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Books to help you keep your resolutions – Part 1!

diary

It’s that time of year once more where we’re thinking about switching things up for the year ahead. And there’s never a year that needed the boot more than 2020! Here’s our pick of the best books to help you stick to those resolutions, expand your mind, get organised and most importantly – get a bit of respite!

Look out for Part 2 coming soon.

 

 

IF YOU’RE LOOKING TO GET ON TOP OF YOUR FINANCES…

 

 

Black Girl Finance by Selina Flavius

 

START FINANCIALLY THRIVING WITH BLACK GIRL FINANCE

Kick-start your financial journey with Black Girl Finance – the first financial guide of its kind. Packed with tips, tricks and tools, as well as statistics, personal stories, goal-setting exercises and straight-talking advice, this will be your go-to helping hand when it comes to making your financial goals a reality.

 

Selina Flavius created Black Girl Finance to address the unique difficulties Black women face due to the gender and ethnicity pay gaps. Since we literally can’t afford to wait for change, we need to start changing things up for ourselves, and find a way to start making our hard-earned money work even harder for us.

 

From challenging money mindsets to teaching key skills, such as how to set up an emergency fund and where to start with budgeting, investing and saving, Black Girl Finance provides a safe space for a community of unapologetic, ambitious, money-minded women to get real about their finances.

‘This accessible and non-preachy guide […] is the finance guide you’ll keep passing around your friends’ COSMOPOLITAN

 

 

Real Life Money & The Real Life Money Journal by Clare Seal

 

Real Life Money is a holistic approach to personal finance that addresses the deeper causes of debt and financial difficulties.

 

Part memoir, part guide, Real Life Money takes the reader on a journey that can be adapted to their own pace and circumstances. It will cover everything from how to negotiate repayment terms with creditors and setting realistic budgets without punishing yourself, to dealing with money anxiety.

 

Real Life Money: The Journal is the first planner that targets the link between our emotional wellbeing and our financial situation. The result is a practical workbook for people who need something deeper than just expense tracking and meal planning. It guides the user through the steps required to recalibrate their finances on a deeper level, helping them to prepare for difficult conversations, set achievable goals, create their own personal budget – and then stay on track.

 

IF 2021 IS THE YEAR YOU GET ORGANISED…

 

 

 

Fair Play by Eve Rodsky

 

“A hands-on, real talk guide for navigating the hot-button issues that so many families struggle with” – Reese Witherspoon

Do you find yourself taking on the lion’s share of all the thankless, invisible but time-consuming work in the home? FAIR PLAY is the first book that shows you that there can be a different way: a way to get more done, with less fuss, in a way that feels more balanced.

Eve Rodsky is changing society one relationship at a time, by coming up with a 21st-century solution to an age-old problem: women shouldering the brunt of domestic responsibilities, the mental load, the emotional labour. Everything that is required to keep the fridge full, the children’s homework in their bags, and the household running. The unequal division of all this invisible work in relationships is a recipe for disaster, but no one has offered a real solution to this dilemma, until now.

Founded in research with more than 500 couples, Eve has figured out WHAT the invisible work in a family actually is and HOW to get it done effectively and all in a way that makes relationships even stronger. Fair Play identifies the 100 main tasks in any relationship, and then divides those tasks fairly (not necessarily equally) so that both parties contribute their fair share.

 

 

Keep Sharp by Dr Sanjay Gupta

 

An exciting new science-driven guide to protecting your mind from decline.

 

Throughout our lives, we are always looking for ways to keep our mind sharp and effortlessly productive. In this book, globetrotting neurosurgeon Dr Sanjay Gupta offers insights from top scientists all over the world, whose cutting edge research can help you heighten and protect brain function and maintain cognitive health at any age.

 

Keep Sharp debunks common myths about ageing and cognitive decline, explores whether there’s a ‘best’ diet or exercise regimen for the brain, and explains whether it’s healthier to play video games that test memory and processing speed, or to engage in more social interaction.

 

 

Sabotage by Emma Gannon

 

We all have a relationship with self-sabotage, a tendency to put barriers in the way of our progression and our happiness – at home and at work, both on and offline.

Sabotage is a book about challenging these behaviours, digging a little deeper into why that unhelpful voice can creep up on us. Procrastination, jealousy, inner critic: how can we overcome these obstacles? How do we stop getting in our own way?

Exploring real-life stories of success and setbacks from leading cultural voices, Emma Gannon searches for experiences, solutions and ways to look differently at what’s really holding us back.

This is the handbook you need to slay your own sabotage.

 

 

The Little Book of Life Skills by Erin Zammet Ruddy

 

With tips from leading experts in every field, The Little Book of Life Skills is the ultimate guide to solving the trickiest tasks in your day, making life easier with more time to do things that bring you joy.

We all have areas of our lives that make us feel disorganised, unprepared or stressed out. From creating a calmer morning routine to setting yourself up for a good night’s sleep, and everything in between, there are easy and proven ways to do things better. Whether you need advice on how to end an argument, iron a shirt or keep your inbox under control, Erin has spoken to experts including Arianna Huffington, Gretchen Rubin, Rachael Ray and Dr Oz, and condensed their wisdom into easy to follow steps for all of life’s simple and not-so-simple tasks, such as:

– Working from home effectively
– Keeping a houseplant alive
– Unplugging from your phone
– Walking into a room with confidence, and many more

The Little Book of Life Skills offers simple strategies for streamlining your life. It’s the perfect guide for anybody who wants to get their life in order, be more efficient throughout the day and finally learn the best way to fold that tricky fitted sheet!

