Now that Marigold has been hanging out with her human, Phoebe, for so long, Phoebe’s home is now a magical sylvan glen. This means there’s pixies and sometimes Phoebe will be able to understand the deep philosophical squarks of birds.
There is a downside to this, with the distinct possibility that it’s going to take longer to receive their pizza delivery.
Max looks up from his phone long enough to play chess with Phoebe. Phoebe and Marigold explore a corn maze.
We go back to school with Phoebe, and human and unicorn dress up for Halloween. Phoebe and Marigold discuss tail ornamentation and resolutions. Phoebe goes to her first school dance. Sort of.
I always look forward to catching up with Phoebe and Marigold. Max and Dakota made a couple of appearances each and Phoebe’s dad managed to sneak in a dad joke.
There weren’t as many chuckles for me on this collection. They can’t all be favourites, though. I’m still enjoying the series as a whole and am interested in finding out what’s next.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
A new school year means many things for nine-year-old Phoebe Howell and her unicorn best friend, Marigold Heavenly Nostrils. They prepare for a school dance (lame!), meet new friends (ghosts and gnomes and goblins, OH MY!), and even experience a rare supernatural phenomenon called a Unicornado! In fact, sometimes things get almost too magical. Marigold’s presence attracts pixies, talking birds, and a sphinx, turning Phoebe’s house into a magical sylvan glen. And Marigold even briefly transforms Phoebe into a goblin. Whether they’re trick-or-treating, singing showtunes, or casting new spells, every day for Phoebe and Marigold is an adventure thanks to the power of friendship.
After polishing off their pancakes and coffee at the diner, Marissa, Ty, Radwa and Garrett make their way to the cemetery to get drunk and summon a ghost. It is Halloween, after all.
At the cemetery, the group find a nineteenth century mausoleum. Inside is essentially a cabinet of curiosities, including a creepy automaton.
To all the dreamers who seek what is lost: make a wish
Naturally, everyone makes a wish and then … they’re not in New Jersey anymore.
It turns out creepy automaton guy is Tom. Tom wants to attend the ball but he’s missing some teeth and the way he sees it, Marissa, Ty, Radwa and Garrett are just the boozed up kids he needs to retrieve said teeth.
Having only just arrived in Confetti Realms, the kids don’t know the lay of the land. It’s a good thing Tom has a map.
The kids brought their baggage with them so there’s some friendship dramas and misunderstandings to clear up along the way. There’s also a bunch of creatures to meet and bargain with in their quest for the missing molars.
I particularly liked the axolotl wearing pearls and Moira. I wanted to spend more time with Moira and learn her backstory.
I initially really liked our four accidental dimension travellers. However, their arguing distracted me at times from fully appreciating the details of the world they had been transported to and the array of characters that inhabited it.
I loved the artwork and the colour palette. I enjoyed exploring this world but would have liked to have had more of a chance to get to know the creatures I was introduced to there.
This was a fun Halloween read that made me crave pancakes and add riding a giant centipede to my bucket list.
Thank you so much to NetGalley, Maverick and Mad Cave Studios for the opportunity to read this graphic novel.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
On Halloween night, when the moon is full, teenagers get up to mischief. But when an encounter with a giant, sentient puppet in a graveyard sends four teens to a mysterious dimension called the Confetti Realms, they must overcome obstacles in their own friendships – and collect the debted teeth owed to the puppet – in order to make their way home.
But the allure of staying in a fantasy world is a hard one to beat, and going home to their normal lives is starting to sound less and less appealing for some. Will these friends return home?
Featuring a diverse cast of characters, this Tim Burton-esque, comedic, modern, and high-energy story is written by Eisner Award-winner Nadia Shammas, with art by Karnessa and colours by Hackto Oshiro.
It’s Stephen Graham Jones. It’s time travel. It’s a sci-fi slasher.
Even if I wasn’t already convinced by those selling points, I would have only needed to take one look at Rafael Albuquerque’s incredible cover artwork to decide I needed this graphic novel in my life.
Welcome to 2112. It’s a good thing time travel exists so we can go back and prevent the apocalypse which, if I’m being completely honest, arrived later than I thought it would.
So, who in our group of outcasts are we going to send back in time to save the world? Humanity’s best hope is … a linguist with no fighting experience.
Go back in time. Kill Columbus. Save the world from America.
