Joyful reads for World Mental Health Day

On Sunday 10th October, it is World Mental Health Day, a brilliant day to raise awareness of the importance of mental health and issues around mental health support. So Team Bookends have put together a list of 6 books – practical guides to aide your mental health and uplifting stories to bring joy to your day!

A TOOLKIT FOR HAPPINESS by Dr Emma Hepburn 

‘Mandatory for anyone with a brain’ – Anna Whitehouse, founder of Mother Pukka

‘Relatable, practical and knowledgeable’ – Gemma Bray, creator of The Organised Mum Method

From clinical psychologist and author of A Toolkit for Modern Life, Dr Emma Hepburn, comes A Toolkit for Happiness – the ultimate guide to long-term and sustainable happiness.

Using her much-loved trademark illustrations, Dr Hepburn arms us with 55 accessible and easy-to-use tools to boost our moods and feel better. She teaches us that happiness is as much about weathering the storms of life, accepting its natural ebbs and flows, as it is about enjoying the sunny weather – and that by implementing small and simple changes we can build a more compassionate brain that carries us through our daily lives, no matter the weather.

From practical tools to aid you on those extra stormy days to thought-provoking exercises for your day-to-day mental wellbeing, A Toolkit for Happiness will you to cultivate positive habits, better understand your emotions and put you on the path to a healthier and happier you.

NO SUCH THING AS NORMAL by Bryony Gordon

‘Mental illness has led to some of the worst times of my life… but it has also led to some of the most brilliant. Bad things happen, but good things can come from them. And strange as it might sound, my mental health has been vastly improved by being mentally ill.’

From depression and anxiety to personality disorders, one in four of us experience mental health issues every year and, in these strange and unsettling times, more of us than ever are struggling to cope. In No Such Thing As Normal, Bryony offers sensible, practical advice, covering subjects such as sleep, addiction, worry, medication, self-image, boundary setting, therapy, learned behaviour, mindfulness and, of course – as the founder of Mental Health Mates – the power of walking and talking. She also strives to equip those in need of help with tools and information to get the best out of a poorly funded system that can be both frightening and overwhelming. The result is a lively, honest and direct guide to mental health that cuts through the Instagram-wellness bubble to talk about how each of us can feel stronger, better and just a little bit less alone.

YOUR MENTAL HEALTH WORKOUT by Zoe Aston

In just 5 weeks, you will come out of Your Mental Health Workout with a sharper mind, clearer-decision making skills and greater resilience.

Your Mental Health Workout™ provides you with exercises, tools, affirmations and expert guidance so you can start looking after your mental health for the long term. Zoë Aston, psychotherapist and mental health consultant to many high-profile individuals, has devised a ground-breaking 5-week schedule to help you build mental muscle; she incorporates 2 to 3 years of one-to-one therapy in one book. Our mental health is just like our physical health; we all have psychological weak spots or injuries and, just like physical injury, when they get used they may feel tender or uncomfortable. They need to be cared for in the right way so they can heal.

Zoë’s tried-and-tested workout plan, which helps to normalise the conversation around mental health, is split into weekly and daily sets. The weekly workouts help develop accountability, commitment to yourself and others and encourage physical exercise as a form of mood management. While your daily workouts move your focus inwards, providing space and time for you to look after the integrity of your mind through development of healthy self-talk. At the end of the book, there is a handy planner so you can easily track your progress.

By following Zoë’s plan you will become stronger, happier and can create the internal emotional landscape you want to live in.

‘Zoë’s techniques are easy and give great results. Her work has given me wonderful insight into how I can look after my mind and makes mental wellness feel accessible to everyone. I highly recommend Your Mental Health Workout™ to anyone who has the desire to improve their emotional health.’ – Pixie Lott

THE SWITCH by Beth O’Leary

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

‘SO CHARMING, SO SWEET AND SO LOVELY’ MARIAN KEYES 

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?

THE KINDNESS PROJECT by Sam Binnie

‘A novel that just felt like a literary warm hug. The world needs more kindness especially just now, and this is the perfect book‘ Netgalley reviewer

The locals of the Cornish village of Polperran are grieving the sudden loss of Bea Kimbrel, a cornerstone of their small community.

Now her reclusive, estranged daughter Alice has turned up, keen to tie up Bea’s affairs and move on.

But Alice receives a strange bequest from Bea – a collection of unfinished tasks to help out those in Polperran most in need.

As each little act brings her closer to understanding her mother, it also begins to offer Alice the courage to open her clamped-shut heart. Perhaps Bea’s project will finally unlock the powerful secrets both women have been keeping . . .

A MAN CALLED OVE by Fredrick Backman

Perfect for fans of Gail Honeyman’s Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine; Ruth Hogan’s The Keeper of Lost Things and Graeme Simsion’s The Rosie Project, A Man Called Ove is one of the best-loved and most life-affirming novels of the decade.

This multi-million-copy phenomenon is a funny, moving, uplifting tale of love and community that will leave you with a spring in your step.

At first sight, Ove is almost certainly the grumpiest man you will ever meet. He thinks himself surrounded by idiots – neighbours who can’t reverse a trailer properly, joggers, shop assistants who talk in code, and the perpetrators of the vicious coup d’etat that ousted him as Chairman of the Residents’ Association. He will persist in making his daily inspection rounds of the local streets.

But isn’t it rare, these days, to find such old-fashioned clarity of belief and deed? Such unswerving conviction about what the world should be, and a lifelong dedication to making it just so?

In the end, you will see, there is something about Ove that is quite irresistible . . .