A new year and many of us are getting ready to go back to work or back to school. Some may be feeling a bit of worry or anxiety about starting in a new role or heading to a new school. Others may be wanting to start afresh to build new habits or techniques that will make life more enjoyable and fulfilling.
There are lots of books available to help you or your loved ones. According to Nielsen Bookdata, Australians purchased over 83,000 unique ‘wellness’ titles or 5.4m copies to a value of $127m in 2021. ‘Wellness’ is a very broad category that includes books about popular psychology, families, health, mind, body, and sport, as well as gardening and hobbies.
The team at Canberra’s popular independent book store, The Book Cow in Kingston, know the impact a book can have on people’s sense of wellbeing.
“Books have always been a go-to for people trying to improve themselves or find advice and support to get through times of uncertainty and change. Books are accessible, informative, and easy to pick up and put down,” says Peter from The Book Cow.
“In recent years there has been a small increase in the range of titles and sales but it is still a wide range of books that can help everyone at all different ages. We are also seeing more titles that are biographical or memoirs and give readers an insight into how people have overcome difficulties (such as Phosphorescence by Julia Baird).”
He says that not all self-help books are targeted toward adults and competent readers. Young minds can benefit from the wellness category just as much.
“There are also some great books to help kids adjust to changes like starting school or starting at a new school.”
The team at The Book Cow has put together some recommendations for adults who are wanting to make 2023 their best year yet. These include:
- Be More Bonsai by Mark Akins
Rooted in ancient Eastern philosophies, every part of a bonsai tree is symbolic of our lives and experiences. A bonsai shedding leaves is symbolic of letting go of our material possessions; tending to the roots helps support and nourish the tree, much the same as our own beliefs and values; and many more aspects of bonsai offer serene life lessons to help us enrich and enjoy our lives.
The book also delves into the philosophy and lessons to be learnt from tending to bonsai, contains a ‘potted’ history of the fascinating ancient culture, and offers a comprehensive guide to cultivating bonsai.
- 7 Step Mindset Makeover by Domonique Bertolucci
For most people, achieving our goals, creating new habits, and making other positive changes in our lives can be very difficult to do. We either can’t get started or end up in an endless cycle of making progress and then undermining or sabotaging that progress. It’s not because we’re lazy or lack commitment. Often, it’s because we start our quest for change in the wrong place … focusing on our actions. What we really need to do when we want to change or improve our lives is to focus on our mindset.
When we get our mindsets right, everything else will fall into place. With seven easy steps, Bertolucci takes you through how to detox your dreams, discover your ‘no’, choose your mood, ignore the voices, confront the enemy, say goodbye to your ‘but’, and see clearly into your future.
- The School of Life – An Emotional Education by Alain De Botton
The essential guide to surviving modern life, a crash course in emotional maturity from the bestselling author of The Consolations of Philosophy.
This is a book about everything you were never taught at school. It’s about how to understand your emotions, find and sustain love, succeed in your career, fail well, and overcome shame and guilt. It’s also about letting go of the myth of a perfect life in order to achieve genuine emotional maturity. Written in a hugely accessible, warm, and humane style, The School of Life is the ultimate guide to the emotionally fulfilled lives we all long for and deserve.
- Love + Work by Marcus Buckingham
You’ve long been told to “Do what you love”. Sounds simple, but the real challenge is how to do this in a world not set up to help you. Most of us actually don’t know the real truth of what we love, what engages us and makes us thrive, and our workplaces, jobs, schools, and even our parents, are focused instead on making us conform. Sadly, no person or system is dedicated to discovering the crucial intersection between what you love to do and how you contribute it to others.
In this eye-opening, uplifting book, Buckingham shows you how to break free from this conformity and how to decode your own loves. Turn them into their most powerful expression and do the same for those you lead and those you love.
- The Happiness Trap – Stop Struggling, Start Living by Dr Russ Harris
Sometimes, no matter how hard we try, happiness remains elusive. We seek to find it and hold onto it, but so often this leads to worry and discontent. Based on the revolutionary approach of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), The Happiness Trap provides a path to escape this vicious cycle.
In 33 bite-sized chapters full of expert wisdom and scientifically proven techniques, Dr Russ Harris teaches us the skills to rise above fear, doubt, and insecurity and move forward towards true fulfilment. Be empowered to climb out of the ‘happiness trap’ and focus on creating a rich and meaningful life.
The team has also put together a new year recommendation list for children which includes these titles:
- The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson and illustrated by Rafael Lopez
This a precious story perfect for kids 5 to 8 years old feeling anxious about starting at a new school.
There are many reasons to feel different. Maybe it’s how you look or talk, or where you’re from, maybe it’s what you eat, or something just as random. It’s not easy to take those first steps into a place where nobody really knows you yet, but somehow you do it.
Jacqueline Woodson’s lyrical text and Rafael Lopez’s dazzling art remind us that we all feel like outsiders sometimes and how brave it is that we go forward anyway. Sometimes, when we reach out and begin to share our stories, others will be happy to meet us halfway.
- On The Way to School by Vikki Conley and illustrated by Lucia Masciullo
A fun and vibrant picture book that can help prepare kids to go back to school.
Every day, children all over the world travel to school by bus, by canoe, through valleys, over mountains and snow. Asking how do you get to school? With themes of diversity and culture, On the Way to School celebrates the joy and challenges of travelling to school.
Recommended ages: 3 to 6 years old.
- Zoe, Max and the Bicycle Bus by Steven Herrick
The perfect novel to get readers excited about going to school and, perhaps, ride their bikes to get there. A funny and uplifting verse novel about a classroom of kids who get on their bikes to ride for a change.
With their new teacher’s help, the kids in Class 5D ride to school together in a bicycle bus. Olivia can fix a puncture in two minutes and Max can ride on one wheel. Lily wishes she wasn’t quite so wobbly, and Jordi’s been waiting forever to ride on the road. Dylan has a speedy getaway from alley cats, Dabir’s glad to be part of a group, and Zoe’s bike even has a name – Esmeralda. Everyone loves their new way of getting to school.
But there’s a narrow stretch on Fishers Road with no white line to separate the cyclists from the local traffic, so Zoe and Max decide they need to make it right, even if that means breaking a few rules.
Award-winning author Steven Herrick’s latest verse novel is an ode to bike riding, the environment, and fixing the future.
Recommended ages: 8 to 13 years old.
For more information on sponsored partnerships, click here.
