Now with new material, including a new foreword by Kate Manne, a reading guide, and an afterword from the author.

By the time they reach kindergarten, most kids believe that “fat” is bad. By middle school, more than a quarter of them have gone on a diet. What are parents supposed to do?

Kids learn, as we’ve all learned, that thinness is a survival strategy in a world that equates body size and value. Parents worry if their kids care too much about being thin, but even more about the consequences if they aren’t. And multibillion-dollar industries thrive on this fear of fatness. We’ve fought the “war on obesity” for over forty years and Americans aren’t thinner or happier with their bodies. But it’s not our kids―or their weight―who need fixing.

In this illuminating narrative, journalist Virginia Sole-Smith exposes the daily onslaught of fatphobia and body shaming that kids face from school, sports, doctors, diet culture, and parents themselves―and offers strategies for how families can change the conversation around weight, health, and self-worth.

Fat Talk is a stirring, deeply researched, and groundbreaking book that will help parents learn to reckon with their own body biases, identify diet culture, and empower their kids to navigate this challenging landscape. Sole-Smith draws on her extensive reporting and interviews with dozens of parents and kids to offer a provocative new approach for thinking about food and bodies, and a way for us all to work toward a more weight-inclusive world.

Oprah Winfrey and renowned brain development and trauma expert, Dr. Bruce Perry, discuss the impact of trauma and adverse experiences and how healing must begin with a shift to asking, “what happened to you?” rather than “what’s wrong with you?”

Through wide-ranging, and often deeply personal conversation, Oprah Winfrey and Dr. Perry explore how what happens to us in early childhood – both good and bad - influences the people we become. They challenge us to shift from focusing on, “What’s wrong with you?” or “Why are you behaving that way?,” to asking, “What happened to you?” This simple change in perspective can open up a new and hopeful understanding for millions about why we do the things we do, why we are the way we are, providing a road map for repairing relationships, overcoming what seems insurmountable, and ultimately living better and more fulfilling lives.

Many of us experience adversity and trauma during childhood that has lasting impact on our physical and emotional health. And as we’re beginning to understand, we are more sensitive to developmental trauma as children than we are as adults. ‘What happened to us’ in childhood is a powerful predictor of our risk for physical and mental health problems down the road, and offers scientific insights in to the patterns of behaviors so many struggle to understand.

A survivor of multiple childhood challenges herself, Oprah Winfrey shares portions of her own harrowing experiences because she understands the vulnerability that comes from facing trauma at a young age. Throughout her career, Oprah has teamed up with Dr. Bruce Perry, one of the world’s leading experts on childhood trauma. He has treated thousands of children, youth, and adults and has been called on for decades to support individuals and communities following high-profile traumatic events. Now, Oprah joins forces with Dr. Perry to marry the power of storytelling with the science and clinical experience to better understand and overcome the effects of trauma.

In conversation throughout the book, the two focus on understanding people, behavior, and ourselves in the context of personal experiences. They remove blame and self-shaming, and open up a space for healing and understanding. It’s a subtle but profound shift in our approach to trauma, and it’s one that allows us to understand our pasts in order to clear a path to our future - opening the door to resilience and healing in a proven, powerful way.

Grounded in the latest brain science and brought to life through compelling narratives, this book shines a light on a much-needed path to recovery – showing us our incredible capacity to transform after adversity.

’n Versameling van 100 gedigte oor verlies en vertroosting deur van Afrikaans se bekendste digters.

Dis oor verse die dood, rou, afskeid, verganklikheid en menswees.

Die lewe is ‘n asem lank is die ideale geskenk aan iemand wat ’n geliefde vir altyd moes groet ̶ veral wanneer ’n mens nie die woorde kan vind om te troos nie.

Mo Gawdat is an engineer. What most of us see as insurmountable problems he sees as systems overloads to tackle and solve. Unstressable breaks stress into inputs and effects, classifying human stressors as: stress to the mind, stress to emotions, stress to the body, and stress to the soul. Once classified, Gawdat and co-author Alice Law show readers how stress can be predicted―and once predicted, prevented.

