We love cosying up with a good book over the holiday season, it really is the perfect way to wind down and get some peace and quiet away from the Christmas chaos! So for a well-deserved dose of downtime (find out the importance of incorporating this into your week during the festive season here), find yourself a quiet spot, make yourself a mug of hot cacao, dish yourself up a raw mince pie and dive into one of these captivating reads…
WORLD
Feral: Searching for Enchantment on the Frontiers of Rewilding
The riveting story of writer George Monbiot’s quest to re-engage with nature, Feral chronicles Monbiot’s endeavour to show how by ‘rewilding’, or, establishing a relationship that sees us as one with nature, provides us with the potential to reverse the damage so far inflicted on our eco-systems and environment. Monbiot’s captivating journey from the seas of north Wales where he kayaks among feeding frenzies of dolphins and seabirds, to the forests of Eastern Europe, where lynx stalk and packs of wolves roam, Monbiot propagates a newfound environmentalism that allows for nature to repair itself through the alleviation of human intervention. A fascinating read for nature lovers and environmentalists alike.
Six Guides for Life from Six Great Thinkers
Containing the first six titles from The School Of Life’s new Life Lessons Series, these books examine some of life’s greatest issues through the ideas of six of the world’s greatest thinkers; Bergson, Byron, Freud, Hobbes, Kierkegaard and Nietzsche. Packed full of quotes and food for thought, this handy book series offers an easily digestible insight into the positive aspects of each of the revolutionary thinker’s schools of thought, plus the collection looks amazing on any book shelf thanks to the nature inspired cover designs.
KITCHEN
Thug Kitchen
From one of our favourite blogs comes the much-anticipated cookbook of the same name, Thug Kitchen. Incepted to inspire people to eat their ‘goddamn vegetables’, their ethos favours a back to basics simplicity that endeavours to makes healthy eating easy and accessible to people of all budgets and cooking skills. With fans like Gwyneth Paltrow and a growing cult following, Thug Kitchen’s first cookbook features more than 100 recipes to get even the junkiest of junk food eaters to take charge of their plate, ditch the fast food and ready meals and cook up some ‘real f*cking food’.
The Drunken Botanist
No Christmas would be complete without a festive tipple, especially when it contains herbs, flowers, fruits and fungi! Sound obscure to you? What you may not know is that many of your alcoholic favourites are derived from plants and grains; sake began with a grain of rice, scotch emerged from barley, tequila from agave, rum from sugarcane and bourbon from corn, and believe us, these are only a few! Amy Stewarts The Drunken Botanist, explores the array of botanicals that humans have used through clever resourcefulness to transform into alcohol for centuries. Featuring drink recipes and growing tips for gardeners, impress your guests this Christmas with homemade botanic infused cocktails featuring ingredients direct from your veggie garden, we sure will be!
Of course we will have The Unbakery, Hemsley + Hemsley and the new Chickpea mag to hand to entertain ourselves in the kitchen between chapters with the array of healthy, whole recipes featured in all three.
WELLBEING
Mindful London: How to Find Calm and Contentment in the Chaos of the City
Written for Londoners and visitors looking to positively enhance their experience of the city, Mindful London features quiet and peaceful places to retreat to; from peaceful interiors, hideaways and sanctuaries of city churches, libraries and museums, to the refreshing pockets of nature found throughout the city. We love the extensive selection of mindful tips for appreciating London’s architecture, art and music in a newfound way and the ideas for activities that will help de-stress and re-energise (we’ll definitely be taking our regular running routine up a notch by partaking in the mindful variety in the New Year!) So if you’re prone to the busy body blues, start your new year in London the mindful way with this essential guide to finding the calm amidst the hustle and bustle of city living.
Big Fat Surprise
An in-depth investigation of the role that dietary fat should play in our day to day, investigative journalist Nina Teicholz new book The Big Fat Surprise documents the flaws within the low-fat nutritional advice preached by the mainstream diet industry for the past sixty years. Demonstrating the detrimental effect and ‘disastrous consequences’ that jumping on the low-fat bandwagon can have on our health, Teicholz’ nine year investigation is a convincing insight into the misinformation surrounding saturated fats. Revealing the fascinating and somewhat startling history that chronicles how researchers and nutritional scientists have enabled such misrepresentations to become dietary dogma, the overall message of Teicholz text is loud and clear; more, not less, dietary fat is the key to better health and wellness.
BEAUTY
Whilst we’re still weaving our way through Vogue Natural Health & Beauty, we have a few other beauty books we’ll be diving into this holiday season…
Pretty Honest
Drawing on over 20 years of experience within the industry, beloved journalist and broadcaster Sali Hughes Pretty Honest offers refreshing advice on all things beauty. Whilst not exclusively featuring natural and organic products, this new Content bookshelf addition contains advice we love on making the most of makeup’s physically and emotionally transformative powers with tips and advice conveyed in the tone of a beauty editor mixed with feminist critique and Hughes signature wit.
No More Dirty Looks
One beauty classic we’re re-reading this holiday season is No More Dirty Looks – a introductory resource for anyone wanting to take up the challenge of detoxing their bathroom cabinet for the New Year. Full of all the info you need when transitioning over to #greenbeauty, we’ll be gifting a few of these to friends this Christmas to provide them with a little food for thought.
WHAT’S ON – DECEMBER | CONTENT GIFT GUIDE: HOME IMPROVEMENTS
