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Hilarious! 😂 Marian Keyes' Grown Ups had me laughing out loud, and I loved seeing bits of myself in the diverse cast. The family tree at the start is a genius move, which is super helpful for keeping track of who's who! My one gripe is some storylines felt a bit... open-ended. Still, totally recommend for a laugh-out-loud, relatable read.
One thing we can all agree on, is that the past two and a half years have not been a walk in the park. Not for most of us. Like a meme I saw on social media the other day which stated, “I am a little tired of living through historic events”. Another thing that we can also be sure of, is that this will be our way of life for goodness knows how long. I’d also like to believe that we are more aware of our mental health, more than we’ve ever been. And one thing we do know is that it is a precious commodity.
After hearing about the sensation that is Dr Julie Smith, I simply had to get my hands on her book, “Why has Nobody Told Me This Before”?
So, a bit of background information. Dr Smith is a clinical psychologist on a mission. Her goal is to make the life skills and copy skills we need on a daily basis, while dealing with mental health issues, as well as just ‘real life’ struggles, more accessible and digestible. She started her YouTube channel at the end of 2019, offering short ‘lessons’ and practical tips as how to deal with anxiety, stress, grief, etc. When the global pandemic hit in early 2020, her sensible and meaningful clips on social media were much needed and devoured by her followers world-wide.
Getting back to the book, this is exactly what you can expect. No complicated terminology and diagnoses, just informal, informative guidance and tools to help you cope.
It is not necessarily a ‘read from cover to cover’ book (but you can if you are so inclined), but you can dip in and out for pearls of wisdom and tried-and-proven advice as you see fit. The book is divided in the following chapters (I am highlighting just a some of the details covered):
On Dark Places (including low mood, mood pitfalls to watch out for, how to turn bad days into better days)
On Motivation (including How do you make yourself do something when you really don’t feel like it?)
On Emotional Pain (including Make it all go away! How to support someone)
On Grief (including Understanding Grief, The tasks of mourning)
On Self-Doubt (You are not your mistakes, Being enough)
On Fear (Things we do that makes anxiety worse, What to do with anxious thoughts)
On Stress (Is stress different from anxiety? Making stress work for you)
On a Meaningful Life (Working out what matters, How to create a life with meaning)
You will also find practical tools, ideas to try, etc within each topic.
This is a book that I keep going back to, and on a personal level, the chapters on ‘self-doubt’ and ‘fear’ will probably be dog-eared soon. It also makes a wonderful gift!
The Correspondent is a thoughtful and quietly powerful novel told entirely through letters and emails. At its centre is Sybil, a woman in her seventies whose life unfolds through the correspondence she sends to family, friends and the occasional public figure. The format gives the story a sense of closeness, allowing the reader to see her humour, her frustrations and the private worries she rarely voices aloud.
Sybil is a wonderfully complex character. She can be sharp, funny, stubborn and unexpectedly vulnerable, often within the same letter. Through her writing the novel explores ageing, grief, adoption, strained family relationships and the long‑term consequences of choices made decades earlier. There is also a subtle thread of tension linked to her past work in the courts, which adds another layer without overshadowing the emotional core.
The number of characters can feel a little overwhelming at first, but once the rhythm settles the structure becomes one of the book’s strengths. Each exchange reveals something new about Sybil and the people who have shaped her life. The writing is warm, observant and full of small insights.
A beautifully crafted debut that will appeal to readers who enjoy reflective, character‑driven stories.
Re‑reading Veronika Decides to Die after so many years turned out to be a very different experience for me. I remembered it as dark and philosophical, but this time I found it far less bleak than the title suggests. It is thought provoking, occasionally uncomfortable, and definitely dated in its approach to mental health, yet still full of those signature Coelho moments that make you pause and reflect.
The story follows Veronika, a young woman in Slovenia who attempts to end her life and wakes up in Villete, a mental institution, where she is told she has only days left to live. Through her interactions with other patients, including Mari with severe anxiety and Eduard who lives with schizophrenia, Coelho explores what it means to be “sane” and how society often punishes anyone who does not fit the mould.
Some of these characters struck me more deeply this time around. There were moments that made me uncomfortable, especially the twist involving the doctor, and I wished the ending had been more layered. Still, the final quarter of the book landed beautifully. The writing is fluid, the themes are bold, and the message about appreciating life is powerful.
Not my favourite Coelho, but definitely worth reading if you enjoy stories that blend philosophy with emotional introspection.
I finally picked up The Stand again and I completely understand why so many readers call this King’s masterpiece.
For a book written in the late 1970s, it feels shockingly current. The “superflu” premise hits differently after the past few years, and King’s exploration of what happens when 99.4% of humanity is wiped out is both fascinating and unsettling. The sociological and moral questions were some of the most interesting parts for me.
But it’s the characters that truly make this book unforgettable. Stu, Frannie, Nick, Larry, Glen, Tom, Kojak, Lloyd, Trashcan Man… they’re still living rent free in my head. King gives each of them such depth and humanity that closing the book felt like saying goodbye to people I’d travelled with for months. Even the villains are complicated in ways that make them strangely relatable.
Despite its intimidating length, I never found it slow or dull. Almost every chapter feels purposeful, and the atmosphere (cosy one moment, deeply unsettling the next) kept me hooked. There’s always that sense of something lurking just out of sight.
If you enjoy post-apocalyptic fiction, character driven epics, or stories that dig into the messy nature of good and evil, this is absolutely worth the journey.
