BRILLIANT BOOKS THAT ARE AN INVESTMENT IN YOU

READING is one of the few forms of escapism left to us. But it can educate, too.

Choose a time each week to tell everyone you are uninterruptible. This is particularly important if you’re a mother living with a family: they need to understand that you need Me Time. Then pick a free online course, or make your own list of books that are investments in yourself. Here are my choices:

USEFUL for families getting on each other’s nerves is the short paperback On Negotiating by Mark H. McCormack, a famous American lawyer, sports agent and writer. It was published in the Seventies, so you’ll have to pick up a second-hand copy online. I’ve never found a better manual for how to negotiate.

THE Martha Manual: How To Do (Almost) Everything, by American lifestyle guru Martha Stewart. You can learn how to cook, mend, sew, grow a vegetable garden and practise mindfulness, meditation and yoga. In a small home all you truly need are two books — this and Delia Smith’s How To Cook.

FACTFULNESS: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About The World — And Why Things Are Better Than You Think, by Hans Rosling. Simple, clear advice on how to think about factual and statistical claims, by a doctor, lecturer and researcher on global health. Barack Obama described this as ‘a hopeful book about the potential for human progress’. Just what we need right now.

I WAS badly taught maths, so for young teenage girls who also hate maths I’ve produced a free online course called Money Stuff: Maths Gives You Girl Power, at mathsanxietytrust.com.

It isn’t only for teenagers; the course has been tested on women up to the age of 70 who were not taught arithmetic well. To my surprise and delight, many have become enthusiastic about using maths to improve their lives. Also any student with dyslexia might find it easier to learn maths with Money Stuff as I decided to work with only dyslexic technicians.