Category Archives: Top Books

Our best picks and recommendations

The best at home exercise books and DVDs on the market

While we are all staying safe and remaining home there are only so many days on the sofa we can have before we start to feel sluggish. So we have rounded up a few of the best exercise books and DVDs that we think will inspire you to get moving. Fear not, we have something for everyone; toned legs, slow movement, buff abs or a toned face!

Yoga, A Manual for Life by Naomi Annand

Be calmer, happier and more creative. In Yoga, A Manual for Life Naomi Annand shows you how to use the ancient practice of yoga to live better in the modern world. Utilising simple, breath-led movement, this beautiful practice companion teaches you how to wake up feeling energised, calm an anxious mind, sleep better, feel inspired. It’s ideal for total beginners and even for more experienced yogis, this manual includes everything you’ll need to live a more balanced, grounded life, from five-minute life hacks to longer sequences with specific goals in mind.

Boundless by Ben Greenfield

What if the ability to look, feel, and perform at peak capacity wasn’t the stuff of lore but instead was within easy reach? Sure, some of us find ways to hit peak performance in one area or another there are professional poker players, computer programmers, and race car drivers hunched over card games, keyboards, and steering wheels with optimised minds; UFC and NFL gladiators fighting for glory on television with optimised bodies; and monks and meditators roaming the planet with optimised spirits. But in a perfect world, you would be able to have it all: complete optimisation of mind, body, and spirit. In Boundless Ben Greenfield offers a first-of-its-kind blueprint for total human optimisation by maximising cognition, mental clarity, and IQ. 

Ballet Beautiful Total Body DVD by Mary Helen Bowers

Do not be fooled by the tutu, pretty satin ballet shoes and the floating arm movements. This ballet workout is crazy hard. Take it from this wanna-be ballerina who was looking to tone her arms and legs. After about two minutes the body was quivering at the thought of another set of plies while holding arm weights. I can happily report that this gets easier…it just takes three weeks of daily workouts. This DVD offers a total body workout from Mary Helen Bowers, Natalie Portman’s trainer for her Academy Award-Winning Role in Black Swan! Get a tight, toned and elegant body with this ballet inspired workout. Sculpt sleek and strong legs, arms, butt, abs and upper body. Shape a lean and graceful dancer’s body with targeted mat work and standing exercises that lengthen and tone. Workouts include focused exercise on trouble areas while increasing flexibility and improving posture. 

The Pilates Body by Brooke Siler

It may be 20 years old, but this is still a fabulous book. In The Pilates Body author Brooke Siler, owner of one of New York’s top studios for Pilates and personal trainer to supermodels, actors and actresses, provides a complete, easy-to-follow programme of Pilates exercises to give you a whole new body in thirty sessions. Pilates is the ultimate mind-body exercise for those who want to tone, streamline and realign their bodies, without the bulked-up results of more conventional workout methods. Brooke Siler guides you through a complete circuit of mat-based exercises, each clearly illustrated with photographs, line drawings and unique visualisation exercises. With this guide you can streamline your figure, create longer, leaner muscles, improve posture, flexibility and balance, enhance your emotional well being, build self-esteem and confidence, and reduce stress and fatigue.

Bigger, Leaner, Stronger by Michael Matthews

If you want to get muscular, lean, and strong as quickly as possible without steroids, good genetics, extreme dieting, or wasting ridiculous amounts of time in the gym, regardless of your age, you will want to read this book. Imagine enjoying the added benefits of high energy levels, no aches and pains, better spirits, and knowing that you’re getting healthier every day. This book aims to debunk myths that keep people from ever achieving the lean, muscular, strong, and healthy bodies they truly desire. 

If all of that running and jumping and weight lifting is just too much we have found the most relaxing exercise book for you to tackle while staying safe at home…and you can do it on the sofa!

Press Here! Face Work Outs for Beginners by Nadira Persaud

Press Here Face Workouts for Beginners offers age-defying results through a series of easy-to-follow pressure and massage techniques, which can be used as part of your daily skincare regime. Benefits of facial workouts are more than aesthetics; a daily workout can have remarkable results in the way you feel. You’ll be encouraged to focus on the feeling of each movement to identify problem areas or muscle tension in the face which can display deep lines, sagging skin, and an overall tired appearance. Through the power of touch and focused breathing, these simple routines will help you feel more energised, de-stress, and maintain a toned and firm facial structure without the use of specialised equipment, whether you want to see a transformation immediately or over time.

