Spring into the April 2021 essential reading list

26/03/21 | By Gavin Lee Davies, Mr
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Articles, Book News, Events & Announcements, Inside Zero Books



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APRIL 2021 NEW RELEASES

Collective Ink offers a vast range of carefully crafted and selected titles available in paperback and on all E-readers, through Amazon, Kindle, Hive, Barnes and Noble and where ever books are sold.

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Albion's Secret History

Snapshots of how English pop culture’s rebels and outsiders, from The Long Blondes and The Libertines, to Tricky and Goldfrapp, altered our sense of a green but sometimes unpleasant land.

Albion's Secret History compiles snapshots of English pop culture’s rebels and outsiders, from Evelyn Waugh to PJ Harvey via The Long Blondes and The Libertines. By focusing on cultural figures who served to define England, Guy Mankowski looks at those who have really shaped Albion’s secret history, not just its oft-quoted official cultural history. He departs from the narrative that dutifully follows the Beatles, The Sex Pistols and Oasis, and, by instead penetrating the surface of England’s pop history (including the venues it was shaped in), throws new light on ideas of Englishness.

As well as music, Mankowski draws from art, film, architecture and politics, showing the moments at which artists like Tricky and Goldfrapp altered our sense of a sometimes green but sometimes unpleasant land.

'The most illuminating odyssey through lost, hidden or forgotten English pop culture since Michael Bracewell's England Is Mine.'
Rhian E. Jones, author of Clampdown: Pop-Cultural Wars on Class and Gender


A Cauldron of Anxiety

Capitalism has passed its use-by-date, but a better, saner world is possible.

The veritable tsunami of anxieties that are affecting individual lives, the increasingly dysfunctional nature of society and the potential catastrophes of global conflict and of climate change, have a common cause. The inability of capitalism or the state to respond to existential crises and internal contradictions is the cause of what William Briggs terms A Cauldron of Anxiety. Briggs defends a Marxist perspective that would challenge this and provides an optimistic vision for the future


The CFO Philosophy

Where does the modern management style come from, why do we have it and why does every effort to replace it end up with something that becomes more of the same?

Since they got started in the 1920's, generations of managers have emerged from the business schools worldwide, slowly taking over organizations both in the public and in the private sector. They are armed with only two objectives: 1) define targets and 2) measure progress. "What gets measured gets done". And the rest of us are so caught up in the same thinking that we cannot even see that alternative ways of leading exist.

This book is about the modern management that makes corporate life dreary and bureaucratic. In a time where we should be enjoying the fruits of centuries of marvelous technological advances and spending more time on the good things in life, our lives are consumed by bureaucracy like never before. Almost nobody likes that, but whose fault is it? Where does the modern management style come from, why do we have it and why does every effort to replace it end up with something that becomes more of the same?


The Druid Garden

A gardening book for the spiritually minded, based on Celtic, ancient traditions and modern ecological practices.

In this age of high technology, GM foods and industrial farming, many people are looking for an alternative way to live, that honours and respects the natural world. The Druid Garden mines the deep seem of gardening through the ages and alternative modern developments, to bring the reader a method of gardening that is truly in touch with the Earth. Drawing on the knowledge of the Druids and other ancient cultures, Luke Eastwood has created a practical guide to organic and natural methods that are proven to work.

Advice for the total beginner, through to the experienced, ties together Druidic wisdom with the best of gardening knowledge. Part of this book is a handy alphabetical guide to trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants, giving a wealth of information on history and folklore, as well as practical details on plant care and growing from seed. This book is invaluable to anyone serious about organic gardening or those simply interested in how things were done in former ages, Celtic Europe in particular.




Elizabeth I's Last Favourite

In Elizabeth I's Last Favourite, Sarah-Beth Watkins brings to life the story of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, the young upstart courtier who was the stepson of her most famous love, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester.

Despite widespread interest in Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, little has been written about him in decades past. In Elizabeth I's Last Favourite, Sarah-Beth Watkins brings the story of his life, and death, back into the public eye.