I hope Tad’s ready for a steep learning curve.
This volume includes the first six issues of the series. I love the concept and am keen to find out what the world will look like if Tad succeeds in his mission. I think I need a reread, though, to remove some lingering questions marks above my head.
While I had no trouble following what was happening in 1492, 2112 baffled me at times. I ended up borrowing the six individual issues from the library but they didn’t include the helpful summaries I was hoping would help me fill in the blanks.
I expect my experience with this graphic novel will mirror that of the first volume of Monstress. At first I didn’t really get it. A reread converted me and it became one of my favourites. I’m looking forward to saying the same about Earthdivers.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and IDW Publishing for the opportunity to read this graphic novel.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
The year is 2112, and it’s the apocalypse exactly as expected: rivers receding, oceans rising, civilisation crumbling. Humanity has given up hope, except for a group of Indigenous outcasts who have discovered a time travel portal in a cave in the desert and figured out where everything took a turn for the worst: America.
Convinced that the only way to save the world is to rewrite its past, they send one of their own — a reluctant linguist named Tad — on a bloody, one-way mission to 1492 to kill Christopher Columbus before he reaches the so-called New World. But there are steep costs to disrupting the timeline, and taking down an icon isn’t an easy task for an academic with no tactical training and only a wavering moral compass to guide him. As the horror of the task ahead unfolds and Tad’s commitment is tested, his actions could trigger a devastating new fate for his friends and the future.
Join Stephen Graham Jones and artist Davide Gianfelice for Earthdivers, Vol. 1, the beginning of an unforgettable ongoing sci-fi slasher spanning centuries of America’s Colonial past to explore the staggering forces of history and the individual choices we make to survive it.
Every week Elliott attends a sexual assault support group for teenage girls. Every week Elliott hears the stories of the other girls in the group. Every week Elliott becomes more and more certain that nothing is changing.
Elliott is sick of talk. She’s sick of the perpetrators not being held to account for their actions.
“I’ve been thinking about this a lot, and I think it’s time we take matters into our own hands.”
Elliott is ready to do something new and she thinks The Book of Reflection could hold the answers. Now all she needs is a coven.
“For when brought together with a coven – and only with a coven – will the spell most suited to the conjuring witch be summoned. Those who would suppress and destroy you stand not a chance when confronted with the power that lies within these pages.”
Going into this read, I thought I’d be entirely on board with a story of revenge, where victims take back their power while dealing a dose of ‘let the punishment fit the crime’ to those who have violated them. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that, while I’m big on fairness and justice, revenge is actually not something that motivates me.
The more I read, the more uncomfortable I became with the results of the revenge. By spending so much time focused on the perpetrators, the girls weren’t learning ways to manage the impacts of their trauma.
The way the revenge took place left the girls in a passive role. The book, rather than the girls, chose the spell for each perpetrator and until it was cast the girls didn’t know what the result would be. While the girls each decided they wanted revenge, not having agency in deciding its form didn’t feel like an especially trauma informed way of going about it.
I appreciated that this book clearly shows that sexualised violence takes many forms. Those who have experienced it come from all walks of life, as do those who choose to commit those crimes. The short and long term impacts look different from survivor to survivor and healing is most certainly not one size fits all.
While revenge definitely plays a significant role in this book, connection and healing are also explored so while you may walk through the fire with these girls, there’s also hope.
Because here was the truth of walking through fire: it was excruciating, and it burned, and it turned you to ash. But flames did more than burn. Flames also brought light.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Union Square & Co for the opportunity to read this book.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
Those who would suppress and destroy you stand not a chance when confronted with the power that lies within these pages …
Elliott D’Angelo-Brandt is sick and tired of putting up with it all. Every week, she attends a support group for teen victims of sexual assault, but all they do is talk. Elliott’s done with talking. What she wants is justice.
And she has a plan for getting it: a spell book that she found in her late mom’s belongings that actually works. Elliott recruits a coven of fellow survivors from the group. She, Madeline, Chloe, and Bea don’t have much in common, but they are united in their rage at a system that heaps judgements on victims and never seems to punish those who deserve it.
As they each take a turn casting a hex against their unrepentant assailants, the girls find themselves leaning on each other in ways they never expected — and realising that revenge has heavy implications. Each member of the coven will have to make a choice: continue down the path of magical vigilantism or discover what it truly means to claim their power.
