Search Results for: Lifestyle

This beautifully illustrated guide contains specific month-by-month ‘to do’ lists for ornamental gardens, edible crops and general maintenance, as well as tips on things to look out for, such as pests and how to eliminate them. With diary pages for making your own notes each month, this pocket-sized calendar is a must-have whether you’re a seasoned gardener or just starting out. Pippa Greenwood is a leading light in the world of horticulture. She was a presenter on BBC Two’s Gardeners’ World for over 13 years and the gardening consultant for Rosemary and Thyme. She is a regular panellist and bug expert on Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time, has written a number of award-winning books and contributes to BBC Gardeners’ World magazine.

There was someone standing further along the beach, facing out to sea. An old man dressed in… I blinked… battle fatigues? Second World War U.S. by the looks of the helmet. I looked on for a moment, squinting into the sun-streaked coconut smoke.

‘You won’t like Bonga’s Guest House, I can tell you now. Maximo Bonga…’
said the fisherman’s wife. She was lost for words, shaking her head.

‘Maximum Bongo?’ I asked.

‘Bonga,’ she said. ‘It means flamboyant.’

Based on a true story

On one of South East Asia’s most remote beaches, a young woman’s body is found. The corrupt local police think they have found the perfect fall guy in Maximo Bonga – cantankerous World War Two veteran and owner of the weirdest guesthouse in town.

But unbeknownst to them, an unlikely friendship has been forged between Maximo and John, one of the boarders of Maximo’s guest-house-cum-boot-camp, where an old machine gun and camouflaged mantraps stand guard, sandbags form fences and a tyrannical pet rooster terrorises the guests. Along with an eccentric bunch of modern-world rejects, John sets out to defend the old soldier in a kangaroo court set up at the local cockpit, in a paradise like no other.

‘Brussels and all those Eurocrats on the gravy train? It’s just so boring. Why, you can’t even name ten famous Belgians!’

Until 1993, Alec had never been to Belgium, so it came as some surprise when in August that year he found himself at the altar of a small church in Flanders, reciting wedding vows in Flemish. It was the start, for better or for worse, of a long relationship with this unassuming and much maligned little country.

As he ordered yet another pint of Stella, it dawned on him that perhaps it was time to immerse himself in Belgian culture, especially when there were over a hundred locally produced beers on the menu. He vowed to put worldwide opinion to the test: just how boring can Belgium be?

There is a moment every morning when the countryside takes a pause. The birds stop singing, the dogs choke back their barks, and cats pause mid-stride. Everything waits. It’s in this vacuum that a man working alone has the best chance of finding truffles. The plot of land was perfect, just what they’d been looking for, offering expansive views across the valley and within walking distance of the local village. There was only one small problem, there was no house. And yet the land was affordable and came, the agent promised, with a possible income from a copse of truffle oaks. Just after the birth of their first daughter, after leaving the London rat race behind, here was a chance for Jamie and his wife to finally realise their dream of owning a property. With one final salivating glance at the oak trees the decision was made. All they needed now was a dog. And their quest to find and train a truffle dog turns out to be as full of hidden discoveries as a truffle hunt itself.

With delicious humour and superb storytelling, Ten Trees and a Truffle Dog is sure to delight anyone who loves dogs, food and rural France.

This charming compilation of 40 of the best-loved traditional nursery rhymes offers clues as to their true meanings and often surprising origins.

Many of the catchy songs we grew up with were not nonsense verses for the playground but served as satirical commentaries on political events of the day. These seemingly innocent vehicles were once used to spread subversive messages at a time when illiteracy was commonplace in society and direct criticism of the authorities was punishable by prison or death.

Sing a Song of Sixpence, a Pocketful of Rye, Four and Twenty Blackbirds Baked in a Pie… Was this simply about a delicacy of the day? Or was it, as some claim, a coded message used to recruit members for Blackbeard’s pirate ships?

This humorously illustrated book offers a trip down memory lane and some fascinating food for thought for anyone interested in English history and language.

Understand and overcome your health anxiety with this practical, supportive and easy-to-read guide

Everyone worries about their health sometimes, but if you find yourself constantly overwhelmed, How to Understand and Deal with Health Anxiety is here to help. This friendly, accessible guide has all the information and advice you need to identify the source of your struggles. By learning the science behind health anxiety and understanding how it affects your mind and body, you’ll start to gain control of it. With helpful tips, practical steps and actionable advice, this book will help you work out the best ways to spend less time worrying about your health, and more time living in the present moment.

By the end of this book, you will:
– Have a better understanding of what health anxiety is, how it manifests, what causes it, and how to identify symptoms and triggers
– Be armed with physical and practical steps you can take to alleviate health anxiety, from breathing exercises and coping mechanisms to healthy lifestyle choices
– Know about the medical treatments and therapies available, and how and when to seek professional help or support

With the right knowledge and guidance, you can learn to understand and manage your health anxiety so that you can get back to feeling like you again.

