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.
Early last year when I was promoting my book, I approached several bloggers to review my book. Two bloggers responded and completed brilliant reviews of my book.
This is a very refreshing and sensible book, written through the eyes of someone who knows how the system works from a professional point of view but also from the empathetic side of someone who has experienced the system as a patient and user.
It’s easy to read and helpful. It is definitely a useful book to have around and it’s helpful to read as well as dip in and out of…
…A useful book to help with negotiating mental health from a personal point of view.
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. I thoroughly recommend purchasing this book. I was lucky and had this book gifted to me by the Author in return for an honest and impartial review. This review is of my own opinions and thoughts. I genuinely believe that this book will teach you a lot about mental health. I love the ideas throughout on how to top up your mental health and wellbeing. The pages on the seven essentials to be mentally and emotionally healthy and happy are especially useful for those suffering.
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.
Dare To Lead is about leadership that is vulnerable, values-based, trusting and resilient. The book is split into four parts.
The first and biggest part is Rumbling with Vulnerability. In this section Brown discusses what vulnerability is, why it is important, myths about vulnerability, using courage to drop our armor as leaders, dealing with shame and empathy and curiosity grounded in confidence.
The second part is Living Into Our Values. Values are very important to me, so unsurprisingly this was my favorite part of the book. This section covers what our own values are, what organisational values can be and how to turn values into measurable
behaviours. The List of Values activity I completed with some of my colleagues at work and I found it an incredibly useful in terms of learning more about them and what they value. Since I have also contributed to a consultation at work around our organisational values.
The third part of the book is Braving Trust. This section of the book is all about building trust as a leader and recognising how trust is built up gradually over time and can be easily lost.
The fourth part of the book is Learning to Rise which is all about resilience. This part of the book is about recognising emotion within ourselves and others as a leader, being curious about emotions and being self-aware enough to recognise what is going on emotionally for ourselves and others.
Throughout Dare To Lead are many helpful strategies that if implemented would make you a better leader. Including strategies around: having difficult conversations, increasing self-awareness, being aware of the values of ourselves and of the people we lead, being aware of the stories we tell ourselves (that may or may not be true), how to build trust and courage in the people that you lead.
Dare To Lead is written in a way that feels like you’re having a conversation with Brown. She gives examples from her own experience and also asks open questions styled in a coaching method to encourage the reader to think about how these experiences relate to their own life.
About Brené Brown
Brené Brown is a Research Professor at the University of Huston, is a Social Worker and delivers talks and training on leadership around innovation, creativity and change. Brown has worked with Pixar (Disney) and Facebook around leadership. You can learn more about Brené Brown on her website here.
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