For Girls Who Walk Through Fire is a fierce, deeply moving novel about perseverance in the face of injustice and the transformational power of friendship.
How uncanny the way what one reads can sometimes synchronise with reality.
A book about books and a librarian who recommends the right one at the right time is always going to be a must read for me. I’ve experienced bookish transformative magic and have long suspected some librarians are particularly gifted in wielding it.
This book introduces you to five people who are at a crossroads in their life. Whether they’re unsatisfied with their job, wanting to follow a dream or are searching for purpose, they all find their way to the librarian.
‘What are you looking for?’
After a short conversation with Sayuri Komachi, the librarian, she produces a list of books on the subject they have requested but invariably also sneaks in a surprise title that appears entirely irrelevant. It is this title that leads the reader on a journey of self discovery, while trying to decipher the meaning of the librarian’s bonus gift.
The comparisons between this book and Before the Coffee Gets Cold made sense early on. Each chapter focuses on a specific individual, although as you make your way through the book you discover connections between characters and their backstories. One of my favourite things about this book was searching for the ways in which the seemingly unconnected stories interwove.
One description, which initially niggled at me, became something that impacted my enjoyment of the book. Every character, upon seeing the librarian for the first time, noted their shock at her appearance. She’s described as “huge”, “really huge”, “large” (multiple times), “very large” (more than once) and “humungous”. She has “plump fingers”. Characters are surprised she can move quickly and that she is capable of the fine work of felting.
The paleness of her skin was also consistently commented one; it reminded one character of a “white glutinous rice cake”.
Comparisons are made between her and a polar bear, the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, Disney’s Baymax and Genma Saotome from Ranma ½. While I’m usually up for any Ghostbusters reference, all of the comparisons felt disparaging rather than descriptive.
I haven’t been able to find a better word to describe my experience of this book as a whole than ‘soft’. It’s easy to read. The characters aren’t difficult to get to know and you don’t need to think deeply to follow the story. It’s a nice, feel-good read and there are sentences that leave you feeling warm and squishy. Ultimately, though, while I will remember how it made me feel, I don’t think any of the individual stories are going to linger with me long term.
Everybody should have their own story.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Doubleday, an imprint of Transworld Publishers, for the opportunity to read this book.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
Sayuri Komachi is no ordinary librarian. Sensing exactly what someone is searching for in life, she provides just the book recommendation to help them find it.
In this uplifting book, we meet five of Sayuri’s customers, each at a different crossroads:
– the restless retail assistant eager to pick up new skills – the mother faced with a demotion at work after maternity leave – the conscientious accountant who yearns to open an antique store – the gifted young manga artist in search of motivation – the recently retired salaryman on a quest for newfound purpose
Can she help them find what they are looking for?
What You Are Looking For is in the Library is about the magic of community libraries and the discovery of connection. Already loved by thousands of readers all over the world, this inspirational tale shows how, by listening to our hearts, seizing opportunity and reaching out, we too can fulfil our long-held dreams.
The novelty was what drew me to this book. I wondered what a rental person would even do and had fun imagining what I would hire someone to do if I had the opportunity. I eventually settled on a bucket list item I haven’t managed to convince anyone in my life to do with me, a shark cage dive. The people in my life are so sensible… Anyway, the possibilities made this one of my most anticipated reads of the year.
Although I enjoy lazy days as much as the next person, I don’t understand “a wish to live without doing anything”. My interest in reading about people who see the world differently to me was a draw card as well.
I thought I’d caught Morimoto out because surely writing a book constitutes doing something. Although a part of me wishes he had written this book with the hope of gaining more insight into his life, I couldn’t help but chuckle when I read that he provided simple answers to a writer and editor, who then wrote his book for him. Doing nothing? Goal achieved.
When I read about what people requested from Rental Person, I was struck by the simplicity of a lot of the requests: waving goodbye to them at a train station, helping them finish a drink, saving a place for them in a busy park. I also reconsidered my Rental Person wish; I’m pretty sure cage diving would constitute doing something unless Rental Person simply watched me do it. And where’s the fun in that?! I’d be wanting a shared experience with someone.
I began to marvel at the bravery of people sending a request to a stranger, asking them to be there with them as they did something that was important to them.
Every so often, I’d be struck by a gem like this:
Depth of discussion and depth of relationship don’t always go hand in hand.
