All posts by Team Booko

How to set up a reading space for kids

July 25, 2016Children, Uncategorized#Children, #Childrensbooks, #ChildrensLiterature, #Reading, #readingtipsTeam Booko

There’s nothing like having a comfy, quiet space to enjoy reading a good book. In order to spark an interest and engagement in reading with our kids, the same idea applies. When it comes to teaching your child to read, finding a special reading space promotes quiet and calm and is particularly good for children who struggle to concentrate.

A reading nook doesn’t need to cost hundreds of dollars or follow the latest design trends, but we’ve looked into some of the recommendations from My Little Bookcase and Creatingalearningenvironment.com to firm up our ideas. Here are our tips on setting up a reading space for kids:

Light – Set up a space in a light-filled room. Use lamps when required to create a warm, ambient glow. There should be enough light to be able to read the books easily but also create a lovely atmosphere.

Enclose a space – Children love the idea of a ‘cubby’ or a secret space just for them. It’s also nice to enclose a space within a larger room, so their reading nook is easy to identify. Different ways to do this are to set up a tent over a few floor cushions. Other ideas are to take the doors off a cupboard and deck out the shelves with books, adding seating into the bottom. We love this version by Playtivities.com

Make it cosy – By adding floor cushions, soft toys and throw rugs, the reading nook will become a favourite place to ‘chill out’ and relax after a day at daycare or school. Adding comfy elements will also allow the child to ‘make it their own’.

Add some books – Make sure that books are at your child’s eye level. Find different ways of storing the books, such as in baskets and bins. Mix up the books so that a selection of their book collection are sitting in the reading nook. A great idea is to ask your child to select which books are brought into the reading nook at a time and when they should be swapped for new ones. This promotes ownership of the space. Other ways to store books is to create a reading bench, such as that featured in Creatingalearningenvironment.com. A simple idea of turning a bookshelf on it’s side, adding a padded top and filling it with books creates a beautiful and cost effective DIY reading bench. We love this!

So that’s it! A reading nook doesn’t need to be over-engineered, it just needs a few basic elements to become part of your child’s learning journey.

Looking through the ideas on Pinterest there are amazing and intricate reading nooks and spaces that clever people have created for their children. Here are some of our favourites.

How to style a bookshelf like a Pro

July 18, 2016Blog, Lifestyle#InteriordesignTeam Booko

I don’t know about you but my bookshelves are packed from top to bottom with books. There isn’t a plan with regards to how books can be showcased and the space ends up looking more like an eyesore than an appealing area to enjoy in your home. For this blog I have called in the big guns in the form of the wonderful blogs Spark & Chemistry and Tidbits and Wine who step you through the process. Design Sponge also provide some inspiration in the forms of homes that ‘get it right’ when it comes to styling some of your most loved books and possessions. If you are wanting to add some beautiful items to your bookshelf, we recommend The Designstuff Group.

Image from Spark & Chemistry.

When it comes to styling your bookshelves, it’s best to start with the shelves and find ways to improve the look of them. This might be papering the back of them with interesting paper, painting them or converting free-standing bookshelves to built-ins. Once the bare bones look the best that they can, it’s time to start adding to them.
Start considering what you want to place in the shelves. Aim for large items and start diagonally – the could be stacks of books placed horizontally, large items such as vases or other types of memorabilia. If you start putting an item on the top left, the next larger-sized item should be placed in the bottom right to ‘balance’ the shelves.
Consider the colour palette of the shelves. Tidbits and Wine recommend selecting main and highlight colours. The below image features a mainly blue and white bookshelf with highlight colours of gold, red and green. The shelf looks balanced as the colours remain consistent throughout the shelf and in the room.
Once you have placed your large items, start placing your medium-sized items and then your smallest items.
For smaller items, you might consider grouping them in two’s or three’s to give them greater impact – this works well if the items are of a similar colour or style. If you are finding it challenging to style books that have different coloured jackets, consider removing the jackets or turning them around so that you can see the pages. This also gives you a nice textural element to the display.
You might consider grouping books according to their colour. Brightly coloured books look fantastic styled this way.

Image from Tidbits and Wine

7. Consider adding sculptural elements such as candlesticks, interesting bowls or statues that provide a focal point for the bookshelves.

