Notes On A Nervous Planet - Matt Haig

Matt Haig has had his own issues dealing with anxiety and depression which he has written about in previous books.  In this book he looks at why rates are rising and affecting so many people around the world and what changes we can all do in our own lives to make things a bit more peaceful.  It is not all yoga and meditation, but doing things that make you happy, putting the phone down, switching the news off, going outside, visiting friends and spending time with pets.  It might all seem sensible stuff, but sometimes we need to be reminded about the importance of taking time for ourselves, and just to breathe and relax.  4/5

How To Stop Time - Matt Haig

Tom Hazard has a secret, although he looks 41 he has actually been alive for over four centauries, and in this book he tells us his story, shifting through different time periods to explain what he is living through now and the stories about his past.  I enjoyed all the different periods he lived though and the interesting people he had met over the years.

I did wonder how you could afford to live for so long - and how you might get a bit of tired of having to have a job for 300+ years.  4/5

Reasons to Stay Alive - Matt Haig

What an interesting little memoir, that I can only describe as completely raw .  We meet author Matt Haig, who fifteen years ago found himself dealing with a intense, all encompassing depression, that took over his life for a couple of years.  He is able to describe it in a way that many doctors can't, the pain, and crippling loss of feeling that made everything hard, the times when he found no joy in doing anything, when it became hard to walk, to leave the house, to be left alone, or to be with anyone, when books and music lost their magic, and when the world didn't make any sense.

What is also magical is that Matt Haig is able to articulate so well is his journey out of deep depression, how being able to run stretched his body and helped refocus his mind, how regaining a joy of reading helped to escape to new worlds, and the love of his family and partner helped him feel love. 5/5