Unstressable illuminates for readers how most of us deal with the unpleasant, anxiety-producing and even miserable or tragic events in our lives: stress is always a by-product, leading directly to inability to cope, health problems and cratered confidence. Gawdat and Law guide readers to both heart centred and science-based solutions.

They’ll train readers to:

• Develop habits and attitudes of listening and learning that limit stress
• Learn the language of de-stressing mind, emotions, body and soul
• Respond, not react
• Release self-criticism, insomnia, and lethargy
• Increase energy, focus and confidence

Unstressable is a handbook for those who understand that stress isn’t what happens to you; it’s how you handle what happens to you. It’s a practical and rounded approach to an ever increasing modern day problem.

The uplifting true story. A Sunday Times bestseller, shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize.

The story of the couple who lost everything and embarked on a journey, not of escape, but salvation.

Just days after Raynor learns that Moth, her husband of 32 years, is terminally ill, the couple lose their home and their livelihood. With nothing left and little time, they make the brave and impulsive decision to walk the 630 miles of the sea-swept South West Coast Path, from Somerset to Dorset via Devon and Cornwall.

They have almost no money for food or shelter and must carry only the essentials for survival on their backs as they live wild in the ancient, weathered landscape of cliffs, sea and sky. Yet through every step, every encounter, and every test along the way, their walk becomes a remarkable journey.

The Salt Path is an unflinchingly honest, inspiring and life-affirming true story of coming to terms with grief and the healing power of the natural world. Ultimately, it is a portrayal of home, and how it can be lost, rebuilt and rediscovered in the most unexpected ways.

After an exceptionally wild Mother’s Day where she danced like there was no tomorrow, picked a fight with a stranger and collided with the floor, Johannesburg scriptwriter and author Pamela Power is forced to take a hard look at her drinking habits. She realises that although she does not need to find an AA group immediately, she might be a serial binge drinker and needs to take back control.

In this honest yet humorous account of her year of not getting sh*tfaced, Pamela examines her long, complicated relationship with alcohol. She is shocked to realise just how much of a crutch alcohol has been for her. There is always a bottle of wine or Prosecco around to her to help her manage the many demands of life as a freelancer and as a parent.

Pamela starts her journey to sobriety at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic as her family faces financial troubles, and life in the suburban Parks of Johannesburg isn’t so blissful anymore. Through her, we experience all the frustration, irritation and surprising benefits of going dry. In dealing with her dependence on alcohol, Pamela also confronts her troubled relationship with her parents.

While many other sober curious books portray sobriety as the only answer, Pamela has found a sweet spot between total sobriety and binge drinking: moderation.

From the author of the global bestseller How Not To Die comes The How Not To Die Cookbook – a lavish, beautifully illustrated collection of delicious recipes based on the groundbreaking nutritional science of the original book.

Dr Michael Greger, founder of the wildly popular website NutritionFacts, takes his comprehensive, lifesaving science into the kitchen. Why suffer from disease and ill health when the right food is proven to keep you healthy, and without the side effects of drugs? We can avoid heart disease, cancer and our other biggest killers if we use food as medicine, and the How Not To Die Cookbook offers a sustainable and delicious guide to preparing and eating the foods that will prevent and reverse fatal diseases.

Featuring over 100 easy-to-follow, beautifully photographed plant-based recipes, with plenty of recipes suitable for vegetarians and vegans, the How Not To Die Cookbook merges cutting-edge science with everyday ingredients from the supermarket to help you and your family eat your way to better health and a longer life.

Why...

I know, why would anybody name their first book, Why? Let me quickly tell you.

Exposure to pornography at a very young age and sexual abuse as a child, made my life hell. Quite frankly it ruined my whole life. I lived with daily battles that created a war within my soul. This torment lasted until I was 40 years old. I could no longer live with the trauma, the pain and suffering, emanating from my childhood events, I needed help. Just like many adults and children do too.