In the later years of Elizabeth I's reign, Robert Devereux became the ageing queen's last favourite. The young upstart courtier was the stepson of her most famous love, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. Although he tried, throughout his life, to live up to his stepfather's memory, Essex would never be the man he was. His love for the queen ran in tandem with undercurrents of selfishness and greed. Yet, Elizabeth showered him with affection, gifts and the tolerance only a mother could have for an errant son. In return, for a time, Essex flattered her and pandered to her every whim.

But, one disastrous commission after another befell the earl, from his military campaigns, to voyages seeking treasure, to his stint as spymaster. Ultimately, his relationship with the queen would suffer and his final act of rebellion would force Elizabeth I to ensure her last favourite troubled her no more.


Emotional Repatterning

Emotional Repatterning provides insights, stories and real life examples to deepen the reader’s understanding of their own mind; the patterns of thinking and deep-seated beliefs that keep them feeling stuck and unhappy.

We have access to many tools to help us deal with the rising tide of anxiety and depression: psychotherapy, neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), medication, meditation, positive affirmations. These methodologies are increasingly popular and have been able to bring some relief to many. But in terms of permanent, deep change, these options are sorely limited because they work solely with the conscious mind rather than with the underlying subconscious beliefs that drive our behavior. Recent research on the brain has revealed that we are only aware of 5% of our brain activity, while the other 95% is subconscious. So, unless we work with both our conscious mind as well as our subconscious mind, we may find some decrease in our pain, but we will continue to struggle.

Emotional Repatterning: Healing Emotional Pain by Rewiring the Brain provides insights, stories and examples from Lisa Samet's life and the lives of her patients, as well as practical tools to uncover the subconscious beliefs that are holding us back. It deepens the reader’s understanding of their own mind – the patterns of thinking and deep-seated beliefs that keep them feeling stuck and unhappy – and teaches skills to change both their thinking at the conscious level and their beliefs at the subconscious level.



Encountering the Dark Goddess

Explore the realm of the Dark Goddess and transform your soul.

The Dark Goddess is often associated with the Underworld where she leads the uninitiated through a transformative journey of self-discovery, change and soul renewal. She is connected with the unwanted, the forgotten, the ignored or even ashamed parts of our psyche. However there is more to her than that.

Encountering the Dark Goddess: A Journey into the Shadow Realms guides you through what this challenging facet of the Divine Feminine, the Dark Goddess, is truly about, and encourages you to step through the veils into her hidden realm to explore 13 aspects of herself.

Whether you seek healing from past trauma, release from fears or acceptance of the “unacceptable” aspects of your self, Encountering the Dark Goddess: A Journey into the Shadow Realms offers ways for you to transform and heal your life through the power of meditation, ritual and inner journeying with the Dark Goddess into her shadowy realms. Use the 13 goddess myths as a guide to discover how to remove the stagnant and unwanted and embrace the ever changing aspects of life that can drag us into the pits of despair.

When we connect to the Dark Goddess, we are able to find the light within the darkness and our lives are enriched through the integration of all aspects of our soul as a perfect whole.



Farewell to Democracy?

If you think you are living in an era of post-truth, you likely are. Farewell to Democracy? shows us what happens when we speak truth to power. It details the strength of mass protest. It pulls back the veil on post-truth.

If you think you are living in an era of post-truth, you likely are. If something sounds like magical thinking, it is. Nationalism makes no country great; it often leads to war, genocide, terror, destroyed economies and the turning of cities into rubble. Technology will not get us to paradise. It has made us more unequal than ever, polluted democracy, heightened job risk (displacement), created ever more billionaires, continued the rapid pace of the destruction of the planet, and transformed us from citizens into consumers, often with our active support. The free market is not free; too often it isn’t even a market (because we live in an age of monopoly). The road to serfdom is paved by demagogues, not the state; the state and its institutions are all we have. Trust expertise. Truth does not come from he who shouts the loudest. You are approaching a one-party-state when facts are relativized, science is denied, experts are mocked and threatened, alternative facts are embraced, minorities are criminalized, and lying is normalized.

Farewell to Democracy? reminds us that we have been here before. It tells us that we can avoid a repetition of the past, but we must first know what that past was (and is). Farewell to Democracy? insists that nothing is inevitable. That we are not powerless. That we have institutions to help protect us, which we must protect in turn. It shows us what happens when we speak truth to power. It details the strength of mass protest. It pulls back the veil on Post-Truth. It urges all of us to bear witness and to "show up."




