Want a quick life 'escape'? The top three escapist 'worlds' on my Kindle

Reading is the ultimate escape, there is nothing like looking up from a book and being surprised to see your own home.
In point of fact, this is the ruler by which I measure the success of an escapist read. When my home seems less real than the world on the page.... well the author's mission has been accomplished.

Here are my top three picks for immersive reads.

1.  'A Song of Fire and Ice, The epic series by George R. R Martin has to be
the last word in 'alternative world' creation.
Don't rely on the television to bring you the mere 'gist' of the world Mr Martin has created. You need to 'read' the books to feel the cold seep into your bones, to shiver as the lurking evil creeps slowly from beneath the slow laden trees, to feel revulsion as the feral offspring of Cersai and Jaime reveal their true nature. For heavens sakes people, you HAVE to READ this one.

Ok, I might need to take a moment here before I move on....



2. 'The Remaining'. If you like your escapist world to be distinctly on the
apocalyptic side.... then this series by D.J Molles is for you. I know it was for me. A great premise, a soldier trained specifically to guide survivors
through world shattering events, finds himself adrift in a world full of 'infected' who are intent on, you guessed it, chowing down on the 'remaining' human population.
Don't be put off by the grisly nature of the Zombie genre, sure this series has
its fair share of gross, but the focus is firmly on the disintegration of the rule of law and decency as the 'scum' attempts to rise to the top.

3 The 'True Blood' series. God Bless Sookie Stackhouse, the sexy, gifted, part fairie, adventurous heroine of the True Blood Novels. Escape
to our world, only with more blood suckers and shifters and less need for clothes.
You have to love this exuberant mix of scares with, well, sex.
You might not want to live in her town, but it sure is fun to read about!
(p.s I won't judge you if you do want to live in her town!)

Keep posted as there is MUCH more escapism to follow of the pages of this blog, after all, isn't that what reading is all about?

All books in these series are available for purchase through amazon.com
via the links in this page.

Exploring 'The Primal Connection' with Mark Sisson

'The Primal Connection: Follow your Genetic Blueprint to Health and Happiness

If you have been living under a rock for the last 5 or so years, you may be unaware of the 'Paleo' and 'Primal' lifestyle movements.
If you have ventured out from your rock however, you may be across the basics of the movement..... a diet and lifestyle based on that of our 'pre-agriculture' ancestors. High in animal  products (read here, 'meat'), low in anything artificial and spurning grains (especially that demon wheat!) entirely.

Mark Sisson is a high profile proponent of the more moderate 'Primal approach', expounding the virtues of this 'back to basics' life on his blog, 'Mark's Daily Apple'.

Although approaching 60, Mark's own seemingly stellar health and ripped physique, as on display in his blog, is certainly advertisement itself for his 'Primal' movement.

'The Primal Connection: Follow your Genetic Blueprint to Health and Happiness , Mark's book on all things Primal, is less of an advertisement however and more of an inspiring treatise.

Mark's book, provides a framework to strip away the façade built by modern life and returns the focus back to the individual interacting with the world.

Mark discusses many ways to get in touch with the world, from the literal, bury your hands in the soil, run barefoot, bask in the sun, to the social, develop 'real' friendship networks as distinct from the 'social network'.

It's life like it used to be before everything we ate was processed and everyone thought they needed antibacterial cleaners for every room.

What is surprising about Mark's book however (though it probably shouldn't be) is the amount of research that has gone into developing his position. Page by page, the reader learns why turning back the clock to a less complicated life approach will improve their health. Banishing many modern health problems caused by poor immune systems, and improving many chronic health issues.

As the man himself say's, '...life is simply a matter of making choices'. I love the choices presented in this book, and while I don't think I will ever be a barefoot marathon runner, or be able to permanently eschew sugar, I do believe that inspiration should be taken where you find it and there is plenty of it to find between these pages.

'The Primal Connection' is available for purchase through amazon.com via the following link:

'The Primal Connection: Follow your Genetic Blueprint to Health and Happiness 

The Happiness Project: Verdict, a gift you give yourself

It is a moment many of us can relate to in Gretchen Rubin's life, when, while staring out the 'rain splattered' window of a city bus, she had the sudden realization,

  'I am in danger of wasting my life'.

How many of us have had this experience, where vague discontent has piled up for so long that it takes on the form of depression and general 'life stage panic'?
Unlike most of us however, Gretchen decided to take action, embarking on a 'Happiness Project'. Twelve months of preplanned activities and life approaches designed to identify the key elements required to nurture happiness in her own life.
'Happily' for us, Gretchen also decided to document this year spent in the deliberate pursuit of Happiness, and 'The Happiness Project' is the motivating and inspiring result.
The structure of Gretchen's book, leads us from the physical aspects of her journey; increasing her own energy levels, clearing out her physical space; to the more mindful aspects of the search.
From contemplating eternity to developing a 'contented attitude'.
In the hands of a less skilled author, this 'project' could have been rendered saccharine and preachy, it escapes this fate however as Rubin leads the reader on a frank and often funny account of her own struggles and discoveries along the way.
My particular favourite is the chapter where she focused on her marriage, not necessarily because of the 'worthy' nature of this focus, more for the laughs I got when relating to her struggle to spend a week treating her husband with kindness......
Yep, you guessed it, he does not notice.... and she can't tell! The horror!

So who would I recommend this book for? Anyone who is still looking to improve their life approach, any person who likes the practical, anyone who can see that the simple act of clearing (and keeping clear) one shelf in your house, can be cathartic.
If you are optimistic and realistic and believe in the value of your own happiness, read on and enjoy.

The Happiness Project is available for purchase at amazon.com via the following link:

'The Happiness Project' by Gretchen Rubin

Day Soldiers: Where Vampires are for staking, not loving

I alternate between 'love and hate' for the sexy and irresistible Vampire Hero, some days I would be quite keen to meet an Edward or Giovanni, other days I would quite happily wield the stake.
I have MUCH less tolerance for the typical Vampire novel heroine, the feisty, strong young lady who is completely unaware of her own physical charm. BLEUGH!

Good news, in 'Day Soldiers', Brandon Hale has delivered a 'Vampire Apocalyptic' fantasy ride without any of the usual romantic fluff.

The heroine, Lily, IS feisty and strong, but in love with a vampire? Not on your life! She is more comfortable fighting tooth and nail to reclaim her world, than locking lips with any blood suckers.

In Lily's reality, the human population has all but given up the fight to live free, in fact America is the only remaining 'hold out' against the Vampire and Werewolf incursion.... and this hold out teeters on the edge of capitulation as well.

Lily, who is dealing with the death of (and the responsibility for,) her whole village, has the skills and motivation to join the 'Day Soldiers', an elite group of warriors who battle to turn the tide against the surging Vampire and Werewolf populations.
But can she do more that just give her life for the cause?

Delivering a smart premise and tense writing, Day Soldiers is a step above the usual for this genre. With a protagonist to cheer for and enough twists and turns to keep the reader engaged, Brandon Hale has delivered a Vampire novel you won't need to blush while reading!

Bravo Mr Hale!


Day Soldiers is available for purchase through amazon.com via the link shown below:

:'Day soldiers' by Brandon Hale