Don’t we all have a story? Some stories are more attractive than others. This is my story. It is real, authentic, and raw. So many ask the question, Why? Not all our why’s have clear answers. And often, we never get an answer.

Why adults stay stuck in early childhood trauma?
Why pornography will ruin your child’s life?
Why do children need early intervention from trauma?
Why are parents blind to see the warning signs from trauma?
Why is a safe environment so important for a child to develop?
Why can the trauma of sexual abuse last a lifetime?
Why does Jesus care?

Many of your why’s will be answered through reading my life story mirrored with those of the Israelites. A story that is used multiple times in history to display Slavery and Freedom. It is a story that would help people to find true freedom, a story that will point you to the Truth. It is a story of wandering through the wilderness as a slave, with addictions, pain, and suffering. Addictions that are not easily spoken about, addictions that is not easily resolved. Addictions that many survivors don't want to have in the first place.

Freedom that I so desperately longed for. Freedom I found. Freedom that can be yours too.

A compassionate, shame-free guide for your darkest days

What happens when loving Jesus doesn’t cure you of depression, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts? You might be crushed by shame over your mental illness, only to be told by well-meaning Christians to “choose joy” and “pray more.” So you beg God to take away the pain, but nothing eases the ache inside. As darkness lingers and color drains from your world, you’re left wondering if God has abandoned you.

You just want a way out.

But there’s hope.

In I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die, Sarah J. Robinson offers a healthy, practical, and shame-free guide for Christians struggling with mental illness. With unflinching honesty, Sarah shares her story of battling depression and fighting to stay alive despite toxic theology that made her afraid to seek help outside the church. Pairing her own story with scriptural insights, mental health research, and simple practices, Sarah helps you reconnect with the God who is present in our deepest anguish and discover that you are worth everything it takes to get better.

Beautifully written and full of hard-won wisdom, I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die offers a path toward a rich, hope-filled life in Christ, even when healing doesn’t look like what you expect.

From the author of Rage Becomes Her, a powerful argument for communal resilience based on in-depth investigations into the history, social science, psychology, politics, and personal narratives behind how we think about crisis and respond to trauma.

In this thought-provoking exploration, writer and activist Soraya Chemaly challenges our common, most dearly held myths of resilience and urges us to shift our perspective from prioritizing individualized traits and skills to uplifting collective care, material life, and open-ended connections with our communities. Resilience, she proves, is always relational.

Chemaly dismantles notions of resilience rooted in the philosophies of “mind over matter,” “mental toughness,” “strength,” and “positive thinking,” arguing that our modern version of “resilience” is a bill of goods that has been sold to us by capitalism, colonialism, and ideologies that embrace supremacy over others. Instead, she makes the case that true resilience comes from acknowledging our fragility, recognizing our interdependencies―on each other, on nature, on time―and cultivating nurturing relationships that sustain us. Throughout, Chemaly provides concrete examples of how to enact this new model in our daily lives. She sheds new light on ACE (adverse childhood experiences) research to reframe how parents and educators should think about the long-term impact of childhood trauma, debunks the powerful notion of “bouncing back,” and explains why we have to turn away from believing that we always have to “soldier on.”

Blending rigorous research and enthralling personal storytelling, The Resilience Myth offers a new vision for collective healing by emphasizing care for our neighbors―both human and nonhuman―and our environments over just ourselves. By prioritizing compassion, creativity, and connection, this book ignites essential conversations about fostering resilience for all, not just for those who can afford it. all.

Every day, thousands of South African children go to school filled with terror because they know they’re going to be bullied. Children who are targeted by bullies are at enormous risk, yet many parents don’t know why it is happening to their child, or what to do about it.

Bully Proof looks at every aspect of bullying, from name-calling, taunting and rumour-mongering to physical assault, and examines why and how bullies behave the way they do, and what can be done to help them and their victims. The more we understand bullying behaviour, the better we can address the underlying causes and put effective controls in place.

