Virtual Book Club

Take your book club online or set up your own online book club.

Take your book club online or set up your own online book club.

You could donate the money that you would have spent on drinks and snacks to Oxfordshire Mind, or pick one of our mental health related book recommendations below, and make a donation.

Take a look below at some of our book recommendations:

**THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER**

“I lived with it in silence. I tried to conquer it alone. And then I asked for help. It took me hitting hard, sharp rock bottom for me to truly recognize how ill I was.”

In OPEN, Frankie Bridge opens up about her ongoing journey from breakdown to breakthroughs and through self-loathing, hospitalization and self-acceptance. Part narrative exploration, part guide, this book will help you to understand the importance of talking and helping each other.

It will also feature guidance and advice from the psychologist and psychiatrist who pulled her back from the brink along with their notes on her and conversations with her. This book will help people open up about their mental health and encourage us all to speak out. Afterword by Mind.

‘OPEN is an intimate, honest and powerful read. So personal you want to jump into the pages.’ – Giovanna Fletcher, bestselling author of Happy Mum, Happy Baby

‘A beautiful read.’ – Zoe Ball, BBC Radio 2

‘Very readable. Very relatable. Intensely moving but also full of practical advice.’ – Alastair Campbell

Everything you need to know about self-care; what it is, why it’s important, why it’s such a struggle and how to integrate it into day-to-day life.

There’s a damaging misconception in society that putting ourselves first is an act of selfishness. But self-care is not just a millennial buzzword. Without the restorative power of self-care, how will we ever escape the vicious circle where we’re sick and fed-up of feeling sick and fed-up? Self-care is a tool, accessible to us all, which helps us to take responsibility for our own happiness – our physical, emotional, psychological and social needs. Jayne Hardy, founder and CEO of The Blurt Foundation, argues that it is the best preventative measure available to us to combat overwhelmedness, stress and ill health, in our hectic, modern world.

The Self-Care Project is for those who have been feeling off-kilter for a while but have not been able to put the finger on the ‘why’. It is a no-nonsense, practical journey to help you do just that. It’ll walk you through the case for self-care (why it’s so darn important), why it isn’t selfish at all, help you explore what self-care means for you, what your obstacles might be and provide advice on how to chisel out daily space for self-care in a practical, achievable and realistic way.

‘Reading this is like a therapy session with a trusted, empathetic friend determined to help you turn things around, minus any irritating self-righteousness’ – The Independent

‘This book is an easy-read for anyone who wants to learn about the importance of self-care and how we can easily integrate into our daily lives. In the current climate, it’s more important than ever to take time to care for ourselves’ – Kathryn – Oxfordshire Mind Community Fundraiser

The number one bestseller, with over 150,000 copies sold, which kick-started a mindfulness revolution

In A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled, Ruby Wax shows us how to de-frazzle for good by making simple changes that give us time to breathe, reflect and live in the moment. It’s an easy-to-understand introduction to mindfulness, weaved together with Ruby’s trademark wit and humour. Let Ruby be your guide to a healthier, happier you. You’ve nothing to lose but your stress…

‘Whip-smart on the subject… she teaches the art of doing nothing in a way that doesn’t send you to sleep’ – The Times

#1 New York Times bestseller and winner of the 2014 ‘Inspirational Memoir’ category at the Living Now book awards.

10% HAPPIER is a spiritual book written for – and by – someone who would otherwise never read a spiritual book. This fifth anniversary edition features a new preface and new guided meditations from his favourite teachers, including Joseph Goldstein and Sharon Salzberg.

After having a nationally televised panic attack, Harris knew he had to make some changes. A lifelong non-believer, he found himself on a bizarre adventure and realised that the sources of his problems was the very thing he always thought was his greatest asset: the incessant, insatiable voice in his head, which had propelled him through the ranks of a hyper-competitive business, but had also led him to make the profoundly stupid decisions that provoked his on-air freak-out. What happened next was completely unforeseen.

Through a strange series of events – Harris stumbled upon something that helped him tame the voice in his head: meditation. At first, he was deeply suspicious, but when confronted with mounting scientific evidence that just a few minutes a day can literally rewire the brain for focus, happiness and reduced reactivity, Harris took a deep dive. He became a daily meditator, and even found himself on a ten-day, silent meditation retreat.

10% Happier is a narrative account of Dan’s conversion amid the harried and decidedly non-Zen world of the newsroom and concludes with a section for the beginner on how to get started.

‘I loved it’ – Ruby Wax

‘A wonderful book and excellent advice.’ – Andy Puddicombe, founder of Headspace

‘An enormously smart, clear-eyed, brave-hearted, and quite a personal look at the benefits of meditation’ – Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat Pray Love

THE #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER TLS, OBSERVER, SUNDAY TIMES, FT, GUARDIAN, DAILY MAIL AND EVENING STANDARD BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2017

Sleep is one of the most important aspects of our life, health and longevity and yet it is increasingly neglected in twenty-first-century society, with devastating consequences: every major disease in the developed world – Alzheimer’s, cancer, obesity, diabetes – has very strong causal links to deficient sleep.

In this book, the first of its kind written by a scientific expert, Professor Matthew Walker explores twenty years of cutting-edge research to solve the mystery of why sleep matters.

Looking at creatures from across the animal kingdom as well as major human studies, Why We Sleep delves into everything from what really happens during REM sleep to how caffeine and alcohol affect sleep and why our sleep patterns change across a lifetime, transforming our appreciation of the extraordinary phenomenon that safeguards our existence.

‘A top sleep scientist argues that sleep is more important for our health than diet or exercise’ – The Times

‘Matthew Walker is probably one of the most influential people on the planet’ – Evening Standard

‘This book explores the impacts of sleep on our mental and physical health and how much different aspects of our lifestyle can impact our sleep. Fascinating read’ – Kathryn – Oxfordshire Mind Community Fundraiser

Please make a donation to Oxfordshire Mind, so we can continue to make sure anyone with a mental health problem has somewhere to turn for advice and support