The Secret Life of You (Kerri Sackville, Pantera)

Spending time alone splits the room: some prefer it, while some can’t do it. Kerri Sackville suspects that even those of us who can do it need to be better at it. We need to explore the true power of alone time, to learn to rely on the only person who will be with us forever: our self. Sackville is a journalist, columnist and author, and her last self-help book, The Life-Changing Magic of a Little Bit of Mess, was an amusing and profound guide to being an anti-perfectionist. This time, Sackville leads those of us who have always relied on the company of others to the goldmine of silence and spending time alone. Sackville’s perspective does tend towards the assumption that none of us knows how to spend time by ourselves, so this book may not be for readers who already enjoy being alone or who self-isolate to a fault. But for those readers who are uncomfortable with having nothing to do and being alone with their own thoughts, and would rather fill the void with television and social media—this is the book for you. Readers who enjoyed Sackville’s previous book will fall back easily into her chatty and accessible style, while those who are looking for a guide to a new start will find The Secret Life of You a great entry point.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Rebecca Whitehead is a freelance writer from Melbourne.  Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

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Category: Reviews