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bookworms

These dark, gloomy evenings are really draining and we have to admit we never have the energy to go out once we clock off from work.

This winter we’ve been making the most of our book collections and have spent many evenings curled up by the fire with nothing but a good book for company.

The list of benefits associated with reading is never-ending, but our favourite one is simple- the escapism.

Distracting your mind for a few chapters where you can escape to different worlds and meet new people all from the comfort of your sofa is so tranquil.

We decided to support our fellow ladies by putting together a list our favourite books by female authors.

We’re sure you’ll love these books just as much as we do.

1: Ritual for Every Day by Nadia Narain and Katia Narain Phillips (Hutchinson)

We all feel that desire a calmer, more spacious way of living, but we’re often unsure exactly how to step off the crazy treadmill of day-to-day routines and responsibilities. Nadia and Katia have learned through years of practice that simple rituals can help you press the pause button on the pace of modern life. In Rituals for Every Day, they share their easy-to-follow advice, step-by-step. Let the riyals bring you back to yourself.

2: Thanks, Penneys! by Valerie Loftus (Mercier)

Have you ever been in Penneys on a Saturday and felt like you were in a scene from The Hunger Games? Have you ever gone in just to get a pair of tights and come out with fake tan, a pair of glittery platforms and some fluffy pyjamas? Have you ever spent hours there trying to root out a pair of knickers that doesn’t have ‘NETFLIX AND CHILL’ written on the bum? If so, then this is the book for you. From the chaos of changing rooms to the questionable delights of the lingerie section. Thanks, Penneys! is a love letter to an Irish institution that is an integral part of all our lives.

3: The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur (Andrew Mcmeel Publishing)

Rupi Kaur’s second book is divided into five sections reflecting the life cycle of a flower, with chapters titled: Wilting, Falling, Rooting, Rising, and Blooming. It focuses on themes of love and loss, trauma and abuse, healing, femininity and the body. Wilting touches on the subject of heartbreak and loss. Falling focuses on depressive feelings following the loss of an important relationship. Rooting explores topics of female infanticide, immigration and borders. Blooming addresses the joy Kaur finally found coming to love and accept her roots, herself, and the world around her. She also comes to realize her mission in this world: equality and love for all genders, races and backgrounds.

4: I Found My Tribe by Ruth Fitzmaurice (Vintage Publishing)

Ruth's tribe are her lively children and her filmmaker husband, Simon, who has Motor Neurone Disease and can only communicate with his eyes. Ruth's other 'tribe' are the friends who gather at the cove in Greystones, Co. Wicklow, and regularly throw themselves into the freezing cold water, just for kicks. 'The Tragic Wives' Swimming Club', as they jokingly call themselves, meet to cope with the extreme challenges life puts in their way, not to mention the monster waves rolling over the horizon. An invocation to all of us to love as hard as we can, and live even harder, I Found My Tribe is an urgent and uplifting letter to a husband, family, friends, the natural world and the brightness of life.   
 

5: And Life Lights Up by Alice Taylor (O'Brien Press Ltd)

Let Alice Taylor encourage you to live in the now, to really live your experiences and to treasure the special moments in your life. With Alice as a guide, explore the steps and ways to live a conscious life and focus on the goodness of the world around us. Alice's beautiful and captivating writing is an act of mindfulness in itself, and she shares her favourite moments in life, encouraging us to ponder our own. Alice also inspires the reader to be attentive to the here and now and embrace moments as they arise. A beautiful and enchanting book by a bestselling and celebrated author. 

6: Ice Cream for Breakfast by Laura Jane Williams (Hodder and Stoughton)

Full of spirit and un-self-conscious enthusiasm, Ice Cream for Breakfast: Child-Like Solutions to Bullsh*t Adult Problems is the permission slip all too-grown-up-for-their-own-good-but-secretly-scared-of-adulting adults need to locate their inner-child nestled deep within so that we might all relax enough to laugh harder, wonder more, and marvel at magic on the daily.

7: Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg (Edbury Publishing)

In Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg – Facebook COO and one of Fortune magazine's Most Powerful Women in Business – draws on her own experience of working in some of the world's most successful businesses and looks at what women can do to help themselves, and make small changes in their life that can effect change on a more universal scale.

8: The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin (Harper Collins Publishers)

The author of the bestselling 40 Ways to Look at Winston Churchill has produced a work that is "a cross between the Dalai Lama's The Art of Happiness and Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love." The Happiness Project describes one person's year-long attempt to discover what leads to true contentment. Drawing at once on cutting-edge science, classical philosophy, and real-world applicability, Rubin has written an engaging, eminently relatable chronicle of transformation.   

