A Year of Living Simply: The Joys of a Life Less Complicated by Kate Humble
Summary:
If there is one thing that most of us aspire to, it is, simply, to be happy. And yet attaining happiness has become, it appears, anything but simple. Having stuff – The Latest, The Newest, The Best Yet – is all too often peddled as the sure fire route to happiness. So why then, in our consumer-driven society, is depression, stress and anxiety ever more common, affecting every strata of society and every age, even, worryingly, the very young? Why is it, when we have so much, that many of us still feel we are missing something and the rush of pleasure when we buy something new turns so quickly into a feeling of emptiness, or purposelessness, or guilt?
So what is the route to real, deep, long lasting happiness? Could it be that our lives have just become overly crowded, that we’ve lost sight of the things – the simple things – that give a sense of achievement, a feeling of joy or excitement? That make us happy. Do we need to take a step back, reprioritise? Do we need to make our lives more simple?
Kate Humble’s fresh and frank exploration of a stripped-back approach to life is uplifting, engaging and inspiring – and will help us all find balance and happiness every day.
My Review:
In this year of years that many of us having been struggling through, looking for happiness and something to sooth the soul. Here it is in the new book released this month by Kate Humble. A Year of Living Simply: The Joys of a Life Less Complicated (Aster) and I have to admit here and now I am a bit of a fan of Kate Humble.
Have you noticed how our lives are dictated by lots of gadgets and how we feel the need to upgrade to the latest model, car, mobile, computer. It is never ending. Sometimes the pressure of modern day living can really be too much. I read Kate’s last book Thinking on My Feet which ended up being shortlisted for two major literary prizes and I just really loved the way Kate was talking to you and just you. It was both calming and reassuring.
The real beauty of A Year of Living Simply I found was that I did not have to read from cover to cover but come back to it by dipping in and out and it felt reassuring to read about the people Kate met who have changed their lives and decluttering. If there has been the most perfect year for this to happen it is definitely 2020.
Kate Humble one of the country’s most popular tv presenters has a wonderful writing style that makes this such a personal book and she also shares a few recipes and the recipe for chilli jam caught my attention. I could not imagine a book from Kate Humble that did not include nature, and there is nature here but also gardening.
At a time when we are really concerned for our planet and its future, Kate shares her ideas that can make all of our lives easier and simple and doing something to help the future of our only home. Earth.
304 Pages.
Follow Kate Humble on Twitter: @katehumble
Follow Octopus Books on Twitter: @Octopus_Books
#AYearOfLivingSimply
Thank you to Aster (Octopus Books) and also Anne Cater (Random Things Tours) for the review copy of A Year of Living Simply by Kate Humble.
A Year of Living Simply by Kate Humble was published by Aster (Octopus Books) and was published on 17th September 2020 and is available through Waterstones, Amazon and through your local independent bookshop.
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Thanks so much for the blog tour support John xx
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I do love when I see a book popping up again and again on the blogs I read – and I certainly will pick this book up if I come across it, although not the most massive KH fan myself. I hear it talks of Men’s Sheds and Repair Cafes and the like. I haven’t read her other one, presumably about the benefits of walking, which would be a good one, too, I’m sure.
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