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The Best Books of 2022 So Far….

Posted by Bijal Shah on

The Best Books of 2022 So Far….

Halfway through 2022, here are the bestselling books of the year so far across a variety of genres from Literary Fiction, True Crime, Business Books to Memoir and Romance. We'll be adding to this list for the final 40 books we loved this year so watch this space. Any others that should be here? Feel free to comment below. Best Literary Fiction Books of 2022 so far… The Candy House (Literary Fiction) by Jennifer Egan Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jennifer Egan manages to dazzle us again with this deeply thoughtful novel about the meaning of memory and the search for privacy and...

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Meet Talya Bruck - The Founder of Savanna Therapeutic Stories

Posted by Bijal Shah on

Meet Talya Bruck - The Founder of Savanna Therapeutic Stories

When Talya and I connected, I could not be more excited to share her stories and her journey. Focused entirely on creating a therapeutic reading experience for children during lockdown, the literature felt aligned with Book Therapy's goals and values and I had to dig deeper! Talya Bruck is a Dramatherapist, Creative Arts Supervisor and Systemic Practitioner who works in a CAMHS service in the UK. She also has a private supervision practice and works for OurTime helping to run Kidstime workshops. She has over 20 years experience working with children, young people and their families. She trained initially as...

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Bibliotherapy Techniques - What Are They and Do They Work?

Posted by Bijal Shah on

Bibliotherapy Techniques - What Are They and Do They Work?

  A lot of the value that comes from the therapeutic reading process, is often unquantifiable given the private and intimate not to mention subjective experience of the reader yet we have the likes of Dr Kelda Green and her experiments on Therapeutic Reading that have shown us strong evidence of the therapeutic power of reading as part of her 2020 dissertation at the University of Liverpool’s Centre for Research into Reading, Literature and Society. Dr Kelda Green’s experiments focused on creating a space for readers to engage with a work of literature on their own personal terms, in a...

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How Can Rewriting Your Narrative Help You Gain Closure?

Posted by Bijal Shah on

How Can Rewriting Your Narrative Help You Gain Closure?

  Sometimes it's only in hindsight that we get a sense of what our story is - a sense of closure. Through reflection, through journaling and re-writing our narrative. This is why reflection and writing our story is so important - it brings closure and even hope as we are able to move forward again. If you are in the middle of a difficult story right now, know that this too will pass and soon you will be able to make sense of it all.  In the book Discourse, Dialogue and Diversity in Biographical Research: An Ecology of Life and...

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20 Books on Understanding Russia's Invasion of Ukraine

Posted by Bijal Shah on

20 Books on Understanding Russia's Invasion of Ukraine

I've recently had several requests from clients on reading recommendations on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to better understand what is happening there. So, I have curated a selection of non-fiction book recommendations and fiction recommendations. Hope you find it useful in the context of what is currently taking place.  Non-fiction Book Recommendations  1. The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine (Non-fiction) by Serhii Plokhy, Professor of History at Harvard University & Director of the Harvard Ukraine Institute.  Best for gaining an understanding of one of the least known large European countries. Takes you back all the way to the 9th century to what...

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