{"title":"World Mental Health Day Reading List","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780349019598","title":"Girl, Interrupted : TikTok made me buy it!","description":"\u003cp\u003eCrazy isn't being broken or swallowing a dark secret. It's you or me amplified. If you ever told a lie and enjoyed it. If you ever wished you could be a child forever.    In 1967, after a session with a psychiatrist she'd never seen before, eighteen-year-old Susanna Kaysen was put in a taxi and sent to McLean Hospital to be treated for depression. She spent most of the next two years on the ward for teenage girls in a psychiatric hospital renowned for its famous clientele - Sylvia Plath, Robert Lowell, James Taylor and Ray Charles. Unflinchingly honest and darkly funny, this bestselling memoir is a sharply vivid portrait of Susanna's fellow patients, the kaleidoscopically shifting world of the late sixties, and how sometimes the only way to stay sane is to go a little crazy.   'Girl, Interrupted is a beautiful, complex story that truly led the way on opening up a new, brave, nuanced approach to talking about women's mental health. An intense and personal story that taps into a universal truth about how the world responds to complicated young women' SCARLETT CURTIS 'Poignant, honest and triumphantly funny . . . A compelling and heartbreaking story' NEW YORK TIMES'Not since Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar has a personal account of life in a mental hospital achieved as much popularity and acclaim' TIME'A cool, elegant and unexpectedly funny memoir' SUNDAY TIMES 'Memorable and stirring' VOGUE\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Bookmonger","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":52912547660110,"sku":"9780349019598","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0874\/5795\/6174\/files\/9780349019598_be0dcaf8-5505-41de-a651-56443a8ff5bc.jpg?v=1753095070"},{"product_id":"9781474622998","title":"Sorrow and Bliss : The funny, heart-breaking, bestselling novel that became a phenomenon","description":"\u003cp\u003eSHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTIONTHE BOOK EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT'Just read it. It's unforgettable'India Knight, The Sunday Times'It is impossible to read this novel and not be moved. It is also impossible not to laugh out loud... Extraordinary'Guardian'Full of snappy one-liners but, at the same time, remarkably poignant'Craig Brown 'Probably the best book you'll read this year'Mail on Sunday'Completely brilliant. I think every girl and woman should read it'Gillian Anderson'Exactly the book to read right now, when you need a laugh, but want to cry'Observer'The most wonderful, heartbreakingly gorgeous novel of the year'Elizabeth Day, author of Magpie'A raucously funny, beautifully written, emotion-bashing book'The Times'I was making a list of all the people I wanted to send it to, until I realised that I wanted to send it to everyone I know'Ann Patchett, author of The Dutch House 'One of those \"read it in one sitting and tell all your friends\" kind of books'Evening Standard'Patrick Melrose meets Fleabag. Brilliant'Clare Chambers, author of Small Pleasures  Everyone tells Martha Friel she is clever and beautiful, a brilliant writer who has been loved every day of her adult life by one man, her husband Patrick. A gift, her mother once said, not everybody gets.   So why is everything broken? Why is Martha - on the edge of 40 - friendless, practically jobless and so often sad? And why did Patrick decide to leave?Maybe she is just too sensitive, someone who finds it harder to be alive than most people. Or maybe - as she has long believed - there is something wrong with her. Something that broke when a little bomb went off in her brain, at 17, and left her changed in a way that no doctor or therapist has ever been able to explain.   Forced to return to her childhood home to live with her dysfunctional, bohemian parents (but without the help of her devoted, foul-mouthed sister Ingrid), Martha has one last chance to find out whether a life is ever too broken to fix - or whether, maybe, by starting over, she will get to write a better ending for herself.   THE BOOK OF THE YEAR An instant Sunday Times bestseller and a book of the year for the Times and Sunday Times, Guardian, Observer, Independent, Mail on Sunday, Evening Standard, Spectator, Daily Express, Irish Times, Irish Examiner, Irish Daily Mail, Metro, Critic, Sydney Morning Herald, Los Angeles Times, Stylist, Red and Good Housekeeping\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Bookmonger","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":52914799804750,"sku":"9781474622998","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0874\/5795\/6174\/files\/9781474622998_ebe258df-a654-4918-821a-5fceac5fc6c3.jpg?v=1753196472"},{"product_id":"9780571373079","title":"The Bell Jar : The Illustrated Edition","description":"\u003cp\u003eI felt very still and empty, the way the eye of a tornado must feel, moving dully along in the middle of the surrounding hullabaloo.   