Ikigai is a traditional Japanese concept that embodies happiness in living. It is, essentially, the reason that you get up in the morning. This book is about finding your ikigai – identifying your purpose or passion and using this knowledge to achieve greater happiness in your life. Your ikigai doesn’t have to be some grand ambition or highly noble life’s purpose – it can be something simple and humble, like tending your garden or walking your dog.
Category: Hobby
BR: Frostblood – Elly Blake
Seventeen-year-old Ruby is a Fireblood who has concealed her powers of heat and flame from the cruel Frostblood ruling class her entire life. But when her mother is killed trying to protect her, and rebel Frostbloods demand her help to overthrow their bloodthirsty king, she agrees to come out of hiding, desperate to have her revenge.
BR:Goodbye Things – Fumio Sasaki
Fumio Sasaki is a writer in his thirties who lives in a tiny studio in Tokyo with three shirts, four pairs of trousers, four pairs of socks and not much else. A few years ago, he realized that owning so much stuff was weighing him down – so he started to get rid of it. In this hit Japanese bestseller, Sasaki explores the philosophy behind minimalism and offers a set of straightforward rules – discard it if you haven’t used it in a year; be a borrower; find your uniform; keep photos of the things you love – that can help all of us lead simpler, happier, more fulfilled lives.
BR: A Court of Thorn and Roses – Sarah J. Mass.
Feyre is a huntress. And when she sees a deer in the forest being pursued by a wolf, she kills the predator and takes its prey to feed herself and her family. But the wolf was not what it seemed, and Feyre cannot predict the high price she will have to pay for its death …
Dragged away from her family for the murder of a faerie, Feyre discovers that her captor, his face obscured by a jewelled mask, is hiding even more than his piercing green eyes suggest. As Feyre’s feelings for Tamlin turn from hostility to passion, she learns that the faerie lands are a far more dangerous place than she realized. And Feyre must fight to break an ancient curse, or she will lose him forever.
BR:Choose to Change: It´s your life: 25 steps to self-discovery and peace of mind by Jacqui Penn
Choose to Change offers 25 valid life principles in a straightforward, accessible style. Although I found little here that I had not encountered in similar self-help books, I still appreciated it as a reminder of ideas worth practising. The author’s tone can feel emotional and rather pressuring at times, almost as though the reader is being lectured. It did not change my outlook or give me a “wow” moment, but it may still be worth reading if its particular approach happens to resonate with you.
BR: Vengeance of the vampire Bride – Rhiannon Frater
Vengeance of the Vampire Bride continues Lady Glynis Wright’s diary as she fights for her freedom and remaining humanity. I enjoyed the Victorian atmosphere, the early nineteenth-century Buda setting and the Hungarian references, which felt especially vivid as someone living in Budapest. However, inconsistencies in the vampire lore and changes in certain characters bothered me. I also switched from the audiobook to the ebook because I found the new narrator’s style distracting.
BR: Tale of the Vampire Bride – Rhiannon Frater
Tale of the Vampire Bride was my first book by Rhiannon Frater, and its Bram Stoker atmosphere kept me engaged from beginning to end. I enjoyed its combination of Gothic horror, historical romance and traditional vampire folklore, as well as the author’s restrained use of descriptive detail.