Love for Imperfect Things by Haemin Sunim

For many people, January is the time of year for a fresh start and promises to better themselves and their lives in the year ahead. They resolve to eat healthier, exercise more, and kick a habit they're not happy with. But what about the things that can not be seen on the surface, yet which can lead to anxiety and depression? Your mental health is just as important as your physical one, and The Things You Can Only See When You Slow Down helps you tackle one of the biggest challenges out there: self-care.

The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down by Haemin Sunim

You may have noticed I've started reading more lifestyle and well-being books in 2018, such as You Do You by Sarah Knight and The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. Combined with calming and evocative reads such as The Last Wilderness by Neil Ansell and O's Little Guide to the Big Questions by the Editors of O, they've inspired me to be more mindful, which is just what I need in my life right now. And the beautifully written and thoughtful The Things You Can Seen Only When You Slow Down is a worthy addition to my collection of reads of this variety.

Book review: The Song of Seven by Tonke Dragt

I was so excited when last year I discovered that Pushkin Press had brought out English translations of Dutch children's classics The Letter for the King and The Secrets of the Wild Wood by Tonke Dragt, because – finally – more people could discover the incredible words and illustrations from an author who was a big part of my childhood in the Netherlands. And Pushkin Press didn't stop with her most famous duology either. Together with translator Laura Watkinson they published another work by Tonke Dragt: standalone adventure The Song of Seven.

Book review: Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman

While I only discovered author Fredrik Backman's much hyped about novel A Man Called Ove about a year ago, I was instantly sold. His second book translated into English, My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises, even ended up talking the top spot on my list of favourite books of 2015. So when a spin-off with with one of the chararacters from his latest novel was announced, I knew this was a title I had to get my eager hands on as soon as possible. Britt-Marie was actually my least favourite character from the original book, but in true Backman form the story was a heartwarming eye-opener and it completely turned my opinion of her around.

Book review: The Secrets of the Wild Wood by Tonke Dragt

One of my all-time favourite Dutch children's books is De brief aan de koning by Tonke Dragt, and I was thrilled when decades after the original release this much-treasured classic finally received a deserving English language debut with The Letter for the King in 2014, thanks to Pushkin Press in the UK and a beautiful translation by Laura Watkinson. So you can imagine my excitement when the sequel, Secrets of the Wild Wood (originally Geheimen van het Wilde Woud) received an English release this year as well (also translated by Watkinson). Dark and more mature than its precedent, this book continues to capture the magic and adventurous spirit I've come to know and love from Tonke Dragt's imaginative world.

Book review: The Letter for the King by Tonke Dragt

My edition: Paperback, published in 2014 (originally in 1962) by Pushkin Press, translated by Laura Watkinson, 508 pages.

Description: It is the dead of night. Sixteen-year-old Tiuri must spend hours locked in a chapel in silent contemplation if he is to be knighted the next day.

But, as he waits by the light of a flickering candle, he hears a knock at the door and a voice desperately asking for help. A secret letter must be delivered to King Unauwen across the Great Mountains – a letter upon which the fate of the entire kingdom depends. Tiuri has a vital role to play, one that might cost him his knighthood.

Tiuri’s journey will take him through dark, menacing forests, across treacherous rivers, to sinister castles and strange cities. He will encounter evil enemies who would kill to get the letter, but also the best of friends in the most unexpected places.

He must trust no one. He must keep his true identity secret. Above all, he must never reveal what is in the letter…

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Book review: My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises by Fredrik Backman

My edition: Hardback, published on 4 June 2015 by Sceptre Books, 320 pages.

Description: Elsa is seven years old and different. Her grandmother is seventy-seven years old and crazy. Standing-on-the-balcony-firing-paintball-guns-at-men-who-want-to-talk-about-Jesus-crazy. She is also Elsa's best, and only, friend. At night Elsa runs to her grandmother's stories, to the Land of Almost-Awake and the Kingdom of Miamas. There, everybody is different and nobody needs to be normal.

So when Elsa's grandmother dies and leaves behind a series of letters apologizing to people she has hurt, it marks the beginning of Elsa's greatest adventure. Her grandmother's letters lead her to an apartment building full of drunks, monsters, attack dogs, and totally ordinary old crones-but also to the truth about fairytales and kingdoms and a grandmother like no other.

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Book review: A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

My edition: Paperback, published on 7 May 2015 by Sceptre Books, 294 pages.

Description: Meet Ove. He's a curmudgeon - the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window.

He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him "the bitter neighbor from hell." But must Ove be bitter just because he doesn't walk around with a smile plastered to his face all the time? Behind the cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness.

So when one November morning a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove's mailbox, it is the lead-in to a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul.

All of which will change one cranky old man and a local residents' association to their very foundations.

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Book review: The Awakening of Miss Prim by Natalia Sanmartin Fenollera

My edition: paperback (proof), to be published on 5 June 2014 by Abacus, 314 pages.

Description: Prudencia Prim is a young woman of high ideals, intelligence and achievement, with an extensive knowledge of literature and several letters after her name. But when she accepts the post of private librarian to a wealthy bibliophile in the secluded village of San Ireneo de Arnois, she is unprepared for what she will encounter there.

Her employer, a philosopher and intellectual, is dashing yet contrarian, always ready with a stinging critique of her beloved Austen and Alcott. And the neighbours are also capable of charm and eccentricity in equal measure, determined as they are to preserve their singular little community from the outside world.

Thoughtful, gentle Prudencia might have hoped for friendship in San Ireneo but she didn't expect to find romance - nor did she expect the course of her new life to run quite so rocky, to offer challenge and heartache as well as discovery, joy and delicious regional pastries.

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Book review: Apocalypse Next Tuesday by David Safier

My edition: Paperback, to be published on 30 May 2014 by Hesperus, 287 pages.

Description: When thirty-something Marie jilts her boring boyfriend at the altar she wonders if life can get any worse. So when a handsome carpenter comes round to work on the roof, she realises she has nothing to lose by asking him out. Even his bizarre assertions that he is Jesus aren't enough to put Marie off – her biological clock is ticking, and it's time to settle down.

Meanwhile, Satan (a dead ringer for George Clooney) is on the prowl, recruiting horsemen for next week's Armageddon, scheduled for Tuesday, and Archangel Gabriel has discovered the pleasures of the flesh and is off on a sex marathon. Things are looking grim. Fortunately, Marie is dating the son of God – maybe, just maybe, he can get things straightened out.

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