Lighthouse favourites 2021: Peach

"She'll demand you do better, but she'll give you all the encouragement you need to begin, without a smidge of blame or shame."

As part of our 2021 round-up, Peach shares their thoughts on a groundbreaking book on mind-body connections, a soul-nourishing collection of genre defying texts and a recent event gem. These are Peach's favourite reads of 2021!

The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk is a carefully considered and beautifully written manifesto arguing for change in the way we treat mental health and mental illness. With decades of experience under his belt, van der Kolk explores the trajectory of mental (ill) health treatment; what we have learnt so far, where we may have gone awry, and where we can go in the future. An incredibly hopeful book, in it van der Kolk believes in working towards an approach that grounds the mind within the body, accessing our full humanity to help heal ourselves and each other. This is an invaluable book, and I would thoroughly recommend to all! (Although, I would recommend treading lightly - this book contains detailed accounts of trauma).

Slug by Hollie McNish is a gorgeous book that weaves poetry, biography, essay and short fiction. Released during the pandemic, I found this book to be such a perfect read and remedy - it made me cry and laugh out loud in good measure, and encapsulated both the personal and communal grief that has captured this past 18th months.

Consumed by Aja Barber is one of the best books I have read in years. Not only is Aja an incredible writer - hilarious, concise, and compelling - she is also an expert in a field of sustainable, ethical consumption, that deserves a whole lot more coverage than it gets. Aja pulls you in, asks you to please join the fight, gives you all of the information you need to begin your journey to slow your consumption, and does it all with an abundance of love, care, and joy, and hope. She'll demand you do better, but she'll give you all the encouragement you need to begin, without a smidge of blame or shame.

You can also watch Peach chatting to Aja at this year's Radical Book Fair here!

Check out the other team favourites of 2021 in the Read Think Act section of the website.