Then I’d be puzzled by the detached vibe that came across elsewhere.
People might think I’m cold for saying this, but when I’m listening to clients, I’m thinking, That would be interesting to tweet, or Good, that’s great material. Maybe I’m less emotional than other people, or perhaps I’m simply not affected by other people’s emotions. I think this makes me suited to being Rental Person. I don’t get too involved in the client’s world.
I’m not naturally responsive. It doesn’t really matter to me what people do or say.
I’m not sure why this was the case but I had assumed Rental Person was a single man in his early 20’s. I was surprised to learn that when this book was written, he was 35 and had a wife and child.
When he started ‘Do-nothing Rental’ in June 2018, Morimoto charged train fare and the cost of food (if applicable). He mentioned he was living off his savings at the time and I wondered about the sustainability of this.
According to his Twitter profile, Morimoto now charges a request fee of 30,000 yen, transportation expenses from Kokubunji station and expenses such as food and drink (if applicable). For corporate use, the cost begins at 100,000 yen. I know he needs to make a living but if you’re asking him to help you finish a drink, that makes it a pretty expensive drink. I wonder if the introduction of the request fee has changed the types of things people are requesting.
In the book, I got the impression that Morimoto wasn’t especially keen on repeat business. A 2022 Fortune article changed my understanding of this as Morimoto said that “one in four of his clients were repeat customers, including one who had hired him 270 times”.
As someone who doesn’t understand small talk, I wondered why people would hire someone who only provides simple responses. It wasn’t until I made it to the section about how reciprocity works in Japanese society that I finally understood why it would be so valuable (no pun intended) to spend time with someone with no expectations attached to the interaction. I get it now.
After all of my musings about cage diving and other bucket list items, I’ve decided that making a Rental Person request isn’t for me. I can definitely see how this would be helpful for other people, though, if they can afford it.
I couldn’t do anything, so I started ‘doing nothing’.
Thank you so much to Pan Macmillan Australia for the opportunity to read this book.
Title: Rental Person Who Does Nothing
Author: Shoji Morimoto
Translator: Don Knotting
Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia
Imprint: Picador
Published: 11 July 2023
RRP: AUD $29.99 (trade paperback)
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
Today, I’m starting a ‘rent a person who does nothing‘ service … Except for very simple conversation, I’m afraid I can do nothing.
Shoji Morimoto was constantly being told that he was a ‘do-nothing’ because he lacked initiative. Dispirited and unemployed, it occurred to him that if he was so good at doing nothing, perhaps he could turn it into a business. And with one tweet, he began his business of renting himself out … to do nothing.
Morimoto, aka Rental Person, provides a fascinating service to the lonely and socially anxious. Sitting with a client undergoing surgery, accompanying a newly-divorced client to her favourite restaurant, visiting the site of a client’s suicide attempt are just a few of his thousands of true life adventures. He is dependable, non-judgemental and committed to remaining a stranger and the curious encounters he shares are revelatory about both Japanese society and human psychology.
In Rental Person Who Does Nothing, Morimoto chronicles his extraordinary experiences in his unique line of work and reflects on how we consider relationships, jobs and family in our search for meaningful connection and purpose in life.
As part of her internship, Ropa finds herself playing host to a bunch of hoity-toity magicians at Dunvegan Castle. She’s not getting paid so she plans on liberating a little bit of something for her efforts. Before she can get her hands on anything shiny, the entire event turns into a locked room mystery: magic edition.
‘Everyone is a suspect.’
I absolutely adore Ropa. She has a distinctive voice, her education is pretty much courtesy of the school of hard knocks and she’s currently sporting orange dreadlocks and black lipstick.
One of the things I love about this series is Ropa’s relationships with her Gran and younger sister, Izwi. While both were mentioned in this book, neither had page time and I really missed their interactions. I also missed River, Ropa’s vulpine companion. Thankfully, Ropa’s friends, Priya and Jomo, are Under the Dome with her, as are the Hamster Squad, who we met in the second book.
They’re the admin gophers where I work.
Ropa is a ghostalker. She puts food on the table by delivering messages from ghosts to their loved ones. There was less ghostalking in this book than the previous ones.
Whenever there’s a list of who’s who in the zoo before you get to the first chapter, a part of my brain shuts down. I assume that if there are so many people I need to know about that I need a list to help me, I’m never going to be able to remember them all. This then becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. I’m pretty sure I ignored the lists in the previous books and didn’t have a problem. Here, there were details of the principal magical institutions, places and characters. I read them all carefully. My brain then went into panic mode and never recovered.
