August Better Reading BE: Wellness Books For Lockdown and Beyond

Join us on the last Tuesday of every month for our Better Reading BE Facebook LIVE segment, which focuses on titles we feel inspire, educate, empower, and nurture readers. We’ve selected special books: books written by experts in their field, books that celebrate women, and books that educate. Subjects that are covered include mindfulness and meditation, healing and health, powerful memoirs, and self-development. Books that support you through these trying times.

This month we covered books that are helping us get through the ongoing lockdowns in Australia. Jane and Cheryl discussed cooking, gardening, meditation, and Nikki Gemmell’s inspiring memoir Dissolve. Read on to learn more about the titles we discussed…

BE BOOK OF THE MONTH: Dissolve by Nikki Gemmell

Dissolve is a deeply personal, profoundly intimate reflection on love and female creativity in a man’s world, and what happens when it all collides. Having lived through the humiliation and bewildering complexity of a time of failure, Nikki Gemmell eventually resurfaced. Decades later she has written a meditation on women’s lives and creative desires.

This is a conversation. A conversation with the beautiful young women of her teenage daughter’s generation, and of course with men. With husbands and male artists.

Dissolve is a hopeful, exhilarating book about women finding their voice. Read our review here.

Plan B by Shannah Kennedy

Shannah Kennedy is one of Australia’s top life coaches, keynote speakers, and the bestselling author of The Life Plan. She’s taken her own experiences with chronic fatigue syndrome and depression and created simple and effective ways for others to deal with life’s obstacles. Her latest book, Plan B, is a guide to navigating and embracing change. Whether that change is personal, professional, or due to a pandemic, Kennedy says that ‘change can turn our plans, our lives and our dreams upside down.’ This four-part practical handbook provides advice, tips, and tools for processing these changes and setting new goals that will lead to a healthier mindset and a happier life. Listen to our podcast with Shannah Kennedy here.

Falastin by Sami Tamimi and Tara Wigley 

Falastin is a love letter to Palestine, the land and its people; an evocative collection of over 110 unforgettable recipes and stories from the co-authors of Jerusalem and Ottolenghi: The Cookbook, and Ottolenghi Simple. Travelling through Bethlehem, East Jerusalem, Nablus, Haifa, Akka, Nazareth, Galilee and the West Bank, Sami and Tara invite you to experience and enjoy unparalleled access to Sami’s homeland. Listen to our podcast with Sami Tamimi and Tara Wigley here

The Good Life by Hannah Moloney

From growing your own tea, to building a DIY water tank, making yoghurt to co-housing, with The Good Life you’ll gain the skills, self-reliance and confidence needed to engage meaningfully with your space, your food and your community. Whether you have a half-acre, a backyard, a tiny balcony or no balcony at all, there are tips and tricks to suit everyone. Full of wisdom, radical hope and inspiration, The Good Life is your ultimate guide to improving your wellbeing and the wellbeing of those around you to create a better world for all.

The Yes Woman by Grace Jennings-Edquist

In a world that teaches girls to become Yes Women, learning to say ‘no’ is a radical feat. For most of her life, Australian journalist Grace Jennings-Edquist had been keen to please. From school to career, in her appearance, friendships, and even everyday interactions, she was always anxious not to disappoint. Becoming a mother finally tipped her over the edge, and she wound up in a mental health unit. Her attempts to be everything to everyone – and to do it all perfectly – had taken their toll. Grace could no longer avoid the truth: she was chronically addicted to saying yes. And she was not alone.