Thirty Things I Love About Myself

Excellent life-affirming novel about self-love. I saw so many parallels to myself in this, having recently turned 30, even if I have never spent the night in a prison cell (yet at least!)
Funny, warm and engaging, I thoroughly enjoyed this and look forward to more from Radhika Sanghani.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my feedback.

A brilliant book from Radhika Sanghani. Nina is a lovable lead and I found myself wondering if I need to make my own list, take up yoga or mindfulness!
4 stars.

This is 100% absolute perfection. A crazy start that hooks you in and the concept is just utterly brilliant. Perfect January read if you are trying to beat January blues, or stick to resolutions.
A clever blend of humour, craziness, reality and mental health. The subject of mental health is poignant, and sensitively well handled.
Definitely gave me a boost reading this, and I am very tempted to try and get to the magic 30 things about myself.
Inspirational.

I kept hearing about this book, and with so much universal praised, I jumped at the chance to read an early copy.

I found the topics of depression and suicide were written with such empathy, you can feel there’s such heart there; these topics aren’t just there for pure entertainment, there’s a real message there. Likewise with the depictions of racism. I found them so cruel and upsetting, but sadly, so real, but they’re so sensitively handled that I feel Radhika must have had similar experience herself - which I desperately, desperately hope isn’t true.

I think in anyone else’s hands, the topics of astrology and star signs and self love and “finding yourself” could have felt a bit twee, a bit pushy, and a bit annoying. But they’re a real standout plot point in this book for me. I’ve never read too much into things like that, and often felt a bit blasé about them, but they’re written so well that it’s actually peaked an interest for me.

I can fully identify with the plights of a single, sometimes unemployed, thirty-year-old (ok I’m not 30 until next year) woman, who has an older brother, has anxious and depressive thoughts, who lives in her mother’s spare room, and has a father who is no longer with us. She may be of a different culture and background, but she was so familiar it was quite scary.

This book is funny, sad, real, heartwarming, cuddly, thoughtful, harsh, hard, and transformative. This may be a fictional book, a fictional story, not a self-help book. But I wager anyone to read this and not feel improved and enlightened. It’s as positive and life affirming as any book, fiction or not, out there today.