Reasons To Stay Alive by Matt Haig . Review

I have had depression pretty much all my life and it has fluctuated throughout my life getting worse at times of stress . When I lost a friend to suicide this year I went in search of something to explain to me what was going on in my head and how others cope with what depression feels like to them too  . Then through sheer good luck I came across the lovely Fearne Cotton ‘s podcast where she talks to the author Matt Haig . He talked about his book : Reasons To Stay Alive , this book was about his own depression and plans he was making during the true depths of despair he experienced . Listening to that podcast I knew instinctively that this is book I was looking for . 

Life has a funny old way of putting in your path just what you need sometimes , and this was just the case for me . 

So I picked up the audiobook of this book and I downloaded it that day and finished it that same day , Matt himself narrates the book and talks honestly and frankly about what it is like during the worst moments of depression , panic attacks and thoughts of suicide , this book felt like a friend shouting to me ... ME TOO ! 

If I had the paperback of this book I would have been underlining multiple lines and paragraphs as it is just so quote worthy , Matt is just THAT GOOD about writing down the painful descriptions of what depression is like both mentally and physically . 

As I finished up the book I felt a lovely sense of calm and relief . The relief was not from having finished the book .... (I was actually gutted it was so short )but from the hope that things can get better ....... that there are things that you can do ....... that there are people out there that will understand and above all to practice self love , compassion and care . 

http://www.matthaig.com/

Her Secret by Kelly Florentia . Review

This is the terrific sequel to Kelly’s previous book No Way back , which first introduced us to Audrey Fox the smart , funny , 40 something year old Londoner that I came to love in book 1 . 

Now married to the sexy Daniel and step mum to his daughter Connie , life is going really smooth until secrets start to raise their ugly heads and throw a spanner into the works . Although there is a good few laugh out loud moments in the story,  the book takes a darker turn when people from the past come back and unexplained things start to happen , it becomes more difficult to know who to trust .

The last third of this book flew past , I was not putting this down until I found out what was going to happen to one of my favorite characters, I was literally holding my breathe towards the end and the ending was SO good that I had a smile stuck on my face all evening . This is probably my favorite book of Kelly’s so far , no one can build tension in a story like her and I loved every bit of it . More please !!!!!!! 

I received this book from Urbane Publishing in exchange for an honest review . This book is released May 2018 and will be available where ever good books are sold . 

https://urbanepublications.com/authors/kelly-florentia/

Flow Magazine

I first came across these magazines through the book “A Book That Takes It’s Time “ , by flow magazine .

It was love at first sight , and if you are a lover of all things paper this combines mindfulness , creativity and  that . It is visually very appealing with more content and less advertising then traditional magazines that we are all familiar with . This feels wholesome and you feel great while reading it and it leaves you with lovely afterthoughts . ( you just want to get out your pens, paints , pencils and make something cheery and bright) . It concentrates a good bit on meditation which I love and offers plenty of tips on caring for your good self . 

Each issue comes with goodies , it could be anything ... postcards , bookmarks , posters , notecards , stickers ..... you get the idea , basically it had this bullet  journal lover smiling from ear to ear . 

There is also workbooks like above , you work on yourself .... meditation , quizzes .... lots of good stuff plus ... paper goodies ... yes , even in the workbooks .

Everything about these magazines etc is restful , it feels like you are doing something really caring for yourself by sitting down with this and a cup of tea for a while and just being present . 

Each issue is beautiful and I could never throw an issue away ... too beautiful . These feel more like books then magazines and the content is relevant even if you buy older issues .

If you are creative in any way I think you would appreciate these issues .

I think they are really supportive of each of our own uniqueness and how to enjoy it even more and guide us with even more ideas .

It is a quirky magazine that I am so grateful to have found and the content and quality is superb. The paper differs throughout the magazine making it extra special . It’s a tactile dream ! 

All in all I could. It recommend these high enough . 

Beautiful !

Here is a link to where you can order your own issues :

https://www.flowmagazine.com/

The Weight Of A Thousand Feathers by Brian Conaghan. Review

This is an incredibly heart wrenching story about a young boy called Bobby Seed who is a carer for his sick mother and younger brother Danny . This book was an emotional roller coaster full of tear jerking moments and fear for this young man . Bobby has a lot on his plate , emotionally and physically, every day is packed with worrying and caring for others and he is struggling with it all despite the support of his friends . 

I really enjoyed the story , if I could have hugged Bobby I would have , he was so lovely but life was hard and he has lots of hard choices to make . I loved his relationship with his mother , despite everything that was happening they had a special relationship and it was very touching reading about it , plenty of tongue in cheek moments with these too to . I would recommend this to everyone but especially someone going through a tough time .

I received this book for review from the fabulous people over at lovereading4kids, this book is being published June 2018 and will be available from lovereading4kids and all other good bookstores then.

Below please find the link : 

http://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/book/15348/The-Weight-of-a-Thousand-Feathers-by-Brian-Conaghan.html

In My Mailbox

In for review today is this gorgeous looking proof copy of Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian . I can’t wait to start this later tonight . Ahhhhhh lovely books :0) 

Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian. Review

This was a brutal tale of one woman’s fight to survive while living in the court of the Kaiser , under his constant watch and regularly punished she has to befriend anyone that can help while holding onto any hope that she will one day get out of here and back to any of her people that are left that have not been killed by the Kaiser and his army . Theo is a strong woman , a princess who has lost her home , family ,and people to an evil man , despite the immense hardships she has faced each beating has made her more fierce , each scar getting her closer to battling her way back . 

I received this book for review from the lovely people over at lovereading4kids. 

This book is being published June 2018 and will be available from lovereading4kids and all other good bookstores then. 

http://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/book/9781509855209/Ash-Princess-by-Laura-Sebastian.html

All Of This Is True by Lygia Day Peñaflor . Review

When Miri and her friends get the chance to meet their idol - author Fatima Ro , writer of their favorite book Undertow,  the friends jump at the chance . Their meeting with her could not have gone better and they develop a friendship with this older cool female writer that they look up to and admire. The story was fascinating to watch , the writer used these kids and their lives for her own entertainment and profit directing them to situations and people that were not good for them then watched it all play out . Devious! It did make a terrific plot and I could not put it down . 

I received this book for review from the lovely people over at lovereading4kids. This book is being published May 2018 and will be available from lovereading4kids and all other good bookstores then . 

Below please find a link to this on the website : 

http://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/book/9781408890936/isbn/noredirect