as Kiki's beloved Turkish rugs and as colourful as the tattoos decorating Reyna's body, with narrative twists and turns as surprising and unexpected as the lives all around us. The Boston Globe says of Joan Silber 'No other writer can make a few small decisions ripple across the globe, and across time, with more subtlety and power.' Improvement is Silber's most shining achievement yet.Trade ReviewA novel of richness and wisdom and huge pleasure -- Kamila Shamsie * New York Times Book Review *[Improvement] daisychains several related narratives into a rich and surprising whole...Silber's superb handling of time - that Alice Munro tribute isn't wide of the mark - draws the disparate lives into a unity, and makes this compressed novel feel mysteriously capacious. -- Anthony Quinn * Guardian *Silber is the genuine article, a writer of such precision, intelligence and insight that she makes you gasp...The characterisation is fantastic and the dialogue pitch-perfect. -- Cressida Connolly * Literary Review *Improvement is a major work of literature....I love [Silber's] prose even more than I love her unconventional narrative approach. The first story, written in the first person, seems to me like the perfect lesson in voice, and anyone trying to write or to teach writing should read it. Reyna, the narrator, is funny, shrewd, laconic, fatalistic, something of a fuckup, and refreshingly unbookish; there isn't a single line that lets the reader down, or that allows you to suspect even for a second that this person isn't real. -- Nick Hornby * The Believer *Silber brings the skills of a short story writer to her novels, giving her characters enough space to breathe within the confines of the larger story, and every so often one will come across a jewel of a sentence that begs to be underlined or committed to memory. * Glasgow Herald *A wise, impressive novel, utterly precise and unflinching in its portrayal of everyday human weakness, but full of kindness and hope. I loved this book. -- Sarah WatersA wonderful novel about the unknown interconnectedness of us all in ways that are invisible but matter. -- Linda Grant[I]t feels vital to love Silber's work. . . Now is the moment to appreciate that she is here, in our midst: our country's own Alice Munro. * Washington Post *Without fuss or flourishes, Joan Silber weaves a remarkably patterned tapestry connecting strangers from around the world to a central tragic car accident. The writing here is funny and down-to-earth, the characters are recognizably fallible, and the message is quietly profound: We are not ever really alone, however lonely we feel. * Wall Street Journal, top fiction titles of 2017 *I love all of Joan Silber's work for her mastery of character, her ferocious and searching compassion, and her elegant lines that make the mind hum for hours. Improvement is so crisp and resonant a novel that it made me forget the chaos of life around me; a feat for which I'm truly grateful. -- Lauren GroffAn everyday masterpiece. * Newsday *An accomplished, wise, humane book, generously graced with those fleeting but vivid moments - of puzzlement, vexation and love - in which the humanity of her characters shines through. -- Colin BarrettImprovement has the intricate beauty of the rugs around which the story is woven. I admire Joan Silber's ability to braid the narratives of objects and people lost and found into a shapely story. -- Sarah MossAn elegant, generous portrait of interconnected lives. * Tatler *Silber excels at quick, sharp portraiture...an exploration of the hopes, pains and small successes of very different people making their uncertain way through life. * Times Literary Supplement *This gentle, absorbing story glides along on frictionless, understated prose; it feels wholly natural and unforced, as if the characters are recounting their own experiences, shorn of any artifice or make-believe. * Country & Townhouse Magazine *