Studies have shown that the 'whole school' approach, involving pupils, teachers and parents, is by far the most effective method of reducing incidents of bullying, as well as limiting the potential for future incidents. Implementing an effective anti-bullying campaign is not just about changing the behaviour of a few maladjusted children; it is about changing the philosophy of the entire school.Using a step-by-step approach, this book provides educators, parents, counsellors and children with the tools they need to develop a successful anti-bullying programme.

A proven plan to reverse prediabetes and type 2 diabetes with manageable changes to improve your life.

If you are struggling with type 2 diabetes, obesity, or hypertension, you should know two important things:

1) It is not your fault.
2) It is your responsibility to turn things around.

The truth is that the hardship caused by type 2 diabetes is fueled by profit-seeking food manufacturers. And while it is easy to place blame on the food industry, it is also important to understand our own roles in creating these circumstances.

You might wonder why, if type 2 diabetes is reversible, it is commonly treated as a lifelong condition. The answer might shock you: It is being treated that way because it is profitable to treat it that way. It is a lot more profitable to sell drugs to treat lifelong conditions than to show people how to turn them around.

But here's the good news: it doesn't have to be this way.

In this book, Eric Edmeades and Dr. Ruben Ruiz give you a solid, step-by-step plan that just might reverse the condition for you. Over the course of 9 weeks, you'll learn how to make subtle changes to your lifestyle and deep changes to your psychology. You'll look at what you eat, when you eat it, and why you eat it. You'll begin to move your body into a primarily fat-burning metabolism and away from your current sugar-burning metabolism, learn more about seasonal eating, and reap the benefits of cyclical eating patterns.

By the end of this program, you will have a clear understanding of the way the seasons work in concert with your body, and how you can turn around your type 2 diabetes and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

A groundbreaking work on the root causes of addiction – and how to heal it – from the legendary Dr Gabor Maté.

To heal addiction, you have to go back to the start…

Dr Gabor Maté is one of the world’s most revered thinkers on the psychology of addiction. His radical findings – based on decades of work with patients challenged by catastrophic drug addiction and mental illness – are reframing how we view all human development.

In this award-winning modern classic, Gabor Maté takes a holistic and compassionate approach to addiction, whether to alcohol, drugs, sex, money or anything self-destructive. He presents it not as a discrete phenomenon confined to a weak-willed few, but as a continuum that runs through (and even underpins) our society; not as a medical ‘condition’, but rather the result of a complex interplay of personal history, emotional development and brain chemistry.

Distilling cutting-edge research from around the world, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts avoids glib self-help remedies, instead promoting self-understanding as the first key to healing and wellness. Blending personal stories and science with positive solutions, and written in spellbinding prose, it is a must-read that will change how you see yourself, others and the world.

10th anniversary edition, updated with new chapter on the Opioid crisis.

When Gail Gilbride is diagnosed with breast cancer, she experiences the full range of emotions. There’s disbelief, anger, confusion, fear, bargaining and, why, yes, indeed, of course she wants to talk to the manager! But then Gail settles on resolve. She’s ready to fight. Not only will she follow her doctor’s instructions and march with the big guns in the oncology centre, but she’ll also tip her helmet to her late mother’s inclination for alternative treatments.

Gail is ready to give her body everything it might need to conquer the disease, recover and live a long life of joy. She nourishes it, meditates, exercises, rests, and explores parts of her consciousness she’s previously pushed to the far corner and ignored. Determined not to be a passenger, Gail hops behind the wheel and embarks on a journey like no other. What she doesn’t anticipate is that she’ll have a furry, ginger wingman for company.

Archie is the irredeemably part-feral tomcat who, when it suits him, moves in the same circles as Gail – and it suits him when he decides she needs the kind of therapy only he can give. In many ways, Gail and Archie are opposites. Where she’s amiable, he can be bellicose. Where Gail is gentle, Archie has claws. Where she is considerate, he is self-serving. And yet Archie brings to Gail camaraderie and healing in the dark hours when, alone, she cannot keep the dread at bay. He’s the remedy she didn’t know she needed.

