Address Book by Simon Tingle is a book of poetry about influential people in the author’s life. These include friends, family, mentors and role models.
The book is a quick read being only 39 pages long, but most readers will re-read each of the thirty poems a number of times to discover, or at least guess at, their deeper meanings.
Tingle was 16 years old when he released Address Book. But the book demonstrates his intelligence and that he is a young man that is much more emotionally mature than his years.
Each poem has beautiful prose. Each poem is deeply emotionally moving, wonderfully human and highly relatable to all.
Address Book is a work of art, one that will touch your heart.
Reading Time: 3minutesFollowing on from the success of last year’s some unusual Christmas gift ideas, I decided to do some more unusual Christmas gift ideas this year. So here they are:
Remember not to get into debt for Christmas. Just spend what you can afford to spend.
Comedian Adam Kay hasn’t always been a Comedian. In a former life he was a Doctor in the National Health Service (NHS). At the time he dutifully kept a reflective diary, as he was encouraged to do so as best practice.
In the best-selling This Is Going To Hurt Kay shares this secret junior Doctor diary with the world. As a junior Doctor Kay mainly worked in maternity. Kay tells true stories with a humorous flare. Obviously patient’s details have been changed to ensure anonymity.
In this book Kay is completely honest and because of this honesty it really does tell you what it’s like to be a junior Doctor in the NHS. Along with what it’s really like behind the scenes in the NHS.Throughout the book there are brilliant footnotes that explain the medical terminology in an easy to understand way.
All of the stories are interesting, made so by Kay’s constant use of humor. Writing humor in a book is difficult, so Kay should be highly commended for pulling this off as well as he did. A couple of the stories were so so funny that I laughed out loud reading the book.
Kay’s diary is dated and at each change of job, he explains his mental state and shares his thoughts around topics including: commenting on Politician’s meddling in the NHS; under funding and under resourcing; the staff often working for nothing because they feel morally obligated and want to do the best for their patients; the NHS relying too much on the goodwill of staff (in all roles) to the point were the goodwill is almost gone and staff morale is non-existent; the sneaking privatization and what it will mean for all; that our expectation of Doctors and Nurses to be super-human are unrealistic.
Kay wraps up the thoroughly enjoyable This Is Going To Hurt by telling the story of a patient that made him decide to leave the medical profession. It is deeply tragic, as is Kay’s loss to the profession. Kay describes receiving a letter after 4 years of quitting from the General Medical Council (GMC) removing him from active registration due to lack of required practice hours. The ending of the book caused me to cry.
This book reminded me that every person has and is their own story. We whom work in the NHS should always remember this, along with the fact that patient’s like to share their stories whether good or bad of contact with NHS services. Staff in the NHS generally work there to make a positive difference to people’s lives. We certainly don’t go into it for the money!
The success of This Is Going To Hurt has led Kay to recently publish a follow up book Twas The Nightshift Before Christmas, in time to be a stocking-filler for Christmas. I just hope that this follow up book has new diary entries in, rather than a reprint of stories from the first.
My book Mental Health Wisdom has been reduced in price to do my bit for World Mental Health Awareness Day, which is today and on the 10th September every year.
The new prices are:
£7.49 for a paperback, either signed through buying on the link above (plus £1 for postage and packing) or by purchasing on Amazon. This is a saving of over 37% or £4.50 in actual money.
£1.99 for Kindle version by purchasing on Amazon. This is a saving of over 66% or £4 in actual money.
So go on, treat yourself. Want to know what others think of the book? It’s 5 star rated for all review on Amazon. Here are some quotes from the Amazon reviews:
“This book is a serious, yet light hearted, look at anxiety and depression from someone who has battled with this throughout his life…
This is an easy and often humorous read into a subject that impacts on far more of the population that we generally realise or are aware of.
I would highly recommend ‘Mental Health Wisdom’ by Anthony Simpson…”
“Very informative, useful and helpful read, would highly recommend, very reasonable price also.”
“This is a perfect starting point for anyone that wants to get clued up on mental health. It goes through the many different mental health illnesses, symptoms and has so much invaluable knowledge and wisdom embedded in it. It then goes on to list some tips on how to manage and look after your mental health and well- being.”
The book will never be at a lower price than it’s current price. This is the absolute cheapest I can make it. I decided to drop the price as the book has been out nearly 9 months. I also accidentally over purchased stock and would like them to find good homes, so that I have space for my next creative project.