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Book Synopsis'Original, thought-provoking' - Elizabeth Macneal'a delightful read . . . beautifully observed' - Daily MailMona and Wolfie have lived on Victoria Park for over fifty years. Now, on the eve of their sixty-fifth wedding anniversary, they must decide how to navigate Mona's declining health. Bookended by the touching exploration of their love, Victoria Park follows the disparate lives of twelve people over the course of a single year. Told from their multiple perspectives in episodes which capture feelings of alienation and connection, the lingering memory of an acid attack in the park sends ripples of unease through the community. By the end of the novel, their carefully interwoven tales create a rich tapestry of resilience, love and loss.With sharply observed insight into contemporary urban life, and characters we take to our hearts, Gemma Reeves has written a moving, uplifting debut which reflects those universal experiences that connect us all.Trade ReviewI really love multiple-voice novels with interlinking components that feel like they could be short stories. Victoria Park is one such. Mona and Wolfie have lived near the park for most of their lives, and we meet the other local residents through them. A beautiful read about a diverse community. -- Nina Pottell * Prima *With shades of Elizabeth Strout, Gemma Reeves's riveting portrait of intertwining lives in London is what makes literary fiction great. Tackling life moments we can all recognise and relate to (from identity to longing), it's a portrait of a community underscored with genuine warmth for humans. -- Francesca Brown * Stylist *The month of October finds ex-deli owner Wolfie smoking salmon for a party to celebrate 65 years of marriage to Mona. She is a Kindertransport survivor, like Wolfie himself, and if she is half lost to dementia, the half that remains is smart as paint. Over nine months, the lives of Wolfie and Mona play out alongside those of their neighbours around Hackney's 'People's Park'. All London life is in these pages, with human kindness, IVF, LGBT, and an acid attack, leading up to a touching ending. An exciting debut. -- Rose Shepherd * Saga Magazine *A writer who exudes a generous playful intelligence, such bright, wise wit. Everything on the page is alive, each paragraph a fresh adventure - her writing gives a pure and rare pleasure. -- Samantha Harvey, bestselling author of THE WESTERN WIND * Samantha Harvey, bestselling author of THE WESTERN WIND *I absolutely loved Victoria Park. It's a stunning portrayal of a London community, where moments of heartbreak, sympathy and joy cast deep reverberations. A triumph of compassion and redemption, the lives of the characters are so finely observed, they might be our own. It reminded me of Elizabeth Strout and Jennifer Egan, and I know I'll be thinking about Wolfie and Mona for months to come. -- Elizabeth Macneal (author of THE DOLL FACTORY)Hugely empathetic, utterly absorbing and beautifully told, Victoria Park really captures something so bittersweet and so true about the struggles and joys that ebb and flow through all of the relationships that hold us together. -- Naomi Ishiguro, author of ESCAPE ROUTES * Naomi Ishiguro *A book that drew me in with its charming concept only to reveal its darker side at the last minute. I was thoroughly enthralled with the inhabitants of Victoria Park, and couldn't help myself from curtain twitching into each one of their intriguing, moving, and complex lives. A fantastic book, and a wonderful achievement. -- Nick Bradley, author of THE CAT AND THE CITYThis kaleidoscopic debut portrays a London community reeling from an acid attack. Following rapid gentrification, the old East Enders rub along with the new - gangsters, tailors, yuppies and yogis. -- Madeleine Feeny * Mail on Sunday *A complete joy of a debut, bright, observational and incredibly intimate, this book has lodged itself in my heart. Take twelve independent yet linked stories over twelve months about people who are connected to a London park community. The focus changes with each month, allowing individual stories to shine, yet they add up to a vibrantly wonderful whole. Gemma Reeves is beautifully eloquent, she has the ability with a few words, to give you admittance to someone's soul. While she creates penetrating access to each person, there isn't always a conclusion, instead life carries on, suggesting potential pathways. I fell in love with this powerfully blended infusion of life. The variety of characters, in age, personality, and beliefs crackle with energy. A new character might wander in for a few moments and then star in the next tale. Some connections may be obvious and linger, others lightly touch before moving on. The stories themselves tug at heartstrings and encourage thoughts to roam, the ending is simply divine and brought tears to my eyes. Thought-provoking and emotionally intelligent, Victoria Park slips with glorious ease onto our LoveReading Star Books list and is a Liz Pick of the Month, it really is very special indeed. -- Liz Robinson * Love Reading *Told from the multiple perspectives of 12 characters whose lives revolve around the park, this is a delightful read that takes place over one year. [...] Tying them together is the park itself, month in, month out, beautifully observed over the seasons. -- Fanny Blake * Daily Mail *A sharply observed debut novel that looks at the lives of 12 people over the course of a year. Big themes, such as dementia and the trials of IVF, are told with great sensitivity and insight. -- Zoe West * Woman's Weekly *