There was a lot of discussion about the history of magic, which I found interesting, and I learned of the existence of the biblioparadise, where I’ll be spending my afterlife.
A realm within the astral plane where every book written and unwritten sits on shelves high enough to touch the sky.
This book felt like a bridge between what we already knew about Ropa’s world and something big that’s on the horizon. Ropa seemed to tread water a bit in this book and as a result I wasn’t as invested as I usually am in this series. I am absolutely ready for what’s coming, though, and am really looking forward to the next book.
Favourite no context quote:
Thing about kangaroo courts is, the conclusion’s baked in before the dough’s in the oven.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Tor, an imprint of Pan Macmillan, for the opportunity to read this book.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
Ropa Moyo is no stranger to magic or mysteries. But she’s still stuck in an irksomely unpaid internship. So she’s thrilled to attend a magical convention at Dunvegan Castle, on the Isle of Skye, where she’ll rub elbows with eminent magicians.
For Ropa, it’s the perfect opportunity to finally prove her worth. Then a librarian is murdered and a precious scroll stolen. Suddenly, every magician is a suspect, and Ropa and her allies investigate. Trapped in a castle, with suspicions mounting, Ropa must contend with corruption, skulduggery and power plays. Time to ask for a raise?
Twelve year old Tuuli is a member of a talo, a small tribe of connected families. She lives with her parents, ten year old brother and her cousins, aunts and their partners. Their talo are reindeer people, “sustained by the reindeer, connected with the reindeer”.
One day, Tuuli meets a boy who doesn’t look like anyone she’s ever seen before.
I’m a sucker for an eye catching cover image but usually rely on the blurb to decide for sure if a book is going to be for me. My decision to read this book, though, was based solely on the fact that I saw Keith Robinson’s name on the cover. Keith is one of my favourite illustrators and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see more of his work. I was not disappointed.
I only wish there had been more illustrations.
It’s obvious how much research has gone into this book. As I tagged along with Tuuli and her talo while they travelled through the seasons, I saw how they lived and was able to get to know them through their beliefs and customs. While I learned a lot reading this book, my emotions never really engaged.
I absolutely adored Lupa, Tuuli’s wolf, but didn’t form a connection with any of the humans. Andar was the one I was most intrigued by but I’m left with unanswered questions about his past. I thought I should be reaching for a tissue a couple of times but I experienced those events as an observer, looking on from a distance, rather than feeling them.
Kid me would have had difficulties with the hunting and the sad events. Adult me was too busy worrying that something bad would happen to Lupa.
While this story would work as a standalone, an opening is definitely left for a sequel. I would be interested to find out what happens next.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster UK for the opportunity to read this book.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
The greatest adventure of all begins here, in the epic new prehistoric children’s novel from bestselling author, academic and broadcaster, Professor Alice Roberts.
Tuuli is a prehistoric girl, travelling with her tribe through the seasons – making camp, hunting for food and protecting themselves against the many hazards that the climate throws at them. Tuuli knows there’s a bigger world out there, and when she spots a strange boy lurking outside their camp, she realises that he might hold the adventure she is looking for.
He is a Neanderthal, sent by his tribe to find safer ground and as he and Tuuli strike up an unlikely friendship, they set out on a journey that will impact the rest of human history.
A vast adventure with a very human heart, full of wild animals, huge scenery and heart-stopping danger and inspired by real anthropological discoveries. For fans of His Dark Materials, Wolf Brother and The Last Bear, join Tuuli on the adventure of a lifetime and uncover the start of all our histories.
When Otilla runs away, she travels through a dense forest before coming across a house that looks abandoned. When she knocks on the door, Otilla discovers the house is inhabited after all.
Otilla looked up to where the voice had come from. In a window above the door, she saw a skull looking at her.
By a skull that is haunted by a secret.
I’m not quite sure how Otilla managed to get the fire hot enough for one of its purposes. I want to know why Otilla ran away and need to invent more of a backstory for the skull because my macabre-o-meter needs more juice.
This is a beautiful book. A retelling of a Tyrolean folktale, it’s such an odd little story and I have no idea yet if I will fall in love with it during a reread or if the question marks are going to remain above my head.
