I said that the first edition of The L&D Handbook was the book I wish I'd had when I started out in L&D. Instead, it’s the book anyone starting out in L&D now should have. The first edition was good but in this second edition, Michelle has taken her own medicine. She tells us that we shouldn't be so precious about our own work that we stop trying to make it better, and pleasingly she has made this better. In one chapter she encourages us to build reflective practice into our work, and shows us by writing a second edition of this book how to do just that - by reflecting, evolving, learning from our experiences, and improving. Michelle points out that so much has changed since the first edition and yet nothing has changed. In reflecting on this she encourages us to be many things as an L&D practitioner but to play to our strengths above all, to think beyond traditional L&D but not leave that completely behind. This second edition remains well-researched, and evidence-based. It still contains up to date real life examples and case studies, and promotes a strong narrative about how L&D has evolved but also how it should continue to.