Reverse Your Diabetes provides all the information and support you need to take control of type 2 diabetes and, potentially, to reverse it.

Based on the latest research and proven results, this clear and effective programme outlines the key steps you need to take to turn around your health: watch what you eat, get more active, monitor your progress and commit to change. Written by diabetes expert Dr David Cavan and in association, Reverse Your Diabetes also tackles the myths and misinformation about type 2 diabetes.

This is an essential book that will empower you to take control of your diabetes and maximise your health for good.

Based on interviews in schools, workplaces and homes, this book tells the story of an epidemic of unkindness, uncovering the stories of bullies all around us. The online environment has given bullies a much wider range of tools to use to abuse their targets. Marion Scher tracks the links between bullying and mental health issues.

As Marion says: ‘I had to brace myself to hear the often heartbreaking and vicious stories from those who encountered torturous relationships. The big question I kept asking myself was, “How could you get involved with such a person?” But just who is that kind of person, and is it even possible to spot them?’

She calls on the advice of a range of experts to help make sense of the bullies and their victims, with a range of advice to help manage the bully boss, the bully in school and the bully in a relationship. The book has stories, statistics, advice and lots of help to understand how bullies work.

It is time for victims to call bullies to account and for schools, workplaces and society as a whole to put a stop to the tormentors.

An inspirational and truly intersectional memoir from global humanitarian and social justice advocate Eddie Ndopu-a queer, Black wheelchair user and one of the UN Secretary-General's 17 Advocates for the SDGs.

A memoir, penned with one good finger, about being profoundly disabled and profoundly successful.

Global humanitarian Eddie Ndopu was born with spinal muscular atrophy, a rare degenerative motor neuron disease affecting his mobility. He was told that he wouldn't live beyond age five and yet, Ndopu thrived. He grew up loving pop music and haute couture, lip syncing to the latest hits, and was the only wheelchair user at his school, where he flourished academically. By his late teens, he had become a sought-after speaker, travelling the world to give talks on disability justice. When he is later accepted on a full scholarship into Oxford University, he soon learns that it's not just the medical community he must defy - it's the educational one too.

In Sipping Dom Perignon Through a Straw, we follow Ndopu, sporting his oversized, bejewelled sunglasses, as he scales the mountain of success, only to find exclusion, discrimination, and neglect waiting for him on the other side. As he soars professionally, sipping champagne with world leaders, he continues to feel the loneliness and pressure of being the only one in the room. Determined to carve out his place in the world, he must challenge bias at the highest echelons of power and prestige.

Searing, vulnerable and inspiring, Ndopu's remarkable journey to reach beyond ableism, reminds us never to let anyone else define our limits.

From Harvard stress expert, Dr. Aditi Nerurkar, comes a reimagined approach to overcoming your stress and burnout using five small but mighty mindset shifts.

Stress has a bad reputation but is actually a healthy biological phenomenon that helps us tackle life’s many demands. It simply becomes problematic when it’s out of tune with the frequency of our lives, result­ing in burnout, fatigue, sleep disturbances, and many other physical symptoms.

To bring stress back to healthy levels, Dr. Nerurkar offers her five science-backed mindset shifts for when life gets hard:

• The First Reset: Get Clear on What Matters Most
• The Second Reset: Find Quiet in a Noisy World
• The Third Reset: Sync Your Brain and Your Body
• The Fourth Reset: Come Up for Air
• The Fifth Reset: Bring Your Best Self Forward

Dr. Nerurkar illuminates why our everyday attempts at being ‘resilient’ – like multitasking, sleeping less, and undergoing huge lifestyle overhauls – aren’t beneficial to our stressed brains. Instead, she prescribes practical, real-world solutions for our modern-day perils that are time efficient, cost-free, and can be applied to anyone’s life, including following the Resilience Rule of 2 (making no more than two changes at a time because doing more is unsustainable), accepting that multitasking is a myth (our brains are wired to do one thing at a time!), and adopting her Bookend Method (creating boundaries).

