Published in the Sunday Times: 01/12/2019
Sometimes reserved folks wonder what it would be like to be the life of the party, and this is what introvert Jessica Pan did for a year in Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want To Come: An Introvert's Year of Living Dangerously (Doubleday). Pan wanted to answer the question: is it really true that extroverts have all the fun? So she made a list of things that were way out of her comfort zone: going on holiday alone, talking to strangers on public transport, doing stand-up comedy and improv (ye gods!) and networking at events. Her methods and revelations are as funny as they are insightful.
How To Make A Difference: The Definitive Guide From The World's Most Effective Activists (Macmillan) by Kate and Ella Robertson. This is a roadmap on how you can help, with advice from campaigners like Fatima Bhutto, Black Lives Matter and Emma Watson. The authors combine life experiences with the latest techniques to incentivise everyone on how to bring about change in our world.
Michael Rosen's Book of Play: Why Play Really Matters And 101 Ways To Get More Of It In Your Life (Profile). Learn how to put away the phones, switch off the TV and play. The former British children's laureate explains why we need to explore role play, ad-libbing, dressing up, toys, art, stories and wordplay; it's not only a core part of child development, proven to bolster creativity and resilience, it's also about the fun that's essentially missing in our lives. If you don't know how, every chapter features exercises for indoor and outdoor play for the whole family.
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