Make everyday moments delightfully dazzling and appreciate simple pleasures with this uplifting guide to romanticizing your life

Sometimes the most magical things in life are the simplest: a good book, the soft pitter-patter of rain, the feel of grass beneath bare feet. If we could fill our lives with these small pleasures and find ways to make even the most mundane activities feel special and exciting, just think how lovely our worlds could be.

Learn how to elevate your everyday with this stunning guide to finding joy in everything you do. “Romanticizing your life” doesn’t mean living a flashy lifestyle or spending like a superstar; it simply means taking small steps to make even the most ordinary day feel extraordinary.

This book is filled with fun and easy ideas to add sparkle to your daily routine, including:

– Wearing your most fabulous outfit to make a normal day seem like a special occasion
– Jazzing up your favourite morning beverage to start your day with a touch of luxury
– Curating a mood-boosting playlist to dance to while preparing dinner

And much more! With the help of this book, you’ll soon be on the path to a life that’s filled with gratitude, self-kindness, and simple, magical moments.

The popular party game we all know and love is just about to get a lot more interesting!

Strictly for over 18s, Adult Charades is bulging with hilarious ideas for TV shows, films, books, songs and much, much more, for you and your friends to act out in all their glorious detail.

With content including ‘Die Hard’ and a ‘Slow Comfortable Screw’ cocktail, you’re certain to be in stitches with this compendium of saucy and innuendo-laden suggestions!

Say yes to new adventures! This beautiful book is brimming with tips, recipes, activities and more to help you plan your perfect trip and discover the joys of camping in the great outdoors.

Camping is one of life’s purest pleasures. It’s a way to escape the frantic pace of the everyday, to get back to nature and to discover new experiences – and nothing comes close to the joy of sleeping under the stars.

Packed with ideas for first-time campers and seasoned experts alike, this book is sure to inspire your next trip and help you create memories to last a lifetime. Within these pages you will find:
– Handy camping hacks
– Delicious recipes
– Foraging tips
– Bushcraft basics
– Wild camping advice
– Inspiration for your travel bucket-list

… And much more! Whether you’re seeking a relaxing natural getaway or an intrepid wilderness adventure, the great outdoors is waiting for you. So, pack your bag, pick up your tent and go camping!

Joy is all around us. It’s in the first sip of a cup of tea, the beauty of a sunrise, or the simple pleasure of a deep breath, and it’s easy to find when you know where to look. All you need is five minutes.

This book includes over 60 prompts and ideas to help you to find joy every single day. Taking you through your morning, your afternoon and your evening, these tips will help you to elevate your mood and liven up your routine – and each one takes no longer than five minutes.

Tips include:

– Setting an intention for your day
– Performing a small act of kindness
– Eating outdoors in the fresh air
– Trying a grounding ritual
Even the smallest moment of positivity can transform your outlook, so whether you follow one tip or many, you’re sure to lift your spirits and find a small oasis of happiness every day.

Begin your healing journey with this step-by-step workbook to help you understand and deal with trauma

Trauma may seem like a daunting word, but it can cover many distressing events – from negative childhood experiences to the ordeal of living through a pandemic. It is often at the source of our fears and anxieties, and it can affect the way we live our lives.

The Healing Workbook contains practical advice, effective tips and guided exercises based on trusted cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) techniques to help you begin the process of recovery. Within these pages you will find support and encouragement as you begin to come to terms with the past and find your way back to yourself, your values and a life where you can flourish and thrive.

Use the workbook either on its own or alongside therapy to help you work through your trauma and find a sense of peace and healing.

Inside the book, you will find:
– A relaxed and supportive approach, allowing you to calmly complete the exercises at your own pace
– A hands-on attitude towards understanding your trauma, offering a wealth of tips and advice for working through your worries
– Clear and actionable advice on making lifestyle changes to support and improve your mental well-being
– Exercises grounded in research-supported CBT techniques

A practical, supportive and easy-to-read guide to help you understand and overcome anxiety, filled with helpful tips and actionable advice

Feeling overwhelmed? This little book is here to help.

How to Understand and Deal with Anxiety is a friendly, accessible guide with all the information and advice you need to identify the source of your struggles, and to take practical steps to reduce or manage the burden. By learning the science behind anxiety and understanding how it affects your mind and body, you’ll start to dismantle its hold on you. And with practical ways to manage the condition – including physical, medical and therapeutic perspectives – this book will help you work out the best ways you can support your mental health and improve your overall well-being.

