World Book Day 2023 Recommendations

Happy World Book Day pals!

It is no secret that here at The Vibrancy Hub we LOVE to read, so we thought we’d share a recommendation from each of our team. These books have elevated our lives in some shape or form and we LOVE to share the joy!

Katy

You know when you occasionally read a novel that is so utterly compelling and imaginative and enjoyable that you really are devastated when it ends and for months afterwards nothing else really does it for you? That’s how I still feel about Bernardine Evaristo’s ‘Girl, Woman, Other’. Every single person I bought a copy for LOVED it, including my Mum and sister. It's a masterpiece and Bernadine won at life sharing this story, letting us all into the texture and nuance of life experienced through the eyes of other women; black, old, queer, young. Energetic, sexy, insightful, fun and heartbreaking - I found it totally glorious. If you haven’t read it, run towards it!! I am going to re-read it immediately.

Laura

In 2010, I found myself in Sydney with a deep realisation that the life I had been chasing - the career, the relationship, the money - was not leaving me feeling fulfilled. I felt alone, confused and unsure where to turn. I found The Happiness Institute in Sydney and embarked on my first round of therapy - preceded by recommended reading of The Happiness Trap by Russ Harris. It changed my life forever. It woke me up and started my deep deep journey of self exploration.

Kenny

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins. I had not read fiction for a few years (cheers kids!) but during lockdown I rediscovered my love for that feeling of escapism through this book. I could not put it down and I have a distinct memory of hiding from everyone in the back garden just to fit in one more chapter!!!! Since then, I’ve read consistently again and wow I love it.

Rosie

Braided Lives by Marge Piercy - I couldn't stop thinking about this book for months after I read it! Set in the 1950's when the seeds of sexual liberation and feminism were only just beginning to be sewn, this book tells a story of female friendship, the movement of women's / reproductive rights and what it meant to be a working class woman coming of age in an era that fought violently against women and their right for autonomy. I was deeply moved and inspired by this book.

Do you have any recommendations for us? Let us know in the comments!