 

IF YOU WANT TO EXPAND YOUR MIND…

 

 

Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad

 

Recognise Your Privilege, Combat Racism and Change the World with Me and White Supremacy

 

Layla F. Saad wrote Me and White Supremacy to encourage people who hold white privilege to examine their (often unconscious) racist thoughts and behaviours through a unique, 28-day reflection process. This guided journal, which is to be used in tandem with the book and includes the book’s original weekly prompts and lots of space for note-taking, is the perfect place to continue your antiracism journey.

 

 

Who Ate the First Oyster? by Cody Cassidy

 

Who wore the first pants?

Who painted the first masterpiece?

Who first rode the horse?

 

This madcap adventure across ancient history uses everything from modern genetics to archaeology to uncover the geniuses behind these and other world-changing innovations.

 

 

Lunar Living by Kirsty Gallagher

 

Are there certain days when you feel overly emotional for no apparent reason? Do you have days when you feel exhausted, close to burn out and like you want to hide away from the world?

Lunar Living could be just the answer that you are looking for. Working with the constantly changing phases of the moon helps you to understand yourself like never before, to realign everything in your own life, to understand when you need to rest and self-care and when you need to shine and make things happen. Living back in tune with this natural flow and taking care of you and your needs, even if that’s just twice a month will make the biggest difference to how you feel, act and react the rest of the month.

Lunar Living will help you to:
– Feel empowered to make big life decisions
– Understand yourself better
– Tune into your natural cycles
– Improve your sleep, mental health and relationships
– Live a happier, more intentional life

A beautiful hardback, complete with a blue foil finish, this is the perfect toolkit for understanding the moon and the effects it has on us. Lunar Living helps us to work with the moons phases to understand the ever-changing landscape of our emotions and the inner world of our purpose, goals and dreams and tune into this deeper wisdom to make profound shifts in our lives. If you’ve ever felt stuck, meaningless, overly emotional for no apparent reason or want to come back into alignment with a natural cycle to help you to move forwards in life and achieve your dreams and goals this is the book for you.

 

 

IF YOU’RE SEARCHING FOR A BIT OF ESCAPISM…

 

 

The Switch by Beth O’Leary

 

Leena is too young to feel stuck.
Eileen is too old to start over.
It’s time for The Switch…

After blowing a big presentation at work, Leena takes a two-month sabbatical and escapes to her grandmother Eileen’s house for some overdue rest. Eileen is newly single and about to turn eighty. She’d like a second chance at love, but her tiny Yorkshire village doesn’t offer many eligible gentlemen . . . A life swap seems the perfect solution.

But with a rabble of unruly OAPs to contend with, as well as the distractingly handsome local schoolteacher, Leena learns that switching lives isn’t straightforward. In London, Eileen is a huge hit with her new neighbours, and with the online dating scene. But is her perfect match nearer to home than she first thought?

 

‘Blissful escapism’ Daily Mail
‘The feel-good read we all need right now’ Stylist

 

 

Murder on Mustique by Anne Glenconner

 

A storm. A disappearance. A race against time . . .

 

Mustique is in a state of breathless calm as tropical storm Cristobal edges towards it across the Atlantic. Most villa owners have escaped the island but a few young socialites remain, unwilling to let summer’s partying end. American heiress Amanda Fortini is one such thrill-seeker – until she heads out for a morning swim and doesn’t return.

 

Detective Sergeant Solomon Nile is just 28 years old and the island’s only fully trained police officer. He quickly realises he needs to contact Lord and Lady Blake, who bought the island decades ago and have invested time, money and love creating a paradise. Jasper is in St Lucia designing a new village of luxury villas but Lady Veronica (Vee to her friends) catches a plane immediately. Her beloved god-daughter, Lily, is on the island and this disappearance has alarming echoes of what happened to Lily’s mother many years ago. Lady Vee would never desert a friend in need, and she can keep a cool head in a crisis.

 

When Amanda’s body is found, a murder investigation begins. Nile knows the killer must be an islander because flights and ferry crossings have stopped due to the storm warning, but the local community isn’t co-operating. And then the storm hits, and someone else disappears . . .

 

 

The Women Who Ran Away by Sheila O’Flanagan

 

In Sheila O’Flanagan’s stunning new novel, two women face up to shocking truths about the men they’ve loved – and start to make their own decisions about what to do next…

 

Deira isn’t the kind of woman to steal a car. Or drive to France alone with no plan. But then, Deira didn’t expect to be single. Or to suddenly realise that the only way she can get the one thing she wants most is to start breaking every rule she lives by.

 

Grace has been sent on a journey by her late husband, Ken. She doesn’t really want to be on it but she’s following his instructions, as always. She can only hope that the trip will help her to forgive him. And then – finally – she’ll be able to let him go.

 

Brought together by unexpected circumstances, Grace and Deira find that it’s easier to share secrets with a stranger, especially in the shimmering sunny countryside of Spain and France. But they soon find that there’s no escaping the truth, whether you’re running away from it or racing towards it . . .