Buy a book for Christmas and show them you care

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365 words, A Word for Every Day of The Year, Adam Kay, Aled Jones, Andrew Ridgeley, Anne Glenconner, apron, bold, book, bottle of wine, but perfectly formed, camp, care, cash, celebrity, celebrity autobiography, chocolate, Christmas, Christmas classic, Christmas must-buy, cooking, cool, cutting, educate, empowering women, extravagant, faint hearted, festive season, film, first book, Fleabag: The Scriptures, fresh new pages, friend, George and Andrew, giving, glass of wine, go, gorgeous scented candle, great stocking filler, health, hearts, hospital success, ideas, illustrated, inspiration, inspire, intrigue, It’s Going to Hurt, Kate Young, knowing your worth, Lady Glenconner, Lady in Waiting, local bookshop, love, love it, lush, Me: Elton John Official Autobiography, mince pies, mouth-watering meals, music, pages, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, practical exercises, Princess Margaret, Raymond Briggs., read, relationships, royal life, seasonal, Secret Santa, self-care, Slay in Your Lane: The Journal, small, Small but mighty, smile, socks, Steven Poole, stunning, success, summer, The Little Library Year, The Nightshift Before Christmas, the person who has everything, The Snowman, tips, TV series, unwrap, Wham! fans, Wham! George & Me, worksheets, Yomi Adegoke and Elizabeth Uviebinené

You can buy them socks, chocolate or a bottle of wine, but there is something special about giving a book as a gift at Christmas.

Think fresh new pages, lots of ideas and inspiration as well as the chance for them to escape from life for just a little while.

We have some great books to share with you that should be stocked in your local bookshop and will make someone smile this Christmas when they unwrap it.

The Nightshift Before Christmas, Adam Kay
This Is Going to Hurt was Adam’s first book and his bold, poignant look at life inside a hospital was a massive success. His small, but perfectly formed follow-up, The Nightshift Before Christmas is a great stocking filler and while not for the faint hearted, it’s worth a read.

Slay in Your Lane: The Journal, Yomi Adegoke and Elizabeth Uviebinené
This stunning illustrated book is all about empowering women and with practical exercises, worksheets, and easy to follow tips for success, it’s a Christmas must-buy. It gives readers all they need to get ahead in relationships, looks at how to start a successful side hustle, knowing your worth at work comes into play as well as info on cash, self-care, and good health. Sound good, no?

Me: Elton John Official Autobiography
You might have seen the film, but we think the book is even better. This celebrity autobiography is cool, cutting, camp, extravagant and packed with disco-dancing, football club buying stories intended to make the reader laugh and cry. Go on, they will love it and might let you borrow it too.

The Little Library Year, Kate Young
Food and books, what’s not to like? This gorgeous book takes recipes onto a whole new level as Kate shares seasonal, mouth-watering meals and treats that will make the reader want to put on an apron on and start cooking right away. Oh, and summer might seem a long time away, but she knows how to pack a picnic basket!

Fleabag: The Scriptures, Phoebe Waller-Bridge
If they loved the TV series, they will love this book. We couldn’t put it down and they won’t be able to either. Perfect for reading with a glass of wine, with a gorgeous scented candle burning, so you might want to buy those too?

A Word for Every Day of The Year, Steven Poole
Small but mighty – this is the book for the person who has everything. As the name suggests, inside the cover are 365 words to educate, intrigue and inspire. We will warn you, if you start to read, you won’t want to stop until the end so maybe buy two copies and keep one for yourself.

The Snowman, Raymond Briggs
We can’t leave the kids out, so why not introduce them to this Christmas classic? Yes, you can watch the film on TV and sing along with Aled Jones, but turning the pages of The Snowman is as much a part of the festive season as Secret Santa and mince pies. Go up in your mum’s loft and you never know, you might find an original gathering dust.

Lady in Waiting, Anne Glenconner
Glitz, glamour and drama, no we aren’t talking about the office party but this beauty of a book! Lady Glenconner was Princess Margaret’s lifelong friend and this is a lush, compelling read all about them and a real look at royal life. The rich and posh – it’s all here on these pages to read and we think it’s worth doing exactly that.

Wham! George & Me, Andrew Ridgeley
Before we go, go – sorry, not sorry! This is an emotional read and Wham! fans may well need to get their tissues ready when they dive into this belter of a book. George and Andrew might have met in 1975, but their music lives on in our hearts today, thank goodness.

Got a book you love, let us know, we are ready and waiting to hear from you.

Team Pure Beauty

How to start writing a book in November

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000 words, 15 minutes, a couple, accountable, add up, alarm clock, an old woman, £50, blog, book, book buddy, chapter headings, characters, chic lit, computer, day by day, dream come true, fantasy novel, hard drive, ideas, inspire, join a writing group, launch, literary dream, lose momentum, magazine, massive, memes, mini-story, mission, momentum, name, NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, Notebooks and pads, novel, November, pages, pens, people, photos, progress, relationship, small chunks, story, vision board, write, write a book, write a novel, Write everyday, writing journal, YA story, you’ve got this

November is the start of National Novel Writing Month which is followed by avid writers around the world. Often referred to as, NaNoWriMo, this event started out in 1999 as a challenge to write 50,000 words of a novel during the thirty days of November and it’s grown ever since.

