Frazzled – Book Review

It has been a while since I sat down and wrote a book review post. I have been busy working my way through several great books and they are finally coming to an end. So now you can expect a bunch of bookish posts, starting with my Frazzled book review.

Frazzled- A brilliant book about mental health

As a long term fan of Ruby Wax, I noticed she had some books out and ‘A Mindfulness Guide For The Frazzled’ had been a number one best seller a few years ago. It seemed like a good place to start. So I got myself a copy and read it straight away. Usually if I am reading non-fiction it is biographies I go to. This book is partly personal but is also an exploration of the topic of mindfulness. A uniquely original text.

In A Nutshell

Ruby has completed a Masters in Mindfulness for Oxford University. This book takes us through what mindfulness is and what it meant to her when she struggled with depression.

I remember her famous TV show, ‘The Full Wax’ which used to get 14 million viewers. She would spend time with celebrities up close and personal, chatting and winding them up. I especially enjoyed her interview with Goldie Hawn and the crazy one with Donald Trump where she managed to make him squirm.

This brilliant red book is organised into helpful chapters, such as ‘How our brains work and the science behind mindfulness.’ She also goes into detail about how to introduce mindfulness practices when parenting. She intersperses factual information with her own funny reflections (always shown in a different bold font).

I learned so much about how the mind works from this book. Ruby has a way of explaining things that really grabs me. She is an expert writer and her anecdotes are so personal and funny. It has really opened my eyes to some important ideas relating to looking after my mental health.

Final Thoughts

I really enjoyed this book. It was well organised and written in a relatable way. The funny moments were balanced with serious examples and I now want to read Ruby’s second publication. I can totally recommend checking out her writing, especially if you are wanting to know more about mindfulness.

Hopefully you were intrigued by my Frazzled book review and will check out one of Ruby’s books. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my article. For another intriguing book recommendation, check out my Apples Never Fall review and maybe consider following my blog for more of the same.

Being Watched – Book Snippet

Happy Easter! Today is Good Friday and my newish YA mystery book has finally been discounted with 50% off. To celebrate this special offer I have included another snippet of this story of two teenagers constantly overshadowed by some watching eyes. I hope that you enjoy it and it might intrigue you enough to add it to your TBR list.

Blackbirds are sinister reminders in Being Watched.

Having got around to arranging with the applications people to delay my Uni course until the next year, I met up with Max and Siobhan at the Hub for lunch. It wouldn’t be long until we were all separated as they went off to different cities, but I had a feeling we ‘d get the chance to go and visit them both, so I wasn’t that worried. I bought them both a milkshake and Siobhan asked Max about his plan.

“It’s simple. We break in one night…”

“How though?” I piped up.

“We go on our bikes, ditch them behind the hedge that surrounds the front garden. Just in case the cameras see us, we wrap scarves around our heads…”

“Me losing my scarf is what started all of this.”

“…and I reckon I could easily pick the lock to the conservatory at the back.”

“Since when have you known how to pick locks?” Siobhan said, with a grin.

 “If not, we bash a little bit of glass away, wear gloves and make sure we don’t leave any signs that lead them to us. We know nobody actually lives there. It’s almost like a museum these days.”

The waitress dropped off the milkshakes and we all took big sips. I could feel the questions brewing.

“So how are we going to see?” she went on.

“Torches… I meant we can walk across the garden without light.”

“Moonlight only?” I said.

“Yeh, as long as we stick together and don’t knock anything over.”

Siobhan wasn’t impressed. “The place is scary as sh@#t. Are you telling me we have to walk around it in the pitch black?”

“No. Just till we get inside the building. Then we use torches,” he replied getting a bit touchy.

I knew we needed to do something. We couldn’t go on not knowing more about the place. I agreed that the time to act was now. As far as we knew, Bonita’s mum was the old man’s only child and whatever the situation was, we probably weren’t going to get another chance like this… to explore.

“Oh f*#k it. Let’s just go for it,” I said, trying to show Max that I had his back, even if I didn’t really know what I wasn’t getting myself into.

“Yeh, I’m up for anything. It’s a pretty sick idea. Just chancy,” said Siobhan, bouncing off my enthusiasm and deciding to go for the optimisation slant.

Changing subject, Max asked how I felt about my decision.

“Well, it’s done now. I doubt I’ll regret it,” I said in a matter of fact kind of way.

“I mean, I almost did the same thing. Uni is gonna break the bank for me,” said Max, frowning.

“That’s if we’re still alive by the time term starts,” Siobhan said, looking furtive.

“It’ll be fine,” I said, disguising my nerves. “We just stick together.”

“Glued man,” said Max, slapping my back. “We are glued together.”

“That sounds a bit too weird,” Siobhan sniggered.

I started to blow bubbles through the straw of the milkshake and snorted a bit as he whacked me again.

“You know it bro…and erm… sis?”

She snorted and I struggled to breath as I accidentally sucked some milkshake froth into my nostril.

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Here are the current links to Being Watched on Amazon:

UK link £1.77 on kindle

US link $2.95 on kindle

Now is the time to get in on the mystery.

Thank you so much for reading my extract. For more of my suggestions, have a look at Read, Watch and Listen. Then perhaps follow my blog for future similar content.

 

My Current Projects

Sometimes I feel like just taking stock of what I am up to with regards to writing and blogging. This post is to let you know what my current projects are and how I am getting on with these.

As a teacher, I have to be very organised in order to write fresh content. I also want to keep expanding my horizons because one day I want to write for a living.

Blogging

My blog is nearly two years old and I have varied the amount of content I produced. Lately I have tried to be more consistent and I can see the engagement has gone up. Here are a couple of recent articles I am proud of:

Audio

I have also decided to really get into podcasting again. I dallied in it once before but did not make enough time to grow the podcast. Now I have decided to make sure I produce some spoken content weekly, even if just a small amount.

Here is my first episode:

Or you can find it here:

JamieAdStories Podcast – on Apple Podcasts

Final Thoughts

I appreciate your thoughts on my current projects and would love some followers for my brand new podcast. Thank you for being supportive and keeping up to date with my content.