Voila! You’re now styling your bookshelf like a pro! If you would like some more tips on home decor and interiors, here are some books that may help.

For more bookish inspiration, follow us on Pinterest.

What are the most popular E-Books of all time?

July 14, 2016Fiction, Uncategorized#Ebook #Bookreview, #FictionTeam Booko

The E-Book is a publishing phenomenon that continues to increase in popularity. Each month 3 million E-Books are downloaded. The versatility of the E-book is that you can download hundreds of books to one device (E-Reader or Kindle) and have the books in your hands in a matter of minutes. Writing and selling E-books is now one of the fastest growing businesses enterprises globally: the concept appeals to society’s expectation of instant gratification.

Looking at Amazon’s best-selling Kindle books of all time, there is a certain colour that dominates (I’m going all punny here) the list and it’s ahem…grey. E.L. James’ series has taken out the first, second and fourth spots on the list. I guess it makes sense reading these books on the kindle, much less conspicuous than taking a paperback on the train. Not to make light of James’ success, the author has obviously hit (there it goes again) a chord with a huge amount of readers, but for the purposes of ease, I’ll group these books together. The other E-Books making their way onto the list are modern classics.

Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed by E. L. James

James’ series is hugely controversial and seems to attract criticism from a vast range of social groups: literary enthusiasts and writers despise the fact that it’s poorly written, feminists hate the weak lead female character, B&D fanatics criticise the way the sex is depicted and domestic abuse advocates protest the stalking, threats and manipulation in the books. Despite all this, the series has outsold any other and has inspired a similarly panned movie. Suggested theories for why the books have been incredibly popular are that due to the way the female character, Ana Steele, is written almost as a blank slate, readers can project their own personalities onto her. Regardless, this series is the first pornographic novel (soft or otherwise) to make it into mainstream bookshelves with such a following.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favours with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy’s diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge . An action-packed thriller with a fantastic twist at the end.

The One Hundred Year Old Man who Climbed out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson

Commencing with the one hundred year old birthday of Allan Karlsson, he is facing a huge party that he didn’t want anyway. Deciding to have no part in it, he decides to climb out of his window. Thus begins a huge adventure involving criminals, murders, a suitcase of cash and police. As the story unfolds, we learn about Allan’s earlier life which involved him helping to make the atom bomb, befriend American Presidents, Russian and Chinese Leaders and participate in many key events of 20th Century history. A warm, feel-good read.

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

After the tragic sinking of a cargo ship, one solitary lifeboat remains bobbing on the wild, blue Pacific. The only survivors from the wreck are a sixteen-year-old boy named Pi, a hyena, a zebra with a broken leg, a female orang-utan – and a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger. Since it was first published in 2002, Life of Pi has entered mainstream consciousness and remains one of the most extraordinary works of fiction in recent years.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Forty years ago, Harriet Vanger disappeared from a family gathering on the island owned and inhabited by the powerful Vanger clan. Her body was never found, yet her uncle is convinced it was murder – and that the killer is a member of his own tightly knit but dysfunctional family. He employs disgraced financial journalist Mikael Blomkvist and the tattooed, truculent computer hacker Lisbeth Salander to investigate. Published posthumously and going on to become an International Best Seller, this novel is evocative, incredibly well written and contains some great insights into the criminal mind.

What are the best books of all time?

July 11, 2016Fiction, Non-fiction, Uncategorized#BookReview, #Fiction, #Nonfiction, #PopularbooksTeam Booko

If you’re going to write a blog about the best books of all time, you’re not going to satisfy everyone, right? It’s also pretty important to separate out your personal favourites and get some perspective on how to calculate the ‘importance’ or significance of a book to a group of people. The other considerations are, of course, how the perceived importance of a book might change over time – many books and other creative outputs have become of increased significance after their creator has passed away. There are other things to bear in mind: Fiction/Non-Fiction? So finding the best books of all time is a bit of a challenge.

Based on all of this, I decided that I needed a bit of help in order to put this list together. A quick online search helped me discover a clever site called thegreatestbooks.org. This site feeds in 107 ‘Best of’ book lists from a range of trusted sources. Then, an algorithm (smacks of legitimacy!) is used to calculate a list based on how many lists a book might appear on. In the interests of fairness, I’ve decided to feature the top 3 books from both the Fiction and Non-Fiction categories.