By the end of this book, you will:
– Understand the science behind anxiety, how it manifests, what causes it, and how to identify symptoms and triggers
– Be armed with physical and practical steps you can take to alleviate anxiety, from breathing exercises and healthy lifestyle choices to problem-solving techniques and coping mechanisms
– Have a host of holistic remedies up your sleeve for when anxiety strikes, such as mindfulness, visualization and breathwork
– Know about the medical treatments and therapies available, and know how and when to seek professional help or support

With the right knowledge and guidance, you can learn to understand and manage anxiety so that you can get back to feeling like you again.

A practical, supportive and easy-to-read guide to help you understand and overcome stress, filled with helpful tips and actionable advice

Feeling overwhelmed? This little book is here to help.

How to Understand and Deal with Stress is a friendly, accessible guide with all the information and advice you need to identify the source of your struggles, and to take practical steps to reduce or manage the burden. By learning the science behind stress and understanding how it affects your mind and body, you’ll start to dismantle its hold on you. And with practical ways to manage the condition – including physical, medical and therapeutic perspectives – this book will help you work out the best ways you can support your mental health and improve your overall well-being.

By the end of this book, you will:
– Understand the science behind stress, how it manifests, what causes it, and how to identify symptoms and triggers
– Be armed with physical and practical steps you can take to alleviate stress, from breathing exercises and healthy lifestyle choices to problem-solving techniques and coping mechanisms
– Have a host of holistic remedies up your sleeve for when stress strikes, such as mindfulness, visualization and breathwork
– Know about the medical treatments and therapies available, and know how and when to seek professional help or support

With the right knowledge and guidance, you can learn to understand and manage stress so that you can get back to feeling like you again.

A practical, supportive and easy-to-read guide to help you understand and overcome depression, filled with helpful tips and actionable advice

Feeling overwhelmed? This little book is here to help.

How to Understand and Deal with Depression is a friendly, accessible guide with all the information and advice you need to identify the source of your struggles, and to take practical steps to reduce or manage the burden. By learning the science behind depression and understanding how it affects your mind and body, you’ll start to dismantle its hold on you. And with practical ways to manage the condition – including physical, medical and therapeutic perspectives – this book will help you work out the best ways you can support your mental health and improve your overall well-being.

By the end of this book, you will:
– Understand the science behind depression, how it manifests, what causes it, and how to identify symptoms and triggers
– Be armed with physical and practical steps you can take to alleviate the symptoms of depression, from breathing exercises and healthy lifestyle choices to problem-solving techniques and coping mechanisms
– Have a host of holistic remedies up your sleeve for when depression strikes, such as mindfulness, visualization and breathwork
– Know about the medical treatments and therapies available, and know how and when to seek professional help or support

With the right knowledge and guidance, you can learn to understand and manage depression so that you can get back to feeling like you again.

Take control of your social anxiety with this step-by-step workbook to help you identify and overcome your worries

Life has plenty of challenges, and it’s normal to feel anxious from time to time. But when social anxiety starts to affect your day-to-day life, it’s time to take action. The Social Anxiety Workbook contains practical advice and guided exercises to enable you to identify the source of your struggles and understand the effect social anxiety has on your mind and body.

Based on trusted techniques and mindfulness exercises, this friendly guide will provide you with the tools you need to approach every social situation with confidence and help you take the steps towards managing your social anxiety.

Inside this book, you will find:
– A relaxed and supportive approach, which allows you to calmly complete the exercises at your own pace
– A hands-on attitude to relieving feelings of social anxiety, offering a wealth of tips and advice for working through your worries
– Clear and actionable advice on making lifestyle changes to support and improve your mental well-being
– Exercises grounded in research-supported CBT techniques

Either use the workbook on its own or alongside therapy to help you break away from negative thought patterns and achieve long-term calm and peace of mind.

“Vagabond is classic travel writing at its finest… Mark takes you on a journey through the heart of Spain which is rich in detail and bursting with life.” – Sir Ranulph Fiennes

This incredible true story of one man’s 1,225-km hike across the Iberian Peninsula is a celebration of rural Spain along the road less travelled

Inspired by a nomadic “vagabundo“ he met decades ago, Mark eschews the fast pace of modern life and sets off on a solo hike 1,225 km across the Iberian Peninsula – from Gibraltar in the far south to Estaca de Bares, Spain’s most northerly tip – carrying just a backpack and a hammock.

Hiking through sleepy siesta-hour plazas, shady cork forests and heat-shimmering plains, the hours would be long, dusty and hot. But, as Mark passes through the many small villages and communities en route, his trek comes to be characterized most of all by the sharing of stories, the true kindness of strangers, and the unbridled freedom of the open road.

Recounting Mark’s fascinating nomadic journey through Spain’s least-visited region, Vagabond is a homage to the disappearing lifestyle of the vagabundo, as well as a celebration of rural Spain and its forgotten communities. It reminds us of the value of slowing down and finding connection with others, and the beauty that can be found in taking life one step at a time.

