THE JANUARY BLUES – OVER AT LAST FOR ANOTHER YEAR

Last week I wrote about self-improvement obsessions that gripped the UK in January – like Veganuary, Dry January and “clothes sobriety.”

January’s got a lot to answer for, hasn’t it? With New Year resolutions already starting to founder, we’re then hit by Blue Monday, reckoned to be the most depressing day of the year, and it’s a long time till spring! Well, to this list, add self-help books.

The annual chart for audio books recently issued by Audible (part of Amazon) shows that more than a quarter of the top 50 are self-help books, all but two of which by men. Unlike ebooks, bought most commonly by women, audio books are, apparently, the domain of young, urban men.

As a woman, I think men in general are in a particularly difficult period due to #MeToo and similar movements. And it’s great they’re seeking to better understand themselves, how to take control of their lives and be as happy and successful as possible. This is only good news for all of us – men and women.

Generally, though, isn’t the secret to life being happy with your lot? You don’t really need the latest kitchen/car/holiday/lifestyle. Just go for a walk with the dog, pop into your local pub/bar for a beer, and make the most of life.

And now that January’s over, I challenge everyone to lose the blues and make a new start. But all is not lost! At least we’ve got David Cameron’s memoirs to look forward to – the ones he’s busy scribbling in his £25,000 “shepherd’s hut” (and expected to net £1.5m) about how he authorised the referendum that’s left the rest of us in such a mess. And politics is so depressing at the moment a bit of a laugh is the least he owes us.

I wonder what he’s going to call his masterpiece? “I Did It My Way”? “Striking It Rich”? “Nice Work If You Can Get It”? Any ideas? Answers on a postage stamp, please. No, not a postcard – about time Dave was cut down to size…

Nora Johnson’s psychological crime thrillers ‘The Girl in the Woods’, ‘The Girl in the Red Dress’, ‘No Way Back’, ‘Landscape of Lies’, ‘Retribution’, ‘Soul Stealer’, ‘The De Clerambault Code’ (www.nora-johnson.net) available from Amazon in paperback/eBook (€0.99;£0.99) and iBookstore.All profits to Costa del Sol Cudeca cancer charity