So here it is…the most popular fiction book of all time is….

In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust.

Was that on your list? Nope, me neither. The significance of this book is both its length (it is a novel in seven volumes) and also its theme of involuntary memory. Involuntary memory is a subcomponent of your memory which means that everyday activities or ‘cues’ can evoke recollections of the past without actively trying to. The novel has had a significant impact on 20th Century literature with many writers seeking to emulate it. Edmund White said “[Proust] has supplied for the first time in literature an equivalent in the full scale for the new theory of modern physics.”

The second most popular fiction book is:

Ulysses by James Joyce

Now, I’m not going to claim to have read this book but I did start it like so many other people. I did lug it around my Uni campus trying to look intelligent from time to time. Finish it? No, no I did not. Ulysses was written between 1914 to 1921 and has survived legal action and bitter controversy. An undisputed modernist classic, its verbal inventiveness and wide-ranging allusions confirm its standing as a monument to the human condition. Ulysses is the Latinised name of Odysseus, the hero of Homer’s poem ‘Odyssey’. The novel establishes a series of parallels between the poem and the novel. Its stream of consciousness technique, careful structuring and experimental prose make this book a testament to the Modernist movement.

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

Don Quixote is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. It is considered to be one of the most influential novels of the Spanish Golden Age. It features Mr Alonso Quixano, a member of the Spanish nobility. Alonso reads so many romance novels that he loses his sanity and sets out to revive chivalry and right wrongs, bringing justice to the world. Using the name Don Quixote de la Mancha, he recruits a farmer as his squire. The beauty of this novel is its use of humour and literary techniques of realism, metatheatre and intertextuality. Again, this work is hugely influential and is referenced in the works of ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ by Mark Twain and Alexandre Dumas’ ‘The Three Musketeers’, amongst others.

The most popular Non-Fiction book is:

Essays by Michel de Montaigne

In 1572 Montaigne retired to his estates in order to devote himself to leisure, reading and reflection. There he wrote his constantly expanding ‘essays’, inspired by the ideas he found in books from his library and his own experience. He discusses subjects as diverse as war-horses and cannibals, poetry and politics, sex and religion, love and friendship, ecstasy and experience. Above all, Montaigne studied himself to find his own inner nature and that of humanity.

Confessions by St. Augustine

The son of a pagan father and a Christian mother, Saint Augustine spent his early years torn between conflicting faiths and world views. His Confessions , written when he was in his forties, recount how, slowly and painfully, he came to turn away from his youthful ideas and licentious lifestyle, to become instead a stanch advocate of Christianity and one of its most influential thinkers.

The Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud

References to ‘The Interpretation of Dreams’ abound in modern life. Written in 1899 by psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, the book was first published in an edition of 600 copies which did not sell out for 8 years. Later gaining in popularity, seven more editions were published in Freud’s lifetime. The premise of the book is Freud’s theory of the unconscious with respect to dream interpretation. In it, he discusses what would later become the Oedipus complex. Freud said of this work, “Insight such as this falls to one’s lot but once in a lifetime.”

To see what other books made the list, visit thegreatestbooks.org.

How to write a great book review

July 7, 2016Blog, Writing#BookReviewTeam Booko

Despite what is frequently thought, writing a great book review is more than merely summarising the book and its characters. When I was studying, I would stare at a blank page for hours before distracting myself with sharpening pencils, tidying my room or adding colourful sticky notes to my lecture notes. What I needed was a quick, step by step guide to writing a great book review. The Booko team has decided to do just that for you. You’re welcome!

1. First, read the book. Sounds obvious, but it is important to read the book knowing you are going to review it. Sometimes that means reading it more than once. If it’s a novel, you may read it first purely to enjoy the story, and then re-read it a second time with the intention of taking notes.

2. Think about the book within the context of its genre or topic and decide for yourself how it fits. Does it build on knowledge of the area or miss things out? If it is a history book make sure the main events are covered, if any are missed decide if it was on purpose to present a new angle, or a whopping great error on the author’s part.

3. Determine the major themes of the book. This can be tricky to articulate when on a deadline (if you have left the book review to the last minute) so here’s a top tip, something we were taught is to try to sum the book up in a single word and then slowly stretch it out by adding additional describing words until you have enough to form the basis of a summary sentence.

4. Consider the authors writing style and how well the author develops major storylines or characters within the book. If the book is a work of fiction, think about how plot structure is developed in the story. Take notes on the book’s character, plot, setting, symbols, mood or tone and how they relate to the overall theme of the book.

5. Decide if you think the book is unique in any way and assess how successful you think the book is. How did the author convey the overall purpose of the book and did you feel satisfied by the book’s ending? Finally, would you consider recommending this book to others?

The easiest way to tackle a book review is to genuinely have a love of reading and writing which ideally would be fostered from a young age. Speaking of which, we have been approached to publish a book review by a certain young chap who follows this guide to a tee:

Harry Potter (book series)

Hi I’m Niko, Booko’s creator’s son I’m 7 years old, born in 2009 Australia and I’m writing about some of my favourite books.

Firstly Harry Potter’s 3 main characters are Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley. One day they figure out they are witches and wizards so they are sent to Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. Witches and wizard’s sport is Quidditch. Quidditch is a game on broomsticks.

The reason I like this book series is because it’s scary, exciting and magical. I’d recommend this book series for 5 + year olds.

Niko’s book review features a plot summary, what he likes about the book and what age of reader it is suited to. It’s obvious that he loves reading (and writing). One of our favourite books which is a great resource in fostering a love of writing is Jennifer Hallissy’s ‘The Write Start.’

This book is a treasure trove of smart ideas. Whether your child is a pre-writer who is just starting to practice grasping a pencil or crayon, or a beginner writer who is starting to string together letters, words, and sentences, this book offers information and activities that will help your child develop a love of letters. From sand writing and chalkboard play to memory games and letter-writing kits, this book includes fifty-two inventive activities and games to engage your child in the world of letters.

We have also collated and pinned some terrific activity sheets related to writing book reviews to our our Pinterest board. Follow the link here.

How to buy cheap books online

July 6, 2016Booko, Hacks, Uncategorized#BookoalertsTeam Booko

If you’re shopping for books or DVD’s online and want to snap up a bargain, searching through Booko is a great place to start. The best way to buy cheap books online is to search through Booko.

In its infancy, Booko was a web page with a series of small programs collecting prices and calculating delivery costs for a handful of online book shops, to find the cheapest supplier of books. The overarching objective was to find both new and second hand books online as cheaply as possible. When shops which offered free shipping could be added, even better.

The Booko alert function is a useful tool that allows you to set the maximum price you would like to pay for an item. If you are purchasing in advance (such as textbooks or gifts), multiple alerts on books can be set up and be running while you wait for the price to drop.

Here’s how to set up an alert:

Go to the search box on the Booko homepage and type in the name of the book.

From here, you will be presented with a range of results. These might be different books or the same book with different cover art etc. From here, click on the version you would like. The page you are taken to looks a little bit like this:

Underneath the book cover art (the image of the book), there are two options: Add an alert or Add to a list. Choose ‘Add an alert’.

A box will appear which shows the current best price. You can delete this and instead type in your preferred price. After that, add your email address and click “Add”.

No one wants to miss out on a sale. Booko checks the prices of up to 60 online bookstores globally on a daily basis and will email you when the price drops below your specified price. I’ve already set up alerts for books I want to purchase as Christmas gifts for family members. If you are planning on setting up multiple alerts, it makes sense to set up an account to manage them.

To do this, simply choose the ‘Register‘ option in the footer. You can complete the form or choose to log in using one of your existing social media sites.

So that’s it: If you are wanting to take advantage of price reductions on books (either new or second hand), getting organised by setting up price alerts makes for smarter shopping!

The Great Wide World of Sport

June 30, 2016Non-fiction, Sport#Autobiography, #Nonfiction, #SportsTeam Booko

They say sport is a universal language: it bridges divides between race, religion and culture. The ability to achieve a goal through skill, persistence and team work is lauded in many modern societies. Here are our collection of new sporting titles to satiate the most fervent sporting fan.

The Game: A Collection of the best AFL Stories, edited by Dennis Cometti

If there is someone equipped to write about the best AFL stories (both on and off the field) over the past 10 years, it’s Dennis Cometti. As one of the most respected sports broadcasters in Australian history, Cometti and writers such as Greg Baum, Caroline Wilson, Martin Flanagan, Rohan Connolly, Emma Quayle and Jake Niall examine the characters, moments and champions that have impacted the game in modern history.

The Greatest – My Own Story by Muhammad Ali

The life and recent passing of boxing great Muhammad Ali has had an impact on sporting and non-sporting fans alike. However, while we all witnessed the glory of ‘The Rumble in the Jungle’ or ‘The Thrilla in Manila’ , only Muhammad Ali knew his life as he lived it. The Greatest is Ali’s own story. For six years he worked, traveled and talked with Richard Durham, a writer with a stunning talent, and the result is mesmerizing in its brilliance, drama, humanity and sheer entertainment.

My Fight/Your Fight by Ronda Rousey

“The fight is yours to win”. This is The Sunday Times and New York Times Bestseller. An Olympic medalist in Judo and #2 ranked UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion, Ronda Rousey had a difficult path to glory. A childhood marked with speech problems and loss, she pushed her mind and body to the limit in pursuit of victory. My Fight/Your Fight is about showing us all how we can turn our limitations into opportunities. An inspiring read.

This Road I Ride by Juliana Buhring

In December 2012, Juliana Buhring became the first woman to circumnavigate the world by bicycle. With only a few months of training and little sponsorship, support, or money she left from Naples on 23 July 2012. 18,060 miles, 152 days, 4 continents, 19 countries, 29 punctures, 4 breakdowns, 6 mountains, 1 desert and a cyclone later, she made it back just days before Christmas with a Guinness World Record, proving that anyone can achieve the extraordinary. Discover a story of adventure, blood, sweat and gears.

Life As I Know It by Michelle Payne
First put on a horse at age four and at 5 declaring she would win the Melbourne cup, Michelle Payne is no overnight success story. Riding into history as the first female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup, she and her 100-to-1 local horse Prince of Penzance took the international racing world by surprise. Michelle’s story is about hope triumphing over
adversity, and how resilience and character made a winner.

The Straight Dope (updated edition)The Inside Story of Sport’s Biggest Drug Scandal by Chip Le Grand

What happened at Essendon, what happened at Cronulla, is only part of the story. From the basement office of a suburban football club to the seedy corners of Peptide Alley to the polished corridors of Parliament House, The Straight Dope is an inside account of the politics, greed and personal feuds which fuelled an extraordinary saga. Clubs and coaches determined to win, a sports scientist who doesn’t play by the rules, a generation of footballers held hostage by scandal and injected with who knows what, sport administrators hell bent on control, an anti-doping authority out of its depth, an unpopular government that just wants it to enda for two tumultuous seasons this was the biggest game in Australia.

You can find more sporting books on our Pinterest boards Sporting Biographies and Sports Books.

Top books released this month: June 2016

June 28, 2016Blog, Booko, Fiction, Top Books#Fiction, #Junebooks, #Newrelease, #TopbooksTeam Booko

We’ve hunted high and low to find you a collection of the coolest, most ‘anticipated’ and highly regarded new releases for June. This month our collection features vastly different tales but all of the stories are intricately set and beautifully told. Here are our recommendations for new releases for June 2016:

The Girls by Emma Cline

Cline’s novel is set in California and is loosely based on the Manson “family” and their crimes. The protagonist in ‘The Girls’, Evie, just wants to be noticed: by her family, her friends. anybody. Then along comes Suzanne who is older and welcomes Evie into the fold. The reviews of this book have been overwhelmingly positive. Despite the topic being a challenging one to read, it’s beautifully written. The overarching themes of wanting to belong to a group are universal. The film rights were snapped up before ‘The Girls’ was released. A hit.

Barkskins by Annie Proulx

Annie Proulx is universally acknowledged as ‘One of the greatest American writers’. The 80 year old Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Shipping News and Brokeback Mountain, spent ten years writing ‘Barkskins’, an epic, dazzling, violent, magnificently dramatic novel about taming the wilderness and destroying the forest, set over three centuries and covering 700 pages. Barkskins is a masterpiece of intricately cut characters and dazzling settings. We are with these characters over their life’s journey. An amazing read.

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Gyasi’s debut novel traces the journeys of two branches of the same family tree. Two half sisters, Effia and Esi, unknown to each other, are born into two different tribal villages in 18th century Ghana. Effia will be married off to an English colonial, and will live in comfort from the proceeds of slavery. Her sister, Esi, will be imprisoned in the Castle’s women’s dungeon, herself a slave. Touted as one of the most highly anticipated debuts this year, Homegoing has been garnering rave reviews due to Gyasi’s ability to weave two very different stories together. Sentimental as it is intellectual, this is another novel not to be missed.

Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler

Pulitzer Prize winner Anne Tyler’s Vinegar Girl is a modern re-telling of Shakespeare’s ‘The Taming of the Shrew.‘ In what appears to be a current trend to re-tell Shakespeare’s works by acclaimed modern authors, this book has been released to mixed reviews.

While it is easy reading, funny, quirky and well told, it lacks the depth of Tyler’s prior works. The question could also be asked: why modernise a classic?

They May Not Mean to But They Do by Cathleen Schine

Joy Bergman is not slipping into old age with the quiet grace her children, Molly and Daniel, would prefer. She won’t take their advice, and she won’t take an antidepressant. Schine’s latest novel combines dark humour with incredibly insightful observations about life, love, death and relationships. Clever, witty with deeply moving undertones, this is an easy read on the complexities of inter-generational relationships.

Each Vagabond by Name by Margo Orlando Little

“It was an ordinary Fall until the gypsies came.”

Fast-paced, mysterious and heartfelt, Each Vagabond by Name takes place in a small, South-Western Pennsylvanian town. Zachariah Ramsay, owner of the local bar finds himself drawn into the world of a group of travelling people after a hungry man turns up one day at his door. When the group begin to rob townspeople’s homes, Ramsay is drawn into their world.

Another debut novel, Each Vagabond by Name features beautifully developed characters and a compelling plot. Hard to put down!

For more 2016 releases, check out our Pinterest board 2016 New Releases.

Life Skills 101: The best books to teach you everything

June 20, 2016Personal development, Uncategorized#Howtoguides, #Nonfiction, #SelfhelpTeam Booko

Want to get fitter? Learn that language? Learn how to do your tax yourself or even just think smarter? One of the most interesting genres of books is the ‘Self Help’ category. Agreed, it’s not as sexy as glossy coffee table books about architecture and fashion or as socially accepted as the latest James Patterson mystery. But damn, are they useful?!? If you are in a rut or just have New Year’s Resolutions that you want to nail, here are our recommended reads for the best books to teach you everything:

Tax for Australians for Dummies by Jimmy B Prince

If you want to tackle your tax with confidence, this is a great resource. Designed to help you take advantage of the rebates related to investments, having children or business, ‘Tax for Australians For Dummies’ tells you everything you need to know to maximise your tax refund. Whether you’re an employee, investor, small business owner, retiree, or even student, this easy-to-follow guide answers all your tax questions. All changes to tax legislation are incorporated.

The First 20 Minutes by Gretchen Reynolds

Tired muscles? Use chocolate milk! Think it’s a good idea to stretch before a run? Think again! This New York Times Bestseller is an innovative guide to getting fit using cutting-edge science. Perfect for optimising your workout, this workout ‘bible’ is the perfect guide for making the most of your exercise regime. Even better news is how even just 20 minutes of regular exercise can transform your health.

Love Yourself like your Life depends on it by Kamal Ravikant

The premise of this book is simple: love yourself and your life will love you back. During a particularly dark time in his life involving a great deal of stress and depression, the author kept repeating to himself “I love myself.” The beauty of the book is its simplicity and that the single premise of loving yourself can unlock freedom and clarity of thought that can have hugely beneficial effects in our busy lives. A great book for anyone feeling anxious or overwhelmed.

Think Like a Freak: How to Think Smarter than almost Everyone by Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner

The Freakonomics books have come to stand for challenging conventional wisdom; using data rather than emotion to answer questions. Now Levitt and Dubner have turned what they’ve learned into a readable and practical toolkit for thinking smarter, harder, and different – thinking, that is, like a Freak. Think Like a Freak offers rules like ‘Put Your Moral Compass in Your Pocket,’ ‘The Upside of Quitting,’ ‘Just Because You’re Great at Something Doesn’t Mean You’re Good at Everything,’ and ‘If You Have No Talent, Follow Levitt’s Path to Success.’

