Oh how I love this book, so much so that I subscribed to the podcast and bought the audiobook version. It is so well made and exactly the remedy for a spot of insomnia. I highly recommend it especially the audiobook version. The individual stories are somewhat connected but only loosely so you don’t have to follow, that’s the point really.

A collection of short stories designed for the reader at bedtime. I liked the illustrations but the narrative voice was over nice and unrealistic. My ideal short story should challenge the reader and keep them wanting more.

2020 is wild, the world is chaotic, people's heads are full of noise, and so the idea of tales written purely to sooth and help with sleep is, frankly, delightful. I'm sure it'll be good for some, but just wasn't one for me.

Nothing Much Happens by Kathryn Nicolai is a charming collection of short stories intended to be read at bedtime to enable the reader to nod off with ease. While I enjoyed the well written stories, I can’t claim to have benefitted from the sleep inducing intentions.

My thanks to Netgalley and Atlantic Books for an advanced copy.

Based on the popular podcast, soothing stories to carry you off to deep, restful sleep. Busy minds need a place to rest. Whether you find yourself struggling to sleep, awake in the middle of the night, or even just anxious as you move through the day, in Nothing Much Happens, Kathryn Nicolai offers a healthy way to ease the mind before bed: through the timeless appeal of classic bedtime stories.

Already beloved by millions of podcast listeners, the stories in Nothing Much Happens explore and expose small sweet moments of joy and relaxation: Sneaking lilacs from an abandoned farm in the spring. Watching fireflies from the deck in the summer. Visiting the local cider mill in the autumn. Watching the tree lighting in the park with friends in the winter. You'll also find sixteen new stories never before featured on the podcast, along with whimsical illustrations, recipes, and meditations.

This is a charming and delightful collection of stories to help calm and clear the mind to prepare for sleep, and I loved that I had someone record and read some of them to me, which is always relaxing. I am an insomniac who reads an awful lot of different books but mainly thrillers and they aren't exactly the best to put you in that all-important sleepy state. I replaced my normal reading with these and found the serene places described absolutely sublime and enough to cause even a few moments of nostalgia. An enjoyable collection. Many thanks to Allen & Unwin for an ARC.

Nothing Much Happens by Kathryn Nicolai is a short story collection centred around mindfulness and calm, forcing the reader to embrace the small joys in our daily lives, be it staying safely put during a snow day, cooking a delicious soup or finding a random note by a kind stranger/friend. It's not surprise to me that they inspire feelings of peacefulness and help people sleep better. Based on a popular podcast, I'm glad these simple, yet wonderfully serene stories have been published in a book format.

After reading the first half as a standard book, I decided to read the rest of the book slowly and digest one or two stories per night and it's changed my experience.

This is a book you should keep at your bedside and spend 10-15 minutes to read a story to calm your mind, recount your blessings before drifting off to sleep.

Thanks to Atlantic Books and NetGalley for my copy.

#NetGalley #AtlanticBooks #NothingMuchHappens

I'm sorry but I found this book patronising. It starts by telling us what we already know. Bedtime routines, no screens etc. The stories were very simple, they didn't send me to sleep, just bored me basically. Also advising people to drink is not a good idea! Not a book for me!

Beautiful. This book is filled with lovely stories for when your brain is a little bit too awake to fall asleep. It's calming and descriptive and just makes you feel relaxed. The illustrations are really pretty and I loved the added extra information and recipes.

I love the mindful nature of this text,full of eclectic ways to relax and surround oneself with positivity.The authors main premise was to write stories that help the reader to relax and sleep.The stories are short and take you on a journey around a small village where positivity resounds.You find yourself looking forward to reading the short texts but then amongst these wonderful tales are a series of recipes ,exercise tips,and mindful reminders to make your life better.
I loved this time and have incorporated some of the authors teachings into my everyday routine which I will endeavour to share in my workspace.
Overall a joy to read

Nothing Much Happens is probably a good title for this book. The stories are pleasant, a little simplistic but if you have worries and trouble that can sometimes keep you awake I'm afraid these stories are not going to help. In an ideal world we should be able to lose ourselves in dreaming about a better life but somehow I started to find this book a little annoying, I expected so much from it. If you have a relatively happy life and suffer from the occasional bout of insomnia this may help but in today's extremely difficult times it did not lull me to sleep.

oh my goodness, this book os delightful! I'm already a fan of the podcast so I was very excited for this. A perfect companion to the podcast and a great tool to help with sleep.

When you first think about reading a book where nothing really happens, you might think it’s a bit of a strange way to spend your time. However, this book was a great meditative tool. I read it slowly, mostly before bed, and it’s slow and calming pace really settled me into sleep. It took me roughly 3-5 of the short stories to fall asleep, and I did find that when I fell asleep after reading this book, I slept better and woke feeling more rested. I could also feel in my body, at the time of reading, how much the book was relaxing me and letting me forget about the worries of the day. My favourite of all the stories was ‘In the Library’.

Around the 70% mark, I would say there were aspects of the stories that started to aggravate me. Firstly, I became aware of how upper middle class this book is, with such passages as “I went through the fridge again and came away with a package of cremini mushrooms and some fresh parsley. In the pantry I found broth and arborio rice and a bottle of wine” completely alienating me.

The reference to the bottle of wine also sat uneasily with me. In a book of stories designed to help you relax, I find it irresponsible the number of references which are made to alcohol, a well known depressant. Indeed, in one story entitled ‘Instructions for Feeling Better After a Bad Day’, the author suggests “you can make a cup of tea, milky and sweet with a good pour of whiskey in it. You can say to yourself while you’re adding the whiskey ‘practically medicinal.’ But you don’t need to. You can have it just because you want it.” This is beyond irresponsible and I’m baffled when I think about how this made it through the editorial process. However, it’s not the only reference to alcohol and, indeed, one note that I made on my kindle says “this is the third story in a row featuring alcohol.” The references were totally redundant every time and could easily have been removed with no impact on the story. One specific recipe was given for an alcoholic beverage.

Essentially, this is a lovely book to help you sleep, especially if you are an upper middle class American woman who has no history with alcohol dependency.

Sorry but this is so boring. The stories are well-written and designed to be comforting but nothing much happens! It didn't send me to sleep either.