From bathing rituals and sleep yoga to solitude and mental relaxation, discover the restorative power of rest and sleep with this beautiful little book

When was the last time you truly felt well-rested? Perhaps it’s hard even to remember. With so many demands on our energy, modern life can make it challenging to devote enough time to resting. However, it can be just as important as diet and exercise to our overall sense of well-being.

This little book will help you find ways to bring more rest into your life. It’s filled with practical tips and simple ideas, including:
– Different kinds of rest, and which kind your body may need
– Techniques to allow your mind and body to take a break
– Sleep self-care to help you fall asleep and sleep well
When you know how to get the most from your down-time, you can step back into your day-to-day life feeling revitalized, refreshed and reconnected to the best version of you.

Tips and ideas from country escapes to city breaks
Hen parties come in every shape and size, but what unites them is that they are a wonderful opportunity to celebrate love and friendship, and to have an awesome party! Whatever your style and budget, this book is packed with tips to help you create a bachelorette party to remember.

A practical, supportive and easy-to-read guide to help you understand and overcome social anxiety, filled with helpful tips and actionable advice

Feeling overwhelmed? This little book is here to help.

How to Understand and Deal with Social Anxiety is a friendly, accessible guide with all the information and advice you need to identify the source of your struggles, and to take practical steps to reduce or manage the burden. By learning the science behind social anxiety and understanding how it affects your mind and body, you’ll start to dismantle its hold on you. And with practical ways to manage the condition – including physical, medical and therapeutic perspectives – this book will help you work out the best ways you can support your mental health and improve your overall well-being.

By the end of this book, you will:

– Understand the science behind social anxiety, how it manifests, what causes it, and how to identify symptoms and triggers
– Be armed with physical and practical steps you can take to alleviate the symptoms of social anxiety, from breathing exercises and healthy lifestyle choices to problem-solving techniques and coping mechanisms
– Have a host of holistic remedies up your sleeve for when social anxiety strikes, such as mindfulness, visualization and breathwork
– Know about the medical treatments and therapies available, and know how and when to seek professional help or support
With the right knowledge and guidance, you can learn to understand and manage social anxiety so that you can get back to feeling like you again.

‘Wine is sunlight, held together by water.’


Galileo Galilei


No other beverage has created the excitement and emotion that wine has over its vast history. It fills our mouths with flavour and our hearts with joy. It’s also a subject whose complexities can be baffling and mysterious to the uninitiated – but wine expert Caro Feely is here to unveil all the secrets of this most marvellous drink.


Packed with engaging anecdotes, fascinating history and a wealth of information on the world of wine, this miscellany is perfect for any wine fan, from the expert to the casual drinker. So let’s raise a glass to the red, the white and the rosé!

From big ones to small ones and even ones that block out the sun; the bum is back! This cheeky little guide on the world’s most popular body part is bouncing with fun, facts and quotes to help you celebrate the JUNK IN YOUR TRUNK. 

It might have been fun and games once to have adventures, make catapults or learn about fossils, but what about now you are starting to feel a bit fossilised yourself? You just know you are going to suffer a ghastly accident if you attempt to make a tree house.
The Deranged Book for Old-timers offers advice on life’s more sedate pleasures, from the afternoon snooze to how to twitch curtains properly. With a guide to being a grumpy codger and a Zimmer frame Kama Sutra, this book is full of delightfully dotty things to do. Yes, we are going to grow old, but we are going to make sure we do it disgracefully.

It was an empty landscape now with huge horizons in every direction, a compressed, steam-rollered desert where man had no place. We lacked the skills to carry out even basic fixes. If the van stopped working we were really stuck. No one knew where we were and our last mobile phone signal had been 150 miles ago.

Fifty-something and tired of arguing with John Humphrys over the day’s headlines, BBC journalists Geoff and David found themselves eagerly volunteering for redundancy. But rather than easing into retirement with the odd round of golf, they decided to buy a van and drive off to Mongolia. Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time…

In an epic journey through Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Siberia and across the Gobi Desert, they discover more about each other in a few weeks than they did sharing an office for years.
Lying in wait are crooked cops, bent border guards and terrible roads, but also welcoming and curious locals, eager to help the pair on their mission.

Finally, you’re a proper grown-up! But between the paunch and the mortgage, you’re starting to wonder if this is what you really want. You need midlife crisis survival skills:
– Stop calling it a midlife crisis and start calling it Teenagehood part 2.
– Do go to the gym occasionally. Don’t train to join the Olympic weightlifting team.

This mischievous little book will help you enjoy your second youth with tongue-in-cheek advice and cheeky illustrations.