In a bid to make ourselves read more, and so you can see some of the literature that inspires our travels, and our London adventures, we’ve decided to do a monthly recap on what we’ve been reading. Here’s August’s for you!
Tim
Anxiety For Beginners: A Personal Investigation by Eleanor Morgan
I’ve realised that there’s no shame that I read slowly, so I’m still reading this! Throughout my life I have been an anxious person. I wouldn’t say I understand what anxiety disorder or a real panic attack feels like. I have also been close to a lot of people, friends, family, band-mates, girlfriends who have struggled with anxiety in a way that can dramatically effect daily life. The word anxiety has multiple contexts; and I think that this makes the magnitude of the kind of anxiety spoken about so candidly and descriptively in this book seem far less encompassing than it is. I say all this because I have battled enormously with an inability to understand what it must feel like. This subsequently meant I’ve not been as supportive and understanding as I have always wanted to be.
This book has in a way that I have previously found impossible, described what suffering with anxiety feels like, and has truly helped me understand what it really is and how it affects people. Eleanor Morgan’s unmatched honesty, her descriptive, personal, and often hilarious way with words makes this book accessible and surprisingly enjoyable(given the subject at its core). I would recommend this book to anyone with with anxiety themselves as a means of reassurance, and to offer a potentially new vocabulary that may help those close to you understand how you are feeling, and I would recommend it to absolutely everyone else because it is written so well, and would help make everyone more aware of how large the effect of the A-word is on those who struggle with it.
Jess
East West Street by Philippe Sands
Honestly, this is my second attempt at this book. Phillipe Sands, the man behind the amazing Radio 4 podcast: Intrigue: The Ratline brings all his research and documentaries together in this book. It’s a great read but it’s certainly tough. Following the story of three key men, one of which is in his family; Sands uncovers family secrets and stories about the war and after. Based in Lviv he follows the stories of two men involved in the Nuremburg trials (on the winning side) and intertwines his family history throughout. I know it’s a niche subject that I’m into reading about but it’s also fascinating. He goes to great depths to make it accessible to everyone, not only those with knowledge about the Holocaust. The book shows a great depth of research and interviews with all manner of people and shows the evolution of the Holocaust and the history of the world.
What are we reading now?
Tim: How to Be Human by Ruby Wax
Jess: A history of Britain in 21 Women by Jenni Murray
What are you reading? Is there anything you’ve read that you think we should read next? What’s on your bookshelf waiting to be picked up? Let us know in the comments below!
