Five Books I’ve Just Read | Chapter Seven

1. POSITIVE MENTAL HEALTH BY DR. SHAUN DAVIS & ANDREW KINDER (gifted)

First off, you don’t need to have a mental health problem to read this book. The subtitle of the book may be “Overcoming Mental Health Problems,” but it is not a requirement to read it.

Just like a book that I’ve previously read and like to recommend, Lost Connections: Why You’re Depressed and How to Find Hope, you don’t need to be feeling down or mentally-ill to understand its contents and to learn from it. This is a great book and I recommend everyone read it to learn more about mental health.

The book by Dr. Shaun Davis and Andrew Kinder covers almost everything surrounding mental health. I don’t think there is much that they have left out. There are a lot of staggering numbers in there, facts that I was unaware of and shocking figures to show the growth in poor mental health over the years.

The book covers our mental health when leaving home for the first time, our mental health starting university, graduating, starting our first job, and other life milestones.

The sales of this book go towards the Rowland Hill Fund and the Mind charity. Our mental health services in the UK need improvement and the stigma around mental health needs to be removed.

This book shows you how to approach the topic, how to talk about mental health openly and how to deal with situations should they arise within yourself or with anyone that you know.

2. EVERYTHING I KNOW ABOUT LOVE BY DOLLY ALDERTON

First off, I loved this book. It’s a memoir of Dolly Alderton’s life until she turns 30. It covers growing up, boys, men, relationships, friendships, getting older, employment, living in London, heartbreak and death.

I have been quite fascinated by a group of Londoners for quite a while now, following them on Instagram and Twitter, seeing what they were up to in the magazines and papers and wanting to move to London because of them.

The group are made up of artists, creatives, writers and personalities. The likes of Pandora Sykes, Lou Teasdale, Dawn O’Porter, and Caroline Flack (RIP). Something about all of them just screamed London to me and lived a life that I imagined I could live in my 20s and early 30s.

Dolly Alderton has been swiftly added to the list of Londoners that I admire and aspire to be. I wish to have a friend group like hers, life experiences like hers and be a freelance writer.

The book reminded me of how much I liked that kind of genre – fiction and biography-style. It was a welcome change to the non-fiction that I’ve been reading recently and I think I’m going to keep alternating between genres, just to keep things interesting.

It’s a great book, and one I would highly recommend.

3. GRACE UNDER PRESSURE BY LISA WENTZ (gifted)

I’m not the best at public speaking, so when it comes to tips and tricks, I need all of them. This book is a very helpful guide to public speaking and covers all bases.

I gave my first presentation that wasn’t a university assignment to students of Greenwich University, in London. I spoke to them about my blog, my placement experience and personal branding. I was so nervous because I know my accent is very hard to understand.

I’m a very fast talker and I often mumble too, so throw a strong Lurgan accent on top of that and you haven’t got the makings of a great speech-giver.

Thanks to this book and the many exercises provided, I think I’m now better equipped to speak out in public. But also, to speak up in social situations, which I often don’t because of my accent. I even struggle with job interviews and phone conversations.

This is a great book if you would like to improve your public speaking or just speaking in general.

4. A LUCKY LIFE INTERRUPTED BY TOM BROKAW

I had never actually heard of Tom Brokaw before reading this book. The book was left in my apartment by previous tenants, and I thought I would just give it a go as it’s not something I would usually buy for myself.

After reading Dolly Alderton’s Everything I Know About Love which was another memoir, I found that I actually enjoy books of that kind. Tom Brokaw’s was another memoir that I fully enjoyed.

A very famous news anchor and TV personality for NBC, Tom has a lot of famous friends and had a very successful career. The book covers Tom’s battle with Multiple Myeloma cancer and his journey of treatment.

It’s a book that will make you think about the American healthcare system, your own health and how to be grateful of your youth and working limbs. It’s a very nice book and I also had to Google whether Tom is still alive – which he is!

5. THE BUSINESS OF GETTING BUSINESS BY JOE MANAUSA (gifted)

This book is a guide to digital marketing for small businesses. Although I don’t own a small business, the book details the basics and more advanced processes of digital marketing.

Without realizing, I do a lot of digital marketing tasks through my blog. Using social media, running promotions, and my email marketing (you can sign up to my daily weekday emails here if you like!).

The book is centered around real estate – specifically, a small real estate agency in Tallahassee, Florida. But, as Joe mentions in his book, the processes the business uses can be incorporated into any small business and there are parallels to be seen throughout.

I thought I knew a lot about digital marketing before reading this book, but it turns out I did not. I would very much recommend this book to learn more about digital marketing and how you can adapt it to your blog or small business.