Enjoy!

Best Book Series for Children

There has never been a better time to get reading – reading can provide entertainment, knowledge and comfort, and is a perfect thing to do at home!  We know that many of you are having more time to kill, and are asking for suggestions of series books – something substantial that can hold your attention for longer.  So this week we are showcasing some of the most popular multi-volume children’s books, guaranteed to give kids hours of reading pleasure – even those who are usually reluctant to pick up a book!

Wings of Fire 1-5 Boxed set by Tui T Sutherland

This fantasy series, set in a world of dragons, has enormous word-of-mouth cred amongst upper-primary aged readers.  Five young dragonets strive to fulfil a prophecy that they will end an ancient war and finally bring peace to the dragon tribes of Pyrrhia.  What sets Wings of Fire apart is that its dragons are the main characters, with a rich and complex civilisation, whilst humans are considered “scavengers” and peripheral to the story. Tui T Sutherland’s impressive world-building has now grown beyond the 20+ books into a big and active fandom.  The first three books are now available in graphic novel format

Slime by David Walliams 

Slime is hot off the presses and sure to delight David Walliams’ many fans (as well as creating many more).  Inspired by the recent craze for slime, this story sees young Ned discover the origins of slime, and use it to wreak revenge on the horrible grownups who love nothing more than making children  miserable.  David Walliams is often compared to Roald Dahl and it is easy to see why – his stories are funny, with touches of the grotesque and the fantastical, all underlaid with a call for empathy.   David Walliams has published 18 children’s novels.  While these are mostly standalone, there are recurring characters to spot, such as Raj the newsagent.

WeirDo 1-9 Boxset by Anh Do

Weir Do is a thoughtful boy with a weird name and a weirder family.  The WeirDo books are slice-of-life stories that are packed with illustrations and laugh-out-loud funny – perfect for fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid.  The latest is #14 – WeirDo: Vote WeirDo! where Weir’s chances of being elected class captain may be derailed by an EPIC HAIR DISASTER.  WeirDo is the first children’s series written by the multi-talented Anh Do, who has gone on to create other bestselling series including Hot Dog, Ninja Kid, Wolf Girl, as well as Mythix.

Kensy and Max 5: Freefall by Jacqueline Harvey

You may already know Jacqueline Harvey from her delightful Clementine Rose and Alice-Miranda series; now she is trying her hand at spy thrillers aimed at both boys and girls. Kensy and Max are twins whose lives are turned upside-down when they are whisked off to London and  discover their parents are missing.  The race is on to understand the strange things happening around them, and find their parents!  There’s mystery, spy craft, exotic locations and lots of chases.  Volume 5, Freefall, sees Kensy and Max as agents-in-training, struggling with ethical dilemmas while trying to capture a master criminal in New York.

Welcome to the Brilliant World of Tom Gates box set by Liz Pichon

This is a box set of the first 12 books in the Tom Gates series.  (We’re now up to Book 17.)  Tom Gates is a series of illustrated diary stories about an endearing but chaotic boy and his family.  The pages are heavily illustrated with distinctive doodles and funny little details, the tone is chatty, and the situations are funny and totally relatable.  What’s more, Tom Gates is a tried-and-true recommendation for reluctant readers and those who need extra reading support – perhaps Tom Gates books are so accessible because Liz Pichon is herself dyslexic, and she has written these stories to be just what she would have loved to read as a child.  The illustrated diary format might even inspire young fans to create their own Tom Gates-style stories!

The Last Kids on Earth by Max Brallier

The Last Kids on Earth is dystopian fiction with a twist! Unlike dystopian YA, which tends to be dark and grim, this tweens-and-early-teens series shows that a zombie apocalypse can be pretty funny.  13-year old Jack recruits four of his classmates to fight off a succession of monsters after a zombie outbreak hits his hometown.  They have to learn to work as a team to stay alive, and they are the world’s last chance against the evil overlord Rezzoch!  This Wimpy-Kid-meets-Walking-Dead series has zombies, monsters, wisecracks, and crazy gadgets – no wonder it’s a New York Times bestseller.  Now also an animated series on Netflix.