The five mindset shifts, along with fifteen proven techniques, offer you a road map to change your relationship with stress, bring your biology back into balance, and feel calmer right now.

Your Damage Does Not Define You.

Underneath our designer clothes, makeup, jewellery, and photo filters are cracks left by abuse, mistakes, rejection, and disappointment. Bestselling author and pastor Michael Todd reveals his own damage: the hits he’s experienced from trauma, dumb choices, and lingering struggles passed down through generations. Using candid stories, engaging illustrations, and biblical wisdom, he encourages readers to be H.O.T.—humble, open, and transparent—and face the pain of past hits to move toward the triumphant future God has for them.

Damaged but Not Destroyed: From Trauma To Triumph will give you tools to identify the impact of your damage, see yourself the way God sees you, and realize that healing is all about progression, not perfection.

No matter how badly you’ve messed up, and no matter the pain you’ve experienced, nothing can destroy the God-given value of your life. It’s time to turn your damage into destiny! You may be damaged, but you are not destroyed.

Drawing on extensive social psychology research, and the author's training and clinical experience in Cognitive-Behavioral therapy, "The Anxiety Toolkit "offers actionable strategies that anyone can use to manage their anxiety--both personal and professional.
Anxious people often think a great deal about why they think and behave the way they do. They seek self-improvement information yet often get stuck in applying it. They read popular self-help books for anxiety, but these books are highly simplified, to the extent readers can't make the leap from the examples in the books to their more complex real world problems. They turn to business books because they're motivated to achieve greater success, but since these books don't address the reasons anxious people get stuck, they're not especially helpful.
The Anxiety Toolkit provides the information anxious people look for but can't find. It draws on extensive social psychology research, and the author's training and clinical experience in Cognitive-Behavioral psychology, addressing the core problems that impede people who are anxious--inhibition, biased thinking, rumination, intolerance of uncertainty, excessive responsibility taking, self-criticism, perfectionism, and avoidance coping--and providing readers with the tools to manage these tendencies.

A Dangerous Love is an exhilarating, true love story that plays out in the chaos and lawlessness of the political turmoil that was South Africa in the late 80s and early 90s. The mayhem and desperation of a country whose social fabric is unravelling is mirrored in Karen Daniels’s own life, and hers is an up-close-and-personal account of life as a young woman of colour in the anarchy of early post-apartheid South Africa.

Karen Daniels was only 21 when she met Martin, a mysterious, dangerous man who, at 22 years of age, had the world at his feet. Captivated by this man, she was soon caught up in a love affair that turned into obsession and violence. Gutsy and charming, Martin wasn’t born into a life of crime and drugs, but his greed and passion soon pulled him into the underworld and he was overcome by a darkness he could not escape.

Hold your breath as Karen takes you with her on a roller-coaster ride into an abyss of armed heists, crime, and violent abuse. Her story shows how having such intense and conflicting emotions for a man – loving him and being petrified of him – is only a few heartbeats away from hate.

Karen’s eventual escape from this life is a success story that has taken her to the heights of the corporate world, and encouraged her to become an advocate for human rights and women empowerment. Her story is one of human resilience, courage and determination. It offers hope to those struggling to break free from their circumstances, and will inspire anyone who wants to live their best life and go from surviving to thriving.

"A tightly coiled story of obsession and crime that plays out in an era of lawlessness" - Terry-Ann Adams, author of Those Who Live in Cages.

"My name is Samantha and I’m an alcoholic. At the time of writing, I’ve been sober for 13 years, 11 months and 16 days. And yes I still count. I promised I would never speak about it publicly until my children understood what that meant, that mommy was an alcoholic. I think they may have understood long before I did."