Sylvia Plath's groundbreaking semi-autobiographical novel offers an intimate, honest and often wrenching glimpse into mental illness. The Bell Jar broke the boundaries between fiction and reality and helped cement Sylvia Plath's place as an enduring feminist icon. Celebrated for its darkly humorous, razor sharp portrait of 1950s society, it continues to resonate with readers today as testament to the universal human struggle to claim one's rightful place in the world.   A special illustrated edition - the second book in our collection of illustrated Faber classics.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Bookmonger","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":52914884968782,"sku":"9780571373079","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0874\/5795\/6174\/files\/9780571373079.jpg?v=1753205658"},{"product_id":"9780349436234","title":"Walk Yourself Happy : Find your path to health and healing in nature","description":"\u003cp\u003eTHE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER'It's hard not to be persuaded by Bradbury's enthusiasm and positivity' THE TIMESJoin Julia Bradbury as she leads you through the walk of our lifetimes.    There's a lot of talk about how we all must connect more with nature. But what does that mean? How do you do it? And what does it do for you in return? Can something as simple as going for a walk really improve your life? The simple answer is: YES.    Walk Yourself Happy will explain the elemental link between our own health - both physical and mental - and the natural world.    Julia knows first-hand the profound impact of nature: it has helped her survive breast cancer, overcome infertility and continue through failed IVF treatments; it balances the soul and acts as a confidante and therapist. Through science-backed information, practical tips and Julia's own story, Walk Yourself Happy will explore how nature can soothe anxiety and stress, how a mountain or a tree can keep you company in times of grief, and the importance of building nature into your everyday life, so you eat well, sleep better and move more.   Walking, one of the most accessible activities for most of us, is the fastest and easiest way to embed yourself in nature. You don't need expertise or equipment; you just need to put one foot in front of another. You don't need an epic landscape either, you can walk down the street or in your local green space. Though, as you will learn from this book, a walk in the park is rarely just that.    We all have shocks and surprises that stop us in our tracks, make us question who we are and why we are here. In walking, we have the power to change our pace. And when we do that, we can find union with nature, camaraderie with friends and a form of intimacy with self.    We can walk ourselves happy and we can walk ourselves healthy, and we can rekindle the innate bonds, all-but extinguished by modern living, that we have always had to our natural environment. We can start today.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Bookmonger","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":52915002278222,"sku":"9780349436234","price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0874\/5795\/6174\/files\/9780349436234.jpg?v=1753206419"},{"product_id":"9781035408702","title":"Mad Woman : Binge Eating. Menopause. OCD: How To Survive a World That Thinks You're The Problem","description":"\u003cp\u003e'Bryony Gordon is a terrific, compassionate writer' Elizabeth DayIn the hotly anticipated follow-up to her SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER*, MAD GIRL, Bryony Gordon shares her experiences of binge eating disorder (the most common eating disorder in the UK), sobriety,  perimenopause and OCD.   Ten years on from first writing about her own experiences of mental illness, Bryony still receives messages about the effect it has on people. Now perimenopausal and well into the next stage of her life, parenting an almost-adolescent, just what has that help - and that connection with other unwell people - taught Bryony about herself, and the society we live in? What has she learned, and why have her views on mental health changed so radically? After coming out the other side of the biggest trauma of our living memory - a global pandemic - existing in a state of perma-crisis has now become our new normal.   From burnout and binge eating, to living with fluctuating hormones and the endless battle to stay sober, Bryony begins to question whether she got mental illness wrong in the first place. Is it simply a chemical imbalance, or rather a normal response from your brain telling you that something isn't right? Mad Woman explores the most difficult of all the lessons she's learned over the last decade - that our notion of what makes a happy life is the very thing that's making us so sad.   Bestselling author Bryony Gordon is unafraid to write with her trademark blend of compassion, honesty and humour about her personal challenges and demons, which means her books and journalism have had profound impact on readers. She founded the mental health charity, Mental Health Mates, which has become a vast online community.   'A deeply reassuring essential read' Sunday Independent'Visceral and honest' Telegraph'Bryony writes with such entertaining and brazen candour about mental illness...she really helps people tackle their own stuff. Her writing has helped me before and this will be another hit' Matt Haig'A startlingly candid book' Daily Mail'Gordon injects lightness into the darkness as she recounts her relapse into OCD and subsequent steps to recovery' Red Magazine*Bryony Gordon's Mad Woman was a Sunday Times bestseller on 18th Feb 2024.   *Bryony Gordon's Mad Girl was a number one Sunday Times bestseller on 12th June 2016.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Bookmonger","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":52915611500878,"sku":"9781035408702","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0874\/5795\/6174\/files\/9781035408702_8197c6b8-afb5-4a69-b61a-9044b63b4cf5.jpg?v=1753204989"},{"product_id":"9781035036882","title":"Am I Having Fun Now? : Anxiety, Applause and Life's Big Questions, Answered","description":"\u003cp\u003eTHE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER'A brave and vulnerable book by a very, very funny woman.' - Joe Lycett'A brilliant representation of anxiety made hilarious.' - Romesh Ranganathan'Only Suzi Ruffell can take anxiety \u0026amp; make it funny. Relatable, hilarious \u0026amp; educational to boot.' - Aisling Bea'I've been fighting anxiety since I was a little kid, and I assumed it would always just be there, something that plagued me constantly, a bogeyman ready to jump out as soon as I lowered my guard. I'll be honest, it was exhausting. I knew it HAD to change. Approaching 40, with a family and a job I love, I decided now was the time to stop fighting anxiety, and learn to understand it. For the first time, I committed to therapy, unpacked my history and worked out how to make it, if not a friend, then a friendly companion, rather than an enemy.   This book is inspired by what I found out on that journey. But don't worry! It's not like a depressing textbook! It's funny, honest, occasionally embarrassing, and, ok, sometimes sad, but, above all else, hopeful.'Does peaking in high school ruin you for life?Was Miley Cyrus right, is it all about the climb (when it comes to building a career?)And what - scientifically - is the best way to mend a broken heart?Comedian Suzi Ruffell is considering life's big questions. In this brutally honest, funny, and often moving memoir, Suzi winningly tells her life story, and asks a host of experts to answer the tricky questions it prompts along the way. Diamond life advice comes from the likes of Elizabeth Day, Dolly Alderton, Charlene Douglas, Laura Bates, Dr Kirren Schnack, and more.   Am I Having Fun Now? is perfect reading for fans of books by Fern Brady, Elizabeth Day, Romesh Ranganathan, Sara Pascoe and Tom Allen.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Bookmonger","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":52982373712206,"sku":"9781035036882","price":18.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0874\/5795\/6174\/files\/9781035036882.jpg?v=1753217352"},{"product_id":"9780008401085","title":"Get a Grip, Love","description":"\u003cp\u003eClever, kind, funny and wise, this book is an uplifting and useful addition to your self help library.' Daisy Buchanan, How to Be a Grown-Up                      We're all talking about mental health a lot more now than we were ten years ago, which is great . . . isn't it?                    Kate Lucey has been `officially' depressed (as in, diagnosed) for six years. In that time she's been subjected to reams of well-meaning but ultimately bad advice that misunderstands what it means to live with a mental illness.             In this funny, honest, no-nonsense guide to mental health, Kate draws on the expertise of psychologists and therapists, explains how she's learnt to best manage her mental state and disproves the many myths that surround treating depression. Covering the effects of exercise, medication, friendship groups, work, alcohol and more, this book will validate your feelings and certainly won't tell you to Get a Grip, Love.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Bookmonger","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":53022225957198,"sku":"9780008401085","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0874\/5795\/6174\/files\/9780008401085_05d37f19-62f8-4c27-97c5-2c291399ae5f.jpg?v=1753216812"},{"product_id":"9780857309242","title":"Shred Sisters","description":"\u003cp\u003eNo one will love you more or hurt you more than a sister.    It is said that when one person in a family is unstable, the whole family is destabilized. Meet the Shreds. Ollie is the sister in the spotlight until her stunning confidence becomes erratic and unpredictable, a hurricane leaving people wrecked in her wake. Younger sister Amy, cautious and studious to the core, believes in facts, proof and the empirical world. None of that explains what's happening to Ollie, whose physical beauty and charisma mask the mental illness that will shatter Amy's carefully constructed life.    As Amy comes of age and seeks to find her place - first in academia, then New York publishing, and through a series of troubled relationships - every step brings collisions with Ollie, who slips in and out of the Shred family without warning. Yet for all that threatens their sibling bond, Amy and Ollie cannot escape or deny the inextricable sister knot that binds them.    Spanning two decades, Shred Sisters is an intimate and bittersweet story exploring the fierce complexities of sisterhood, mental health, loss and love.