Following on my 2021 bookclub post, I thought I’d share a few more amazing books I’ve had on my bedside shelf lately.

I recently spent nearly 3 months living in the Australian desert (giving me plenty of time to read), so my main book, Desert Flower was inspired by that. Waris dirie is no doubt an incredible woman, but what I loved most is that despite her enormous success as both a model and activist, she still values the simple things in life such as health, happiness and being in nature.

The other books are thanks to my good friends at Hachette Publishing australia, who never fail to send me their latest exciting releases - A little off the usual health topic focus, but still worth a read.

Please enjoy them all, and share any thoughts below in the comments. I’d love to hear them.

Narissa x

1. Desert Flower, The Extraordinary Life of a Desert Nomad by Waris Dirie

Inspirational, dramatic and extraordinary, the autobiography of a Somalian nomad who became an international supermodel and UN spokeswoman against circumcision.

Waris dirie, one of 12 children, was born into a traditional family of desert nomads in East Africa. She remembers her early childhood as carefree (racing camels and moving on with her family to the next grazing spot), until it came her turn to meet the old woman who administered the ancient custom imposed on most Somalian girls: circumcision. Waris suffered this torture when she was just five years old. Then, aged 12, when her father attempted to arrange a marriage with a 60-year-old stranger in exchange for five camels, she took flight.

After an extraordinary escape through the dangerous desert, she made her way to London and worked as a maid, then became a janitor in McDonalds where she was famously discovered by a fashion photographer. Her story is a truly inspirational and extraordinary self-portrait of a remarkable woman whose spirit is as breathtaking as her beauty.

2. The Way of Integrity, Finding the path to your true self by Martha Beck

The Way of Integrity is a guide to discovering your true self and the pure peace that is your birthright. Presented in a four-stage process that anyone can use to find integrity, a sense of purpose, emotional healing, and a life free of mental suffering.

With techniques tested on hundreds of clients, Beck brings her expertise as a social scientist, life coach and human being to help readers to uncover what integrity looks like in their own lives. She takes us on a spiritual adventure that not only will change the direction of our lives, but bring us to a place of genuine happiness.

3. The Barbizon: The New York Hotel that Set Women Free by Paulina Bren

Built in 1927, New York’s Barbizon Hotel was first intended as a home for the ‘modern woman’ seeking a career in the arts. It became the place to stay for ambitious, independent women, who were lured by the promise of fame and good fortune.

Not everyone who passed through the Barbiszon’s doors was destined for greatness, but from the Jazz Age New Women of the 1920’s, to liberated Women of the 1960’s, until 1981 when the first men checked in, The Barbizon was a place where women could stand up and be counted.

This story is about pushing the boundaries, of women’s emancipation and of the generations of brilliant women who past though its halls including Grace Kelly, Joan Crawford, Liza Minelli and a whole host of writers and actors on the cusp of their careers.

4. Palace of the Drowned by Christine Mangan

An electrifying and enticing new novel from the author of the bestselling Tangerine.

Set in the days before and after the 1966 flood (the worst ever experienced by the city of Venice), the disaster mirrors Frankie’s own inner turmoil as she struggles to make sense of what is and is not the truth, ultimately culminating in a tragedy that leaves her questioning her own role and responsibility, as well as her sanity.

Book Club II