Philosophy for Life by Jules Evans

In his engaging new book, Jules Evans explains how philosophy quite literally saved his life and shows how we can make use of it everyday in our own. Co-founder of the London Philosophy Club, visiting research fellow at Queen Mary University, columnist for the School of Life and journalist and blogger, Jules imagines his dream school, with a rowdy faculty that includes 15 of the greatest and most colourful philosophers the world has ever known. Each of them teaches a technique we can use to transform ourselves and live better lives. These practical techniques are animated by the extraordinary stories of real people who are using them today; from soldiers and firemen, to gangsters and astronauts. This is philosophy for the street, for the workplace, for the battlefield, for love, for life.

Fluent in 3 Months by Benny Lewis

Upon leaving College at 21, Benny only knew how to speak English and found learning languages challenging. Through discovering a system to quickly master languages, it’s possible to have confident conversations in your new language in a matter of weeks. Now fluent in 7 languages, Benny is a full-time globe-trotter who makes the mission of learning any language possible.

Looking into the world’s greatest scandals

June 14, 2016Blog, Non-fiction#History, #Nonfiction, #TruestoryTeam Booko

One thing about scandals: they sell. We, as a society, take great pleasure in reading about how someone ‘got away’ with behaviour that breached social codes or pleasure at being caught. A scandal can pretty much guarantee a best seller, as most of these titles will attest to. Here are our recommendations for the best page-turning reads about some of the world’s greatest scandals:

The Residence: Inside the Private World of The White House by Kate Anderson Brower

132 rooms, 35 bathrooms, 28 fireplaces, three elevators, eight staircases. No-one knows the inner workings of the White House like the maids, butlers, florists and Chefs who work there. This book contains intimate accounts of life working with First families from the glamorous Kennedys, the conflict-ridden Clintons to Barack and Michelle Obama. Written by former White House Correspondent Kate Anderson Brower, the New York Times Bestseller was written based on hundreds of hours of interviewing staff who served the families who served America.

Why Waco? by James D. Tabor

In 1993, the Government launched an assault on a Branch Davidian religious cult near Waco, Texas that resulted in 80 deaths, including 17 children. Whether this tragedy was avoidable is still debated. The impact of this event, however, has had far-reaching implications for religious freedom in Texas.

Considered to be the most comprehensive account of the event, Tabor and Gallagher provide a detailed study of the Davidian movement and theology and uncover distorted media reports of the siege.

Helter Skelter by Vincent Buglioso

The true story behind the most infamous mass murder case ever and its perpetrator, the notorious criminal Charles Manson. On August 9th 1969, seven people were found shot, stabbed and bludgeoned to death in Los Angeles. America watched in fascinated horror as the killers were tried and convicted. But the real questions went unanswered. How did Manson make his ‘family’ kill for him? What made these young men and women kill again and again with no trace of remorse? Did the murders continue even after Manson’s imprisonment? No matter how much you think you know about this case, this book will still shock you.

All the President’s Men by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward

Possibly one of the biggest political scandals in history, Watergate was the break-in that occurred at the Democratic National Committee and Richard Nixon’s administration’s cover up of their involvement. Bernstein and Woodward were reporters at the Washington Post who uncovered the story. The book details the investigation by the authors and is a non-fiction account of one of the finest examples in political investigative journalism. The book reveals some of the murky aspects of the US Government and is an excellent, first hand insight into one of the most significant historic events in modern politics.

The Run of His Life: The People Vs OJ Simpson by Jeffrey Toobin

Toobin was a lawyer turned reporter who covered the infamous trial based on leaks provided to him by the Simpson defence team. This is an eye-opening, behind-the-scenes look at the “crime of the century” and the legal proceedings that followed sheds new light on the arrest and trial of O. J. Simpson, the evidence in the case, and the role of the prosecution and defence teams.

It also shows how racial events in the years prior, such as the Rodney King beating and riots were used cleverly by Simpson’s team to lead to his acquittal.

Mommie Dearest by Christina Crawford

Christina Crawford was the adopted daughter of Box Office queen Joan Crawford. Yet, Christina’s anger at the discrepancies between Joan’s public vs private persona bubbled over a year after she died. ‘Mommie Dearest’ was scandalous to the Hollywood set due to it’s portrayal of Joan as an abusive, mentally ill and alcoholic mother. One of the first ‘tell-all’ stories, what it lacks in literary depth, it makes up for in its page-turning plot.

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