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Bookmonger","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":53023234392398,"sku":"9780857309242","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0874\/5795\/6174\/files\/9780857309242.jpg?v=1755691961"},{"product_id":"9781399622752","title":"The Wedding People : The hilarious and moving million-copy bestseller","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe smash-hit international bestseller A Read With Jenna book club pick Winner of the Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction  'Best read of the year' THE TIMES'Books as fun as this one are few and far between' GUARDIAN'Sharp, funny and a joy to read' OBSERVERPhoebe Stone arrives at a grand beachside hotel in Rhode Island wearing her best dress and least comfortable shoes. Immediately she is mistaken for one of the wedding people - but she's actually the only guest at the Cornwall Inn who isn't here for the big event. When the bride discovers her elaborate destination wedding could be ruined by a divorced and depressed stranger, she is furious. Lila has spent months accounting for every detail and every possible disaster - except for, well, Phoebe . . . Soon, both women find their best-laid plans derailed and an unlikely confidante in one another. Hilarious and moving, The Wedding People is an irresistible novel about love, friendship, dysfunctional families, and the unexpected paths that lead to happiness.   'My book of the summer. As soon as I'd finished it, I wanted to read it all over again' RED 'Laugh-out-loud funny and surprisingly moving' INDEPENDENT'So funny and romantic . . . A perfect novel' CATHERINE NEWMAN'Glorious . . . made me wish I had written it' JOJO MOYES'Utterly charming . . . I loved it' PANDORA SYKES'One of the few weddings I've attended that I didn't want to end' SAMUEL BURR\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Bookmonger","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":53023397380430,"sku":"9781399622752","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0874\/5795\/6174\/files\/9781399622752_ac432b50-ca76-4762-b17f-f01f6e3b064a.jpg?v=1754659819"},{"product_id":"9781780749457","title":"Girl in Pieces : Over two million copies sold","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe edition includes deleted scenes, a playlist and a personal note from the author. While stocks last. Charlie Davis is in pieces. At seventeen, she’s already lost more than most people lose in a lifetime. But she’s learned how to forget it through cutting; the pain washes out the sorrow until there is nothing but calm. She doesn't have to think about her father or what happened under the bridge. Her best friend, Ellis, who is gone forever. Or the mother who has nothing left to give her. Kicked out of a special treatment center when her insurance runs out, Charlie finds herself in the bright and wild landscape of Tucson, Arizona, where she begins the unthinkable: the long journey of putting herself back together.   Kathleen Glasgow latest novel, The Glass Girl, is out now! ‘Girl, Interrupted meets Speak.’ Refinery29‘Glasgow’s poetic writing brings Charlie’s mind to life as she tries to find a path to recovery.’ Independent\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Bookmonger","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":53343531204942,"sku":"9781780749457","price":8.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0874\/5795\/6174\/files\/9781780749457.jpg?v=1754157134"},{"product_id":"9781788171823","title":"Good Vibes, Good Life : How Self-Love Is the Key to Unlocking Your Greatness: OVER 2 MILLION COPIES SOLD","description":"\u003cp\u003eOVER 2 MILLION COPIES SOLD! Discover the power of self-love and transform your life with beloved spiritual teacher Vex King, as featured on the Sunday Times Top 100 bestselling books of the past 50 years in the UK. Join the self-love revolution and become the best version of yourself! Vex King overcame adversity such as homelessness, the death of his father, poverty and violence to become a beacon of hope for millions. Now, through his personal journey and intuitive wisdom, he inspires you to: – Practice self-care, overcome toxic energy, and prioritize your wellbeing. – Build positive habits like mindfulness and meditation for a peaceful mind. – Transform your beliefs to attract amazing opportunities. – Manifest your dreams with simple, effective techniques. – Let go of fear and flow in harmony with the Universe. – Discover your higher purpose and light up the lives of others. In this beautifully designed book, Vex shows that by changing the way you think, feel, speak and act, you can change your world – and inspire those around you to do the same. Join millions around the world and unlock your inner greatness today!\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Bookmonger","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":53343548047694,"sku":"9781788171823","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0874\/5795\/6174\/files\/9781788171823.jpg?v=1754157129"}],"url":"https:\/\/thebookmongerbearsden.co.uk\/collections\/mental-health.oembed","provider":"The Bookmonger","version":"1.0","type":"link"}