“Take a good book to bed with you—books do not snore.”

 

Reclaim Your Time Off - Fab Giovanetti

This book after this last year, I’m sure is going to be beneficial for many of us. A book that needs to be embraced to get our work time and you time back on track. The lines have become too blurred. Our bedrooms, dining table and sofa time have become our new pandemic office. Working from home has enabled us and yet disabled us at the same time. However, for way too many of us this was an issue long before Covid. In the modern working world, we work really hard. On average, over 60 hours per week. ‘In order to do more, we silently agreed to sacrifice our time off. ”Burnout” is a ubiquitous buzzword, the ”inbox of shame” and ”productivity paralysis” describe a normal working day’.

Fab joined me for a chat about reclaiming our time off – and with a name like that I feel we should listen. Although I’ve read the book so I know we should listen! Listen to ‘Get Booked’ below:

The Man On The Street - Trevor Wood

I can see why Lee Child thinks this is an instant classic. A gritty and addictive thriller that takes an endearing and enlightening look at the person behind the homelessness, challenging perceptions. Yet with humour, humility and lots of violence - focusing on mental illness and the abandonment of veterans who have slipped the recent net of awareness regarding the repercussions of PTSD and integration back into society after service.

When Jimmy, an ex veteran on the streets of Newcastle witnesses a potential murder, his determination to main ‘not my fight’ and keep a low profile to keep out of trouble plunges him into a whirlwind of anything and everything he normally aims to avoid at all costs. But for the better?

We Are Family - Nicola Gill

This is a great story looking at the struggles we have deciphering who we are supposed to be and how we are supposed to behave in regards to how society assumes or dictates. We Are Family tackles the very complex nature of grief and ‘grief guilt’. How we evolve as our needs and responsibilities change, jealousy, internal conflict, how families don’t naturally get on, lies, trolling and just how much a diet really matters! Bloody funny, raw and endearing. Challenging perceptions and relationships.

 

 

Look What You Made Me Do - Nikki Smith

What this book explores is the complexities of abusive relationships and the coercive nature that can destroy all surrounding relationships. A process that is calculated, devious, alarmingly subtle and preys on the shock/embarrassment factor. A powerful reminder that you very rarely know what is going on in somebody else’s life. How our past can distort our future or our perception of it. How lonely you can be even when surrounded by family. An addictive, very clever and scarily realistically story on abuse, family politics and how keeping secrets is toxic.  

The reviews for this book are incredible for a very good reason.  

 

Is This It - Clare Tovey

There is a line for a few of us between being a responsible grown up and grabbing life by the horns and drinking tequila out of them. Ivy, like myself, favour to use that line like a skipping rope. ‘Is This It’ follows the very relatable Ivy scraping her way through life with lashings of swearing, dodgy dates and hangovers while also combining it with getting her act together. Well, us women do like to multitask!

Sharp, funny, and a character I’m sure many of us will identify with!

 

If you want to find out more about emerging authors, check out my show ‘Get Booked’ for a good old chinwag with some of the great emerging authors out there. Pour yourself a coffee, crack open the vino and get involved…

 

Previous Book Reviews:

“Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal”