Interview with Paddy Rafter, author of The 48 Acts: Live your life in a better, deeper way
Paddy Rafter, author of The 48 Acts: Live your life in a better, deeper way recommends a great group of books! Before jumping into the interview, please check out Paddy's book:
Description from Blackwells: (All links earn commission from purchases. Prices accurate at time of writing)
The 48 Acts: Live your life in a better, deeper way
Do you find yourself wondering how you can live a truly happy life? Are you keen to find a way past your worries, anxieties and problems so you can feel fulfilled and content?
With negativity surrounding so many of us on a daily basis, the modern world is a hotbed of addiction, abuse, depression and anxiety. But there is a way you can heal and recover from the issues which are holding you back. The 48 Acts is a guide to happiness and contentment, setting out how we can not only improve our lives for ourselves but for society as a whole.
Author Paddy Rafter has a personal understanding of what it is like to live a life afflicted by trauma and addiction. His own experiences have taken him to dark places, feeling alone, hopeless and misunderstood. As he fought to escape his own form of hell, Paddy discovered a new way of life which allowed him to discover true peace and happiness.
He has now brought this knowledge and experience together in a book designed to help others leave behind their lives of suffering, pain and isolation to find freedom and joy.
Buy On:
Bookshop.org US $17.66
Blackwells £13.26
Waterstones £14.99
Q. Do you have a favourite smart thinking book (and why that book)?
Think Fast : Mental Toughness Training for Runners by Joe Henderson. Description from Abe Books: (All links earn commission from purchases. Prices accurate at time of writing)
My favourite smart thinking book is Think Fast: mental toughness training for runners. Though this book is about running it is really about mental acuity and focus training. A great book.
Think Fast : Mental Toughness Training for Runners
Tells how to develop mental toughness and offers advice on training, overcoming obstacles to success, and rebuilding oneself after an injury
Buy On:
Blackwells £5.23
Q. What's the most recent smart thinking book you've read (and how would you rate it)?
The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World by Iain McGilchrist. Description from Bookshop.org: (All links earn commission from purchases. Prices accurate at time of writing)
The most recent smart thinking book I have read is The Master and his Emissary by Ian McGilchrist. This book explores the way our human brain has developed and McGilchrist’s theory of left and right hemisphere cognition and thinking. I don’t necessarily agree with all of it but it is very well written, and his knowledge is extensive and precise. His main idea is that we think in two different ways, left brain thinking and right brain thinking. These give us different results and affect the way we see the world. Very interesting.
The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World
Why is the brain divided? The difference between right and left hemispheres has been puzzled over for centuries. Drawing upon a vast body of brain research, the renowned psychiatrist, author, and thinker Iain McGilchrist reveals that the difference between the two sides is profound—two whole, coherent, but incompatible ways of experiencing the world. The detail-oriented left hemisphere prefers mechanisms to living things and is inclined to self-interest, while the right hemisphere has greater breadth, flexibility, and generosity.
In the second part of his book, McGilchrist takes the reader on a journey through the history of Western culture, illustrating the tension between these two worlds as revealed in the thought and belief of thinkers and artists from the ancient to the modern, from Aeschylus to Magritte. He ultimately argues that, despite its inferior grasp of reality, the left hemisphere is increasingly taking precedence in today’s world—with potentially disastrous consequences.
Buy On:
Bookshop.org UK £17.99
Bookshop.org US $21.34
Blackwells £16.63
Waterstones £17.99
Q. Do you have a favourite childhood book?
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin. Description from Bookshop.org: (All links earn commission from purchases. Prices accurate at time of writing)
My favourite childhood book is A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K Le Guin.
This book is part of a series of books about a mythical land called Earthsea and it is quite possibly, the best fantasy book ever written. As a child it opened new doors in my imagination, and I lived in another world of sorcery and dragons. But it is a very deep book with a bleak and wise current running through it. I couldn’t wait for the next one to come out. I rode in on my pony to the city looking for it, just like Ged in the book!
A Wizard of Earthsea
Ged, the greatest sorcerer in all Earthsea, was called Sparrowhawk in his reckless youth.
Hungry for power and knowledge, Sparrowhawk tampered with long-held secrets and loosed a terrible shadow upon the world. This is the tale of his testing, how he mastered the mighty words of power, tamed an ancient dragon, and crossed death's threshold to restore the balance.
Buy On:
Bookshop.org UK £14.24
Bookshop.org US $14.87
Blackwells £14.99
Waterstones £14.99
Q. Do you prefer reading on paper, Kindle or listening to an audiobook?
I love reading the old fashioned way on paper.
Q. Do you have a favourite bookshop (and why that shop)?
Kilkenny Book Centre
My favourite bookstore is Kilkenny Book Centre because it is the nearest one to me and the staff are nice and friendly. All bookstores have a warm, calm atmosphere but this one a little bit special given it’s location in such a beautiful medieval city as Kilkenny.
Many thanks to Paddy for recommending a great group of books! Please don't forget to check out The 48 Acts: Live your life in a better, deeper way.
Daryl
Image Copyrights: (The 48 Acts: Live your life in a better, deeper way), Penguin Publishing Group (Think Fast : Mental Toughness Training for Runners), Yale University Press (The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World), Orion Publishing Co (A Wizard of Earthsea).
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