From Whiskey To Water is the no-holds-barred memoir by one of South Africa’s most loved radio talk show hosts, Sam Cowen. Having kept her alcohol addiction well away from the public eye for over 14 years, in this tell-all tale, Sam finds the courage to talk about her struggle with her addiction to whiskey, food and finally to a passion that saved her life – marathon swimming. Told in her characteristically hilarious dead-pan style, this is one of the bravest books you’ll read this year.

"So this is a book on how I stopped drinking? No, it’s not. It’s how I stopped drinking, started eating, became clinically severely obese, stopped eating (everything that wasn’t nailed down) and swam my way to freedom. No, it’s not. It’s actually about addiction and learning and sadness and anxiety and love and drive. It’s about channelling the unchangeable into the miraculous. It’s about dragons and learning how to put them to sleep when you can’t slay them. It’s about being my own Daenarys."

Joey Evans has always loved bikes, from his first second-hand Raleigh Strika at the age of six to the powerful off-road machines that became his passion later on in his life. His dream was one day to ride the most gruelling off-road race in the world, the 9000km Dakar Rally. In 2007 his dream was shattered when he broke his back in a racing accident. His spinal cord was crushed, leaving him paralysed from just below his chest. Doctors gave him a 10 per cent chance of ever walking again. Many would have given up and become resigned to life in a wheelchair, but not Joey Evans.

Not only would he get back on his feet and walk, but he would also keep his Dakar dream alive. It was a long and painful road to recovery, involving years of intensive rehabilitation and training, but he had the love and support of both family and friends and an incredible amount of determination. Joey shares the many challenges he and his family faced, relating the setbacks, as well as successes, along the way to the Dakar start line. But the start line was only the first goal – his sights were set on reaching the finish line, which he did in 2017 – the only South African to do so.

From Para To Dakar is so much more than the story of one man reaching the Dakar finish line. It is a story of friendship and respect, compassion and kindness. It is about defying the odds to reach a dream, it is about grit, endurance and raw courage, and it is inspiring in its true heroism.

Immediately in the aftermath of his wife Andrea’s death, Gerry Pelser began documenting his thoughts and feelings about his brand-new life as a ‘reluctant’ widower on social media as no one wants to be an ‘enthusiastic’ widower. Semi-daily snippets of candid and raw expressions of grief, fear, and confusion – punctuated with unexpected humour – went up on Facebook for the world to see.

Several posts went viral, and messages of support poured in from strangers as far away from India and New Zealand. Numerous of these encouraged Gerry to publish his posts as a book, simply because his posts helped people with their own healing and who wanted to share their recovery with other people.

In a surprisingly funny and heartfelt manner, Gerry breaks the fourth wall and tells his tale directly to the reader in a way that puts them with their feet up on his living-room couch: a memoir of an unlikely courtship, of love, dogs, a literal fairy-tale wedding, cricket, marriage, and the importance of stuffed animals. Of illness, personal wars and the eventual – unavoidable defeat – of dealing with the insistent question of ‘what now’ that follows in its wake. And ultimately, the possibility of healing.

This memoir is an honest tale of Love, Death and Life; heart-warming in its humour, heart breaking in its content and hopeful in its message. Chronicles of a Reluctant is a raw tale paying homage to Gerry’s late wife Andrea.

This book promises to be a landmark of exploration on a subject that eventually touches us all: dealing with grief. And the life that follows.

Surviving isn't enough: this is how you can thrive.

Over the past 15 years, anti-racist psychologist Guilaine Kinouani has contributed writing and run workshops on how racism affects both physical and mental health. Based on her findings, she has devised tried and tested psychological strategies. Her mission is to help thousands to find peace with this book.

Living While Black gives voice to the diverse experiences of Black people around the world and uses case studies and exclusive research to offer expert guidance on how to: set boundaries and process microaggressions; protect children from racism; navigate the dating world; identify and celebrate the wins.

Kinouani empowers Black readers to adopt self-care routines that improve day-to-day wellness to help them thrive not just survive and find hope - or even joy - in the face of adversity. This is also a vital resource for allies who wish to understand the impact of racism and how they can help.