MY TOP FIVE HOLIDAY READS

Before reading this post I’d just like to point out I’m not really a fiction kind of gal, I only read if I’m going to learn something or get something out of it not that you can’t get anything out of reading fiction I just never stay interested in the storyline.

The books below are a mixture of ‘self help’ I hate this term or factual books on a certain topic. I love reading books like this on holiday as I only ever read on my short commute/20 minutes before bed so a book takes me a while to get through and I can never really get into them as much as on holiday where I can multitask sipping on margaritas while improving my wellbeing.

Wellth - How I learned to build a life, not a resume: Jason Wachob

The first read is about how wealth should not be prioritized over health and wellbeing. This is genuinely such an eye opener. The book isn’t about how you shouldn’t care about money at all, you need money to do the things you love and lets be honest – live in general. It’s about focusing on the right things, having a good work/life balance and doing things to make you feel good. This is probably one of my favourite books and I love the way it is written, its not preaching, its not telling you to go live in a hut on an island – its about finding happiness and improving yourself for the better.

The Goddess Revolution - Food and Body Freedom for Life : Mel Wells

I took this book with me to Turkey, even though I had already read it in Spain last year - it’s the kind of book you can read again to remind yourself – YOU ARE A GODDESS. Yeah it sounds a little corny but when you have those little doubts in your head about all the margaritas and bread you’ve been shoveling in on holiday this books makes your mind a little at peace with it and wanting to fill your dessert plate maybe with a little more fruit because you want to feel good and not piled full of treats because you’re in ‘holiday mode’. Mel writes it in a way where you find yourself going ‘OMG this is me’ all the way throughout, and whether you’ve battled with self-confidence, bad relationships with food or just genuine bad relationships this book will leave you returning from your holiday on a high!

Brain Maker: The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your Brain - for Life: David Perlmutter

So I read this book in Cape Town over the New Year after seeing the old Women’s Health editor (@miss_mulloy) recommend it. This book is full of knowledge that my brain was struggling to comprehend in a good way; like the island in Greece where the life expectancy is A LOT higher than the rest of the world, they don’t take antibiotics but a spoonful of honey and these people rarely get ill living off the med diet. The amount of studies that show the affect of gut health to diseases such as dementia, cancer etc – my mind was blown. I absolutely LOVE learning about stuff like this and coming from having horrendous gut health (TMI) I took some of the tips up in this book and I genuinely felt a difference within weeks. My boyfriends just started reading it and he turns to me every night like ‘OMG BABE DID YOU KNOW THIS?!’. I honestly would urge anyone to read this book – it is a genuine fountain of knowledge that we should all know.

The Chimp Paradox - The Acclaimed Mind Management Programme to Help You Achieve Success, Confidence and Happiness: Steve Peters

Now this is a serious read. It’s pretty long and intense and with my short 10 minute commute on the train in the morning I hit a wall mid way through but once you get all the nitty gritty out of the way and get onto the chapters on success and the life changing stuff I found this book great. It really makes you realize when your mind is working irrationally and where you need to change your mindset to get what you really want out of life and for yourself. I wouldn’t recommend this book for a weekend away etc but if you’re off lying next to a pool for 2 weeks take it as one of your reads!

Get Your Sh*t Together: How to stop worrying about what you should do so you can finish what you need to do and start doing what you want to do: Sarah Knight

I’ve just started to read this book but I can already tell it’s going to be a genuine help in getting my shit together. I did read the other book from this Author ‘The Life Changing Magic of not giving a F**k’ and I didn’t really feel that it was that great but as I brought both I decided to give the other a go and I would say this one is A LOT more relevant to me from the top procrastinator who sits and scrolls way too much. I am a ‘Simon’ in the book if you give it a read, my friends/family may think I’m organised but I actually waste a lot of time not getting stuff done. Looking forward to finishing this, I have high hopes!

If you try any of these out on your summer holidays please let me know what you think :)

Do you have any holiday recommendations of similar reads?

AbbieJS

xxx