What I’m absolutely certain of is that I loved the dance and the masks. I adored the quirky illustrations.
I really enjoyed the author’s note, where they explain how this retelling came about.
Thank you so much to Walker Books for the opportunity to read this book.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
In a big abandoned house, on a barren hill, lives a skull. A brave girl named Otilla has escaped from terrible danger and run away, and when she finds herself lost in the dark forest, the lonely house beckons. Her host, the skull, is afraid of something too, something that comes every night. Can brave Otilla save them both? Steeped in shadows and threaded with subtle wit – with rich, monochromatic artwork and an illuminating author’s note – The Skull is as empowering as it is mysterious and foreboding.
In a society that fetishises youth, the prospect of ageing is, at best, daunting. At worst, it’s terrifying. Verging on superstition, society clings to the belief that if we can deny and conceal ageing by focusing solely on youth, relegating the aged to live behind closed doors (often literally), then we can deny ageing itself.
It’s all too easy to put off difficult conversations. In this book, clinical psychologist Melissa Levi makes a really good case for having conversations about ageing early and often.
This book covers what Melissa calls the three trajectories of ageing: successful ageing, normal ageing and compromised ageing. Along the way, she demystifies common reversible and chronic conditions and their treatments, highlighting that even when a condition is not treatable, there are still ways you can manage it.
I found the chapter about carers particularly helpful. Despite rounding out the book discussing the Grim Reaper, this book is surprisingly hopeful. A lot of time is spent providing information and encouraging you to have conversations with your loved ones to ensure older people are given the choices and dignity they deserve.
While readers beginning to think about ageing will find plenty of information, the stories of older people and their families were what I most looked forward to. It’s one thing to read suggestions for managing a condition but being a fly on the wall when people are applying these to their lives makes them feel more doable.
Every so often, I was reminded that I was reading a book written by a clinical psychologist. After telling a loved one you have concerns, the author invites the reader to ask questions, one of which was ‘How does this information align with your experience of how things are going?’ I don’t think I’ve ever heard a sentence like this from anyone other than a psychologist. Thankfully, the majority of the book is written in a down to earth, relatable way.
I lost count of the number of times I was referred to a specific page on the author’s website. Sometimes this is so you can access downloadable versions of information covered in the book, including checklists. Other times, though, such as in the case of sleep hygiene strategies, the only way for you to access this information is to visit the author’s website. I didn’t want to have to consistently stop reading to visit a website. I wanted the book to contain all of the information, as appendices if necessary.
When I visited the author’s website, I discovered that some of the promised information hasn’t been uploaded yet. Granted, the book was published less than two weeks before I read it but after having been annoyed by how many times I was referred to it, I expected the website to be a fount of supplemental knowledge.
There’s an index so you can easily find information about a specific topic and a list of resources (primarily Australian) you can contact for further information or support. The summaries at the end of the chapters are very helpful. I wish I’d had the opportunity to meet Melissa’s Zaida.
I learned that the losses that often come with age (loss of health, memory, friends, roles, independence) was not the loss of joy, the loss of quality of life, or the loss of one’s inextinguishable will to live.
Thank you so much to Hachette Australia for the opportunity to read this book.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
Do you get the sense that something’s just not quite right with Mum, Grandpa or yourself?
Does your family avoid having the big conversations about ageing?
Are you confused and overwhelmed?
You are not alone.
With over a decade of experience specialising in older people’s mental health and dementia in Australia, clinical psychologist Melissa Levi has helped more than a thousand older people, and their families, navigate the ageing journey. While every family’s story is unique, Melissa has come to know that we all share common fears and questions about ageing – the same questions that her own family had when her grandfather was diagnosed with dementia.
In We Need to Talk About Ageing, Melissa encourages us to understand that while getting older is inevitable, the experience doesn’t need to be overwhelming, or clouded with uncertainty or confusion. Melissa provides expert information on what to expect as you get older, how to identify symptoms of common medical and psychiatric conditions in later life, and, most importantly, what you can do and where to go for help.
Melissa also shares practical strategies, tips and discussion prompts, so you and your family are equipped to have the big conversations about ageing and are empowered to plan for the future. This book will help you to clarify your options, find your way through the aged-care maze, make informed, values-aligned decisions, and ultimately experience greater meaning, joy and connection.
Schizanthus Nerd 