Calm Christmas and a Happy New Year


Book Description

This is a book about Christmas. But it's also a book about belonging, connection, self-care, joy and ordinary magic, by the host of the UK's number one favourite Christmas podcast. Calm Christmas and a Happy New Year offers inspiration for a new kind of holiday season - one where you radiate calm and cultivate delight. Spanning late November to early January, Calm Christmas embraces the festive build-up, the celebrations and the turn of the year in a holistic, nurturing way. Beth Kempton will whisk you away from the frenetic energy of the high street and invite you to come sit awhile by the fire, pausing to explore what a more mindful festive season could mean for you. Full of personal stories, tips and advice for slowing down, staying calm and connecting with others, it offers a welcome retreat from the pressure to create 'the perfect Christmas'. At its heart Calm Christmas is about a book about wellbeing in winter, which will encourage you to use this time of natural hibernation to germinate new dreams and nurture a beautiful life in the year ahead. Instead of entering January exhausted, further in debt, and already regretting broken resolutions, you will begin the New Year with precious memories, feeling rested, rejuvenated and inspired. This atmospheric book will lead you through the darkness of winter, back to the enchantment of an authentic and meaningful Christmas and New Year.




Ten to Zen


Book Description

This all-levels meditation guide presents a simple 10-minute practice to reduce anxiety and promote well-being. Drawing on his 20 years as a clinical therapist, author Owen O'Kane offers a unique combination of therapeutic and mindfulness techniques for managing stress, improving mental clarity, and putting an end to unhelpful thought patterns. With step-by-step instructions for each minute of the practice and easy-to-follow exercises for developing a daily meditation routine, Ten to Zen is an empowering handbook for finding peace, clarity, and joy—anytime and anywhere. All it takes is 10 minutes.




Stay Calm and Content


Book Description

Are you sometimes stressed, anxious, or emotional? Do you ever feel something is missing, even when you think you should be happy? Are there people with whom you dont get on well but wish you did? Have you ever wondered why you behave a certain way, do or dont do certain things, or have done something you now regret? This is not a typical self-help book, because self-help books are usually read by people who think they have a problem to solve. This book is for everyone. Using straightforward jargon-free language it discusses many of the difficult issues of life, most of which are likely to affect us or someone we know at one time or another. It includes short discussions of stress, relationships, love affairs, work, parenting, sibling rivalry, motherhood, divorce, weddings, Christmas, teenagers, arguments, criticism, depression, communication, childhood, bullying, chronic pain, self-harm, addiction, suicide, bereavement, kindness, abuse, the battle of the sexes and more. People who can stay calm and content no matter what life throws at them all have similar thoughts and attributes which can be learnt by anyone. The central theme of this book is self-esteem and how it is affected every day by our circumstances and the people we come across. We are usually unaware that it is our self-esteem that drives our emotions, thoughts, and actions. The authors clients suggested this book be written so anyone could learn how to stay calm and content no matter what life throws at them. Personal stories highlight how you can control or change how you feel about yourself, and how you can positively influence your life and the lives of everyone around you.




Christmas in the Crosshairs


Book Description

Is there a War on Christmas? This book surveys the history of the world's most popular festival and the never-ending battles it has engendered ever since its hotly-contested invention in the Roman Empire.




Calm Christmas and a Happy New Year


Book Description

A delightful guide to a holiday season filled with mindfulness, self-care, and joy. At the end of a difficult year, what if this December were soothing instead of stressful? Celebrate a new kind of holiday season this winter—one where you radiate calm and cultivate delight. A calm Christmas is filled meaningful interactions, special gifts, and thoughtful observations of annual traditions. This enchanting guide embraces festive preparations and authentic celebrations, and then ushers in the New Year in a holistic, nurturing way. Author Beth Kempton gently encourages readers to prioritize holiday hopes and take a slower, more mindful approach. Kempton also provides helpful suggestions for making the most of the hush of winter and recommends using this quiet period to retreat, reflect, set goals, and aspire toward a better year ahead. Filled with personal stories, tips, and advice for staying serene, Calm Christmas and a Happy New Year offers a cozy retreat from the pressure of striving for perfection. Instead of starting the New Year exhausted, in debt, and filled with regret, you will rejoice in the memories of the season and feel rested, rejuvenated, and inspired.