If you’ve always wanted to write a book, but aren’t sure where to start, we have some top tips on making your literary dreams come true.

Create a writing toolkit
If you want to write, you need the tools to help you. Notebooks and pads, a variety of pens and pencils, a writing journal as well as sticky notes and notecards, all help. An alarm clock can block out time, and ensure you have a decent computer too because the last thing you need is a dodgy hard drive swallowing 50,000 words of a book!

Build a vision board
A vision board is a great way to bring your ideas together. Photos of people to inspire characters, snaps of magazines where you’d like to be interviewed, snaps of sandy beaches that could be a beautiful proposal setting, and even film tickets can all lead to something special for your book.

Create an outline
When it comes to outlining your book, starting with the chapter headings is a great way to go. Under each heading, create a list of the content that chapter will contain and build from there. Spacing out small chunks of work will help you start to see your story and ideas come to life.

This is where those notecards come into play, as you can start to create chapter parts on cards and put them in order, reorganising as you go and the story evolves. This can work really well with a fantasy novel, chick lit or a YA story, and you can create the scenes and build the characters day by day.

Use images
A bit like the vision board, but you get stuck for ideas, photos and memes can really help inspire a story. Choose an image, maybe a couple, an old woman, and ask questions about what’s happening. What they’re doing? What’s their name? Are they in a relationship? Use this method as a basis for 15 minutes to write a mini-story, read it aloud and take it from there.

Write everyday
Whether it’s during November, or in the middle of summer, the only way to get your novel done is to write every day. Even 15 minutes each evening will see you make progress and if you can commit to the routine, you will see the words and pages add up. If you really, really want to write a novel, you can do it but you have to write.

Be accountable
It’s very easy to lose momentum when you are trying to complete something as massive as a book, so be accountable. Whether you join a writing group, use an online community, find a book buddy or update your progress on your blog, make sure people know you are on a mission to make a dream come true and they will be there to support you from start to launch!

Good luck and remember – you’ve got this!

Team Pure Beauty

Boost your business with a book

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author, Better Than Before, Big Magic, bloggers, Boss, building a brand, business books, business plan, Colin Barrow, cyber safe, designer, easy to follow advice, easy to read, Elizabeth Gilbert, employee, fear, Fiona Humberstone, food for thought, getting ahead, Gretchen Rubin, How to Style Your Brand, imposter syndrome, industry experts, Jen Sincero, John McLachlan & Karen Meager, knowledge, Little Black Book: A Toolkit for Working Women, love, make money, negotiating payments, networking, new, Otegha Uwagba, pages, photographer, power, practical advice, public speaker, read, self employed, self-sabotaging beliefs, sing, smart way, Starting a Business for Dummies, success, The Million Dollar Blog, Time Mastery: Banish Time Management Forever, transition, vision, work life balance, writer, You Are a Badass

With more and more people working for themselves, there has never been such a wealth of business books available to increase the knowledge of the self-employed.

We have had a look at some of our favourite reads and hope they will be food for thought for you too.

The Little Black Book: A Toolkit for Working Women is a ‘must have’ book every creative woman should buy. Otegha Uwagba’s compact companion is full of easy to follow advice and gives you a basic understanding of what you need when to do it comes to getting ahead. Whether it’s negotiating payments, building a brand, networking or being a confident public speaker, this book gives you insight and confidence and because it’s light, you can read on your commute.

Getting your branding right is paramount, and Fiona Humberstone can help you nail it from the start if you read How to Style Your Brand. From finding a brand focus, to creating an overall vision and how to the power of colour, this book can take you from OK to amazing.

If running late is your thing then Time Mastery: Banish Time Management Forever, by John McLachlan & Karen Meager, is the book for you. The authors teach you to make the most of your time so you can do the things that are most important to you and aren’t always chasing your tail.

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert might not sound like a business book but this outstanding author shares her wisdom and unique understanding of creativity, so that readers can deal with what they most love, and fear. Whether you’re a writer, photographer, designer or PR, this book will help you look at your business, and your life, in a whole new way.

Starting your own business can be a huge learning curve and a reliable place to start is with Starting a Business for Dummies. The name shouldn’t put you off because Colin Barrow offers solid ideas and advice that can help you navigate the transition from employee to boss. Whether you need help writing your first business plan, want details about funding or want to keep cyber safe, this book really gets to the point so you aren’t left in the dark.

Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin is a best seller around the world for good reason. Her easy to read book is full of practical advice and strategies on how to create a true work life balance and gets you thinking about what really matters to you.

If you want to know how to blog and make money from blogging, you need a copy of The Million Dollar Blog. Natasha Courtenay Smith has combined practical advice with interviews from industry experts so new bloggers and vloggers can get out there and make money the smart way.

If self-sabotaging beliefs and feelings of imposter syndrome get in the way of your success, read You Are a Badass and the pages will simply sing to you. Jen Sincero will change your beliefs and show you why you are how you are, how you can love what you can’t change, change what you don’t love, and be the success you deserve to be.

Got a book you love, let us know about it.

Team Pure-Beauty