Field of Blessings

Field of Blessings is a turning point, a revitilization of the healing arts in Western culture. Reclaim the power of ritual healing and reconnect with the roots of mind-body medicine.

Ji Hyang Padma believes that we are hungry for a direct experience of the sacred in this culture. We try to fill the void with technology, and its “quick fix” of images and information. This leaves us hungry for true connectivity. We don’t need more information. We need more appreciation. Gratitude opens the heart, and gives our life meaning; it becomes a form of spiritual experience that gives us strength.

Field of Blessings explores how meaning-making can be approached by deep examination of the stories of our lives, which bridge the gap between the inner world and the outer world, giving shape to our experience. How can these narratives be spoken, written, or embodied? Ritual is the story brought-to-life, and a powerful vehicle for spiritual transformation, for reconnecting people with an embodied wholeness. Ji Hyang Padma shows that Chod, Medicine Buddha practices, and other Tibetan rituals are used by healers to evoke sacred energies, radical empathy, and to contact deep archetypal realms of the psyche.


The Mysteries of Reality

Courageous scientists challenge the dominant paradigm of reality. Why are they so brave and what does their research reveal?

Courageous scientists challenge the dominant paradigm of reality. Why are they so brave and what does their research reveal? What is reality? Is there more than we know from our five senses? Vanguard scientists believe there is more than we see so they formulate a non-materialist paradigm that expands human potential, to include mind and matter interaction. Since going against the dominant worldview provokes opposition, this book explores the personal backgrounds of the scientists to find out why they are so courageous. We learn that there is another dimension that allows for enhanced abilities. Based on interviews conducted by Gayle Kimball, The Mysteries of Reality: Dialogues with Visionary Scientists reports on the current research and personal characteristics of visionaries from around the world.


Pagan Portals - Sexual Dynamics in the Circle

Sex magic has been an intrinsic part of witchcraft throughout its history. Melusine Draco provides a brief introduction to sex magic with magical exercises at the end of each chapter.

One of the most significant social changes in the 20th-century was the wedge driven between the males and females of Craft as a result of social media and political feminism. From a purely magical point of view the battle of the sexes has been one of the most negative crusades in the history of mankind since everything in the entire Universe is made up from a balance or harmony of opposite energies. Men and women are different as night and day but still part of the same homo sapiens coin, regardless of their individual sexuality.


Reality Squared

Reality Squared offers a bold theoretical account of reality television and the conditions of its significance today.

In this concise but rich book, Syverson refutes the common notion that reality television is superficial or inauthentic, explaining how such criticisms fail to appreciate the way that we form social reality in the first place. By examining shows like The Hills, The Real Housewives, Vanderpump Rules, and The Bachelor alongside postmodern philosophy, feminist theory, and political economy, Syverson argues that we can confront today’s postmodern condition only by accepting it on its own terms.

To what extent does reality television mimic and shape our public and personal lives? Is reality television a dangerous, shallow decadence, or can it provide the key to understanding our postmodern moment? And above all, what does the election of Donald Trump mean for progressive fans of the genre?

Reality Squared tackles these questions head-on, arguing that reality television represents the great modern art form, and the only entertainment vehicle capable of showing what it feels like to be alive today.



Resetting Our Future: Learning from Tomorrow

The pandemic wrecked our plans. Strategic Foresight will help us make better ones.

COVID-19 wrecked the plans and strategies of organizations everywhere, while injecting greater uncertainty into a world already undergoing disruptive social and technological change. Strategic Foresight can help us navigate through the recovery and beyond. Strategic Foresight is a systematic, intelligence-gathering, vision-building process that helps us manage uncertainty by discerning plausible alternative futures and applying the insights to present-day planning. It is ideally suited to a world upended by the pandemic and rapid transformations in the way we live, work and interact. Using approachable language and a multitude of examples, Learning from Tomorrow shows how Strategic Foresight broadens our perspectives, exposes opportunities and risks, and opens our minds to innovation in a post-pandemic world. It is essential reading for organizational leaders and those responsible for developing strategies, scenarios, policies and plans.


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THE ULTIMATE 2020 READING LIST


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