Bookworm Friday: Five Books Recommendations from Daria Dziurgot

In this series, we ask our William Hill colleagues to share their favourite book recommendations and tell us what specifically they learned from them. Today we present five recommendations from Daria Dziurgot. Have a good read!

On a daily basis, Daria is an HR Intern, who studies psychology and is truly passionate about what's going on in people's brains. She loves being outdoor surrounded by nature, being active, playing sports, and spending time reading books that make an impact.

Check out her 5 books recommendations!

1. Jon Frederickson - The Lies We Tell Ourselves: How to Face the Truth, Accept Yourself, and Create a Better Life 

This is a book written by a psychotherapist, who goes with us through stories and examples he came across during his professional life, that is to help us realize how our brain constructs our reality, and how this world we created is often far from the truth. What is more, he teaches his readers how to recognize such lies and how to avoid them in the future. I find this book supremely enlightening, and recommend this to anyone, who feels somehow stuck, and tired of fooling him-, herself.

 2. N.H. Kleinbaum, Tom Schulman, Suzan Cenani Alioğlu, Nuten Hatırnaz - Dead Poets Society 

This novel tells us a story about Welton Academy, a school filled with pressure, many constraints, as well as high and difficult to meet expectations. The story changes, when the school hires new English professor, whose main motto is “Make your lives extraordinary!”, who enables his student to spread their wings and express their passions, their desires, and needs. By and large, it’s about realizing how imperative are single moments in life and how important it is to give them meaning, even if they seem senseless.

3. Robert M. Sapolsky - Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers

A book was written by a professor of biology and neurology, who explains how the human body and daily life are affected by stressful situations. I, for sure, recommend this book to every single person, since I believe that due to the constant growth of stress, fear, and worries in our lives, it is more than important to know how stress impacts the quality of life in general, as well as some specific parts of it, especially the impact it has on our body, the way it deals with daily stressors, and the consequences of such mechanisms.

4.B.A. Paris - Behind closed doors

A very powerful and electrifying psychological thriller, with escalating tension and a surprising tale, that made me read the book in one breathless sitting! A truly frightening and extremely thrilling story that portraits an extreme sadist, his way of thinking and functioning, and the most perfect lies he tells to make his life seem flawless. This book proves appearance, most definitely, can be deceptive and that anything can happen behind closed doors.

5. Kathryn Stockett – The help 

This is a historical fiction novel, which tells a story about African Americans working in white households in racially conflicted Mississippi, during the civil rights movement of the 1960s. The story is based on three women’s lives, filled with lines, restrictions, and difficulties caused by class, color, and gender; their daily lives, relationships, and ways of thinking. I find the truth told in this book very touching and eye-opening, and recommend this book to anyone, who would like to have a glimpse of how difficult and demanding was (or still is) not having the “preferred” skin tone, profession, or gender.