Showing posts with label neil hughes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label neil hughes. Show all posts

Monday, November 25, 2019

The Shop Before Life

A surprisingly fresh and unique take on what happens before you're born. In "The Shop Before Life," Hughes examines the prelife through the eyes of a curious young woman named Faythe. For nearly two centuries she's been perfectly content to play pranks on her friends and just hang around, but after a chance encounter with two men who work in management; she's decided to try out a new adventure, being an apprentice in the shop before life. Now her life is almost too exciting; every day she learns something new and she gets to help customers choose the traits that they want to be born with. Bravery. Bad with Numbers. Slightly Modest. Bad Digestion. Dogged Determination. Joy. Always Late. Taller Than Normal. Generous Heart. Inappropriate Humor.  Nimble. Heroic. Introvert. If you can think of a trait, you can find it at the shop. After customers have stocked up on what traits they want they journey to earth where you are born. Faythe gets to assist the customers under the Shopkeeper's watchful eye, but things aren't starting off so smooth. To start with, she signed a one thousand year contract and if the Shopkeeper doesn't warm up to Faythe, it's going to be a frosty millennium. But she can't help if she has questions and curiosity! What harm can knowledge do? The answer Faythe, soon discovers, is a lot. Funny, unique, and appealing; this was a more than enjoyable read!

Friday, April 10, 2015

Walking on Custard and the Meaning of Life: A Guide for Anxious Humans

Even though this was listed as a self help book I kept waiting for it to turn into a novel (no idea why), maybe because Neil says he's a comedian?!? Anyhoo, I actually picked up waay more advice than I ever thought possible from a self-help book. Author, Neil Hughes, makes concepts, theories, and practices understandable, relate-able, and funny, which makes it infinitely easier to like and use in real life. I don't particularly find myself an anxious person, but I do stress over small things and have a wicked mean inner voice so I was able to glean a lot of helpful information from this book. Another reason I think I enjoyed it so much is because Neil isn't some fancy dancy psychologist or therapist, he's an average educated bloke that's dealt with anxiety his whole life and has compiled years worth of researches and best practices to help others out. Humor is an underlying element which helps make the topic of anxiety less scary. This is a must read for anyone suffering from anxiety, minor or major it doesn't matter, it's helpful, funny, and insightful. At times you'll find yourself groaning at the author's ridiculous puns and inner critic, but it's all in good fun and makes the book even more enjoyable.

I received this book for free from the author in return for my honest, unbiased review.