Keep Calm and Carry a Big Drink


Book Description

In Keep Calm and Carry a Big Drink, Kim Gruenenfelder's delicious follow-up to There's Cake in My Future, Seema, Nic and Mel are back, adjusting to their new lives as a bride-to-be, a mother-to-be, and a recently single girl looking for love It's been almost a year since Mel, Nic and Seema pulled their magical charms out of the cake at Nic's bridal shower and most of their happily-ever-afters seemingly came true. Seema is about to marry Scott in an elaborate three-day affair. Nic is glowingly pregnant. And Mel... well, Mel feels as if she accidentally veered off the rails of her life at some point and isn't sure how to get back on. She recently became single again, she's been threatened with a layoff from her teaching job, and she has to find her own place now that Scott is moving in with her roommate, Seema. Nic thinks Mel just needs a new cake charm to bring her good luck. . . and decides to rig the cake pull at Seema's bridal shower. Desperate for travel, Mel asks for the passport charm. But, once again, the cake proves to have a mind of its own, and she pulls a charm she doesn't want, and can not use. Rather than be bound by the charm's prophecy, Mel realizes she, and she alone, is responsible for her destiny. A spur of the moment decision takes her to Paris and then Maui, where she finds herself on an adventure that she never could have imagined, experiencing the trials and tribulations of a life suddenly and perfectly unplanned. And, along the way, she begins to learn that, however nonsensical it may seem, the cake is never wrong...




Analyzing Christmas in Film


Book Description

Film plays a vital role in the celebration of Christmas. For decades, it has taught audiences about what the celebration of the season looks like – from the decorations to the costumes and to the expected snowy weather – as well as mirrors our own festivities back to us. Films like It’s a Wonderful Life and Home Alone have come to play key roles in real-life domestic celebrations: watching such titles has become, for many families, every bit as important as tree-trimming and leaving cookies out for Santa. These films have exported the American take on the holiday far and wide and helped us conjure an image of the perfect holiday. Rather than settling the ‘what is a Christmas film?’ debate – indeed, Die Hard and Lethal Weapon are discussed within – Analyzing Christmas in Film: Santa to the Supernatural focuses on the how Christmas is presented on the deluge of occasions when it appears. While most Christmas films are secular, religion makes many cameos, appearing through Nativity references, storylines involving spiritual rebirth, the framing of Santa as a Christ-like figure and the all-importance of family, be it the Holy family or just those gathered around the dining table. Also explored are popular narratives involving battles with stress and melancholy, single parents and Christmas martyrs, visits from ghosts and angels, big cities and small towns, break-ups and make-ups and the ticking clock of mortality. Nearly 1000 films are analyzed in this volume to determine what the portrayal of Christmas reveals about culture, society and faith as well as sex roles, consumerism, aesthetics and aspiration.




Our Paper


Book Description







Someday at Christmas


Book Description

font size="+1"Get cosy with Someday at Christmas, the perfect festive read/font size 'A GORGEOUS, COSY READ, RICH IN DELICIOUS WINTERY DETAIL' KATE YOUNG 'THE PERFECT FESTIVE STORY. SWEET, BLISSFULLY ROMANTIC AND BURSTING WITH HEART . . . OH MY HEART I LOVED IT' MIRANDA DICKINSON 'ADORABLE' ELLA RISBRIDGER 'THE LITERARY EQUIVALENT OF A MINCE PIE WARM OUT OF THE OVEN, WITH A DOLLOP OF BRANDY CUSTARD ON THE SIDE' SARRA MANNING, RED MAGAZINE 'YOU WILL FALL IN LOVE WITH SHELL SMITH' PRIMA _________________________________________________ font size="+1"The most delightful Christmas romance. /font size Shell Smith is the most popular make-up artist on the ART counter at Duke & Sons, a beautiful but old-fashioned department store in her hometown. But whilst Shell's love life is looking up, now that she's dating long-time crush Nick, and business is booming in the beauty department, the rest of the store is noticeably quiet . . . The owner's grandson Callum has come up with some creative ways to keep Duke & Sons afloat this Christmas, including allowing a production company to secretly film a romcom after hours. When Callum recruits her to help out, Shell finds there is more to Mr Duke Jr. than sharp suits and a business-like demeanour. With a store to save and her own romance with Nick going off-script, Christmas just got complicated for Shell. But this is the most wonderful time of the year, so there must be a happy ending awaiting . . . Right? _________________________________________________ 'Warm, funny, sexy, gorgeous setting and characters. I loved it so much. (Also it should totally be a film.)' 5* 'I'll struggle to get into another book after this. I absolutely LOVED it.' 5* 'Just wonderful! Effortlessly diverse and inclusive' 5* 'A wonderful Christmas read that will leave you feeling happier than when you started, reaching out for the cocoa and wanting to put on a Christmas movie. Perfection' 5*