Sundays Are For... Reading

I absolutely love reading and have done ever since I was little with my Peter and Jane books (anyone else remember them?). These days I'm so busy that I don't tend to give myself as much time to read as I used to, but there are times I just want to bury my head in my book and take myself away from everything else. In my opinion there's nothing better than making time to stay in bed on a Sunday morning with a book and a cup of tea after a long, busy week. It makes me feel relaxed and de-stressed. I've been reading quite a few books recently, so I thought I'd do a post away from beauty and share the books I'm loving right now.

The Oh She Glows Cookbook: Over 100 Vegan Recipes to Glow from the Inside Out by Angela Liddon - £14.98 from Amazon

I've been trying to improve my diet recently and although I don't intend to fully go vegan, I've been taking inspiration from vegan recipes and websites to help me with cleaner eating (a diet based on whole foods rather than processed foods). I'm also trying to significantly reduce the amount of dairy and gluten in my diet.

The writer, Angela Liddon, started off with a blog to document her journey into a vegan diet and now has over a million visits to her blog every month and her own book! Going vegan was her own choice and one that developed gradually, so I like how she appreciates and acknowledges the difficulty in making the change - she isn't preaching, she just wants to inspire her readers and share healthy but tasty recipes.

The first chapter covers "My Natural Foods Pantry" so I now have a list of ingredients to buy for an impending trip to Wholefoods, so this is really useful. Each recipe has a gorgeous photo of the finished result and Angela tells you what the recipe is free from e.g. gluten, nuts, soy. Angela also suggests ingredient substitutions where possible and the recipes are easy to read and clearly laid out. I haven't looked through the whole book yet, but I am already inspired by recipes such as the Effortless Vegan Overnight Oats, the Classic Green Monster (smoothie), Grilled Portobello Burger with Sun-Dried Tomato Kale-Hemp Pesto and the 15 Minute Creamy Avocado Pasta. 

Allegiant by Veronica Roth - £7.00 from Amazon

Now to a fiction book, Allegiant, which is the third book in the Divergent trilogy (following Divergent and Insurgent). I really don't want to give away much about what happens, but I really recommend this trilogy if you want a series of books to get swept away with. It's a bit of a generalisation, but if you liked The Hunger Games trilogy, then it's likely you'll like this too. (Though I don't think it's quite as good as The Hunger Games.) It's a dystopian, post-apocalyptic novel set in the future in Chicago, America, where society is divided into five different factions, which is based around five different sets of values and aptitudes. It is told from the view of the main character, Tris. The first book Divergent has been made into a film, which is now out on DVD. I watched it Friday night and it was really good!

Aromatherapy in Practice by Ben Orr and Zoe Green* - £8.95 from Amphora Retail

I'm a big believer in the power of scents and the notable difference they make on your mental state, so I found this introductory book into aromatherapy really interesting. According to the book, aromatherapy is "the use of natural ingredients, such as essentials oils and herbal extracts, to create treatments which promote mental and physical well-being". 

The book goes into detail about all the different essential oils from geranium to lemongrass to tea tree, covering the history of the essential oil, the suggested usage and application, the toxicity of each oil and whether it needs to be blended with a carrier oil due to its strength. One of the ones I want to purchase now is Eucalyptus - it can help clear congestion, boost the immune system, be used as an antiseptic treatment, banish feelings of mental tiredness, be added to laundry for a fresh feeling and can ease oily skin and acne when added to a base cream or lotion. How amazing does that sound?! I've also learnt facts like if you add essential oils to your bath, a tablespoon of milk will help the oil disperse. So interesting!

The back of the book suggests some blends for physical aromatherapy e.g. treating headaches and reducing dandruff and pyschological aromatherapy e.g. relieving feelings of disappointment and promoting feelings of confidence. The glossary is also useful, as is the space for notes at the back of the book, which I actually made use out of!

Have you read any of these books? What books are you reading right now? I'd love some suggestions!

Beauty Bird xx

P.S. This post contains a PR sample. This does not affect my opinion of the product.