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Book Synopsis'Dr Stamp is so clearly in love with her subject: that wonderful and yet still mysterious organ, the human heart.' Michael Mosley. When actress Debbie Reynolds died a day after her beloved daughter, Carrie Fisher, the world diagnosed it as 'heartbreak'. But what's the evidence? Does emotional upheaval affect the heart? Can love, or chocolate, really heal our heart problems? And why do we know so much about heart attacks in men, when they are more fatal in women? Heart and lung surgeon Dr Nikki Stamp takes us into the operating theatre, explaining what she sees in patients with heart complications and how a life-saving transplant works. Stamp fell in love with the heart as a child and continues to be fascinated by its workings and the whole-of-life experiences that affect it. Rich with anecdotes, and insights for maintaining heart health, Can You Die of a Broken Heart? is the international bestseller from a uniquely positioned young specialist.Trade Review'It is a rare thing to find a surgeon who can write and who is so clearly in love with her subject. It helps that the subject of Dr Nikki Stamp's passion is that wonderful and yet still mysterious organ, the human heart. Dr Stamp writes about the heart with real verve and insight, addressing fascinating questions, like "can you die of a broken heart?", while telling moving human stories drawn from her own experience as a cardio thoracic surgeon.' Dr Michael MosleyTable of ContentsIntroduction: What is it about the heart?1.Can you die of a broken heart?2.Stressed-out hearts3.'New' hearts: transplants and mechanical hearts4.The medical mysteries of a woman's heart5.Can love heal?6.Feeding your heart7.Exercise: getting that heart pumping8.Red wine, dark chocolate and superfoods9.Depression: can a heart be blue?10.Sleepy hearts11.Family affairs of the heart12.How to talk about your heart13. The heart's journey: where we've come from and where we are going

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Book SynopsisAn illustrated collection of Gloria Steinem's most inspirational and outrageous quotes, with an introduction and essays by the feminist activist herself 'When the path is dark, Gloria's words light the way forward.' - Natalie Portman For decades, people around the world have found guidance, humour and unity in Gloria Steinem's gift for creating quotes that offer hope and inspire action. From her early days as a journalist and feminist activist, Steinem's words have helped generations to empower themselves and work together. Covering topics from relationships ('Many are looking for the right person. Too few are trying to be the right person.') to the patriarchy ('Men are liked better when they win. Women are liked better when they lose. This is how the patriarchy is enforced every day.' ) and activism ('Revolutions, like trees, grow from the bottom up.' ), this book will make you want to laugh, march and create quotes of your own. The Truth Will Set You Free, But First It Will Piss You Off! is both timeless and timely, a gift of hope from Steinem to readers, and a book to share with friends. 'Gloria has a profound knack for expressing ideas in ways that stick with you.' - Emma WatsonTrade Review'"Democracy is the tree, families are the roots." -GS. Trust Gloria Steinem to offer insights that liberate us into broader, more profound ways of thinking. Her mind is fertile, deep, conscious and inspiring, with a humour that apparently can't help bubbling up, so that we are laughing as we, hopefully, become more wise and determined to change whatever we can change.' -Alice Walker'Gloria has a profound knack for expressing ideas in ways that stick with you. When trying to explain something that I can't seem to wrap my own words around, I very often reach for one of Gloria's quotes. This beautiful book of her words will no doubt make one of the most quotable women I know even more eminently quotable.' -Emma Watson'This is a fearless book full of passion, resolute perspective and unbiased hope for the future. Gloria brings honest poetry to readers while sharing her experienced wisdom on topics that demand our attention today. From personal challenges to political issues, The Truth Will Set You Free, But First It Will Piss You Off! explores the power of words when it comes to being a changemaker for yourself and for the good of humanity. And if that's not enough to move you, the beautiful illustrations will inspire you along the way.' -Janelle Monae'When the path is dark, Gloria's words light the way forward. I find myself returning again and again to her words for inspiration, comfort and wisdom. She has a way of saying things you feel you knew but never knew how to articulate. Other times, she expresses ideas you've never encountered, but once you've heard them, they are impossible to deny. Her words contain the poetic clarity only truth offers.' -Natalie PortmanTable of ContentsIntroduction: Poetry for Everyday LifeChapter One: Families Born and ChosenChanging AgingChapter Two: Work is Not a Four-Letter WordOutgrowing QuotesChapter Three: Among Co-conspirators and AdversariesChapter Four: In the StreetLaughing our Way to the Revolution

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Book Synopsis'It's SO important to love yourself wholeheartedly and love your single life - Stacey shows you how.' - Melissa Ambrosini We're encouraged to be comfortable doing our own thing these days. Female empowerment! Be independent! But many of us have yet to master the tools for living happily on our own. Stacey June is here to help! With the assistance of a whole slew of experts, a wild variety of romantic and sexual partners, a few fairly average boyfriends, and some healers, yogis and 'kumbaya' moments, Stacey dives into the principles of being comfortable alone, living independently and going after every opportunity in life. Learn the ins and outs of why you're staying in a relationship for too long, dating for the wrong reasons, discovering that casual sex doesn't always feel 'single and fabulous' and a whole lot more. Practice self-care, go on a date with yourself and never stop believing in love - because it's completely possible to live happily solo while still being open to relationships. Let's stop wishing away our single lives, because the single pringle life is awesome.

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Book Synopsis

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