Clare Echo columnist Rebecca O’Neill shares her top three books that she has read during the lockdown.
Reading is such a perfect way to take time to relax and unwind. It is a great excuse to stay off your phone too. Reading really helps me relax and increase my vocabulary. I always recommend to people if they are struggling to sleep, try reading a book of their choice while in bed. Personally this really helps me unwind. As a result, I always get a good night’s sleep when I read. I think it’s mainly because I don’t spend time on my phone before sleeping and replace it with reading.
1: The Book of Love written by Fionnuala Kearney.
This book is about ‘one love, two people, twenty years’. A very passionate storyline about two lovers who go through their ups and downs through their twenty years of being together. The story is told through alternating chapters that go back and forth in time. This storyline brings you on a journey through how characters Erin and Dom first met, how it’s going, and how it went. This book can bring you through a mixture of emotions. I personally found it quite emotional at times but very realistic and relatable. I particularly loved the notes that they wrote to each other and how much this helped their relationship. I would highly recommend this book if you like passionate and romantic storylines.
2: Beyond The Tape written by Dr. Marie Cassidy
This memoir talks about the life and many deaths of a State Pathologist. This book is very educational involving compelling aspects to what a pathologists job entails. Dr. Marie Cassidy expresses her motivation behind her job choice and how she got to where she was. This book brings us through her early life when starting her medical career, to then becoming one of the biggest state pathologists who truly made her mark. This book is a very important book to read as it gives an in-depth insight into a successful pathologist career, while showing respect and professionalism. I would recommend this book if you love watching crime documentaries/shows or find criminology interesting.
3: Emotional Resilience – How to safe guard your mental health written by Dr. Harry Barry.
This book is written by best selling author and highly respected GP Dr. Harry Barry. He reveals how to really find emotional resilience in whatever life throws your way, giving you the tools to safeguard your mental health. This book mainly offers you motivation and key solutions on how to deal with negative and positive aspects in your life. In this book, Dr. Harry Barry recommends using unique techniques such as flooding, pragmatism and mindfulness to help your self confidence and improve your mental resilience. I would always recommend this book to absolutely anyone. The one thing every human being can relate to is mental health and we all want to learn how to improve ourselves. Especially during our current pandemic, this book is a must read.
All three books are available in Easons in Shannon and Ennis, Ennis Book Shop, Scéal Eile Books in Ennis and Banner Books in Ennistymon.
