Kindness is a concept that can be seen as a bit slight, rather twee, a bit soft. In today’s individualistic society, it can even be seen as a weakness to be kind to people when we are encouraged to push forward with our goals in life.

On the political stage, or in big business, ruthless, self-serving, bullying practices seem to be the norm and this behaviour has become a model for communities, most clearly evident in social media.

This book challenges us to look at life differently, and proposes that 'the power of kindness can change the world.'

The author found that she was becoming overwhelmed by the negativity and cruelty she was seeing in the world, so decided to challenge herself to do just one act of kindness each day for a year.

In this book she lists the things she did to reach out to strangers and neighbours, how this was received and how it made her feel. But she also broadens her outlook. She explores other initiatives of kindness and interviews activists, scientists, commentators and researchers for their views. 

There's lots in this slim book to inspire and encourage. Seemingly inconsequential acts can have a huge impact and she urges the reader to think about the difference we might make in our own lives in daily interactions with colleagues, neighbours and strangers. There are some things here that seem rather trivial and silly, but overall this is a challenging and uplifting book which shows us that we can all really make a difference.