9: Normal People by Sally Rooney (Faber and Faber)

Normal People follows the lives of Connell and Marianne, who come from the same town but are part of very different worlds.

When they start studying at Trinity College they develop such a strong bond that carries on into the future. Normal People looks at the hearty theme of how love can change a person. It opens readers’ eyes to the massive impact love and a relationship can have on a person. Plus, can you ever go wrong with a love story set in Dublin? We are so ready to dive into the pages of Sally Rooney’s second fictional triumph.

10: Help Me! by Marianne Power (Pan Macmillan)

Marianne Power spent one year of her life practising the advice from self-help books to see if they really do what they say on the cover. The books promise to make us better people. They vow to transform us into upbeat, organised souls who go for jogs at 7 am in the morning and always have perfectly ironed clothes, but Marianne realises that maybe the help they’re offering isn’t as beneficial as it may seem.

Image result for help me marianne power

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There’s nothing we love more than lounging around in the sun with a good book. Summer is the perfect time to climb out of your reading slump, and we’ve got a heap of recommendations for you.

These books will spark your love for reading and introduce you to an array of stories, a variety of characters and take you to plenty of places, all from the comfort of your sofa.

Eason has teamed up with best-selling author Sinéad Moriarty and broadcaster and book enthusiast Rick O’Shea to share their must-have books of the summer with you.

The Must Read series is every bookworm’s dream that features a wide range of genres from chilling thrillers and nail-biting ‘whodunnits’ to moving tales of parenthood and family.

This summer, ‘Sinéad and Rick’s Must Reads’ features a wide range of funny, emotional and thought-provoking titles, including:

I Still Dream by James Smythe

A rattling thriller and a story of love, family and loss which is also full of questions about what tech knows about us, where it’s going, and the terrible consequences that it all might have one day in the near future.

The Lost Letters of William Woolf by Helen Cullen

A wonderfully assured debut novel about falling in love, thinking that person is ‘the one’ and then starting to doubt the relationship you were once so sure of.

The Orchid and the Wasp by Caoilinn Hughes

A beautifully written story of two very different siblings from a rich family whose lives head in different directions after the economic crash of 2008. Nothing short of brilliant!

Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie

A brave, uncompromising and deeply affecting novel that questions what it’s like to be a Muslim in today’s modern world, and which also is a moving meditation on the tensions between religion and secularism.

Clock Dance by Anne Tyler

A beautifully crafted, bitter-sweet story about regret, empty nest syndrome, loneliness within a relationship and seeking purpose and fulfilment in life. Kick back and lose yourself in this gem of a novel.

Cornflakes for Dinner by Aidan Comerford

A funny, moving and ultimately, life-affirming book about the challenges of parenting two daughters with autism. Full of life, laughter, warmth and love, this wonderful book will pull at your heartstrings and make you laugh and cry.

Dear Mrs Bird by AJ Pearce

London, 1940. Emmy Lake mistakenly thinks she’s been hired as a War Correspondent, but the job turns out to be working as a typist for the intimidating advice columnist, Henrietta Bird. Funny, charming and warm, reading this book feels like you are being covered in a cosy blanket.

The Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrand

A brilliant ‘whodunnit’ set in the lavish background of Nantucket in the summer. With a beautiful setting, a wealthy family, a huge wedding, secrets, lies, covert affairs, and a dead body, this book is the perfect summer read.

 

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If you’re a bookworm, or your significant other tends to constantly have their nose in a book, then you may have just hit the relationship jackpot.

When it comes to picking their perfect partner those who love to read have an advantage. This is thanks to increased skills in empathy and ‘theory of mind’.

Gregory Currie is a professor of cognitive psychology at the University of Toronto. According to him those that invest their time in reading have a tendency to show greater levels of empathy.

They also possess a greater ‘theory of mind’. This is also known as the ability to hold opinions, beliefs and interests that don’t concern only themselves.

The habit of putting themselves in other people’s positions, which is developed through reading means readers are capable of using their levels of empathy to see things from other people’s perspective.

As well as making you a more considerate partner, it can also make you less likely to completely lose the run of yourself when that row over dirty dishes gets out of hand.

Another psychologist David Comer Kidd has added that:

"The ability to connect with characters they haven’t met makes their understanding of the people around them much easier."

So next time you’re being accused of ignoring them when you get lost in your favourite page-turner, perhaps you should maybe read some this info for them as a bedtime story.

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