Last week I was talking about free writing and writing by hand, and I guess the most popular and useful way of putting this into practice regularly is by journalling. Journalling seems to have come into its own recently – a few years back I don’t remember seeing as much about it but I suspect… Continue reading Writing for wellbeing: Journalling
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Writing for Wellbeing: free writing
At work recently I’ve been running workshops about Reading and Writing for Wellbeing, an hour-long slot where we explore the concept of bibliotherapy in a basic sense to help you through your daily life. It’s been a while since I’ve done any training or development courses for anyone so it’s been a bit of a… Continue reading Writing for Wellbeing: free writing
Books from my Mother
For Mothers’ Day I thought I’d look at reading and mothers, or to be specific, how my mum is woven into my reading history. To start with there are the books she read to me, especially the ones she read to us over and over again. Beaky the Greedy Duck and Rapunzel, and for my… Continue reading Books from my Mother
Finding focus
How are you doing? It’s March already and I don’t know about you but this year feels utterly odd. Not wasted exactly, but time has a very different meaning these days. My daughter has gone back to school today. She had that one day in January in school, but otherwise has been at home with… Continue reading Finding focus
February: a short month with many books
Somehow I’ve read 11 books this month. And while one of them was a re-read, the others were new. Three of them I read on the Kindle app which means I didn’t read them as thoroughly as I would have done on the page. Still quite pleased with it though. Home Cooking – Laurie Colvin… Continue reading February: a short month with many books
The Duchess of E 95th Street
Over on Twitter, I seem to have spent quite a bit of time recently discussing Helene Hanff with fellow book lovers. I guess it shouldn’t feel strange that book Twitter talks about famous book lovers but Hanff isn’t so well known that she would be mentioned as much as I’ve seen her name pop up… Continue reading The Duchess of E 95th Street
January: a round up of books and assorted nonsense
Is this it now? The passing of each month no longer feels like a mere date change but some kind of endurance test where we stand, licking our wounds and looking uncertainly at the future. How have you got on through this, the longest month? Well, I hope. What has got me through January? What’s… Continue reading January: a round up of books and assorted nonsense
Reading for Wellbeing: Comfort reads
I don’t know about you but this seems the perfect time for some comfort reads. I have a stack of old favourites that I re-read every so often for comfort and companionship but once in a while, it can be good to seek out new comforts too. Today I’m going to discuss two that you… Continue reading Reading for Wellbeing: Comfort reads
Reading for Wellbeing: Wintering by Katherine May
This year I’m going to spend some time looking at bibliotherapy: the practice of reading and writing for wellbeing. So once in a while I’ll be reviewing and discussing books that can help your sense of wellbeing. Today, I’m looking at Wintering by Katherine May. Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times… Continue reading Reading for Wellbeing: Wintering by Katherine May
Clearing out your books
Happy New Year! I’m not one for quantities of New Year Resolutions but I do tend to have a clearout around this time. A clean and clear out, once the decorations are down, makes it a little bit easier to face January. Lockdown, and especially working from home, has made me dissatisfied with the number… Continue reading Clearing out your books
Susan E Barsby 