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Being Happy Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This book is great, it is about understanding yourself, being able to laugh at yourself, becoming more prosperous and being able to forgive yourself. It also discusses understanding natures laws so we can better deal with our own natures. What i like in the book aswell as the information is the comics in the books, they are terrifis, entertaining and very humorous. Now time for the run down on each chapter.
CHAPTER 1: This chapter deals self image, health and pain. Fact from chapter: The nicer you treat yourself the nicer others treat you.
CHAPTER 2: This chapter deals with depression, happiness and humor. Fact from chapter: Did you know that laughter is the best medicine.
CHAPTER 3: This chapter deals with thoughts, power of words and gratitude. Fact from chapter: Did you know that imagination is more important then knowledge.
CHAPTER 4: This chapter seems to deal with taking risks, setting goals and commitment. Fact from chapter: Did you know you only get back what you put out.
CHAPTER 5: This chapter deals with nature, learning from children and changes. Fact from chapter: Did you know the player in sport who usually gets hurt the most is the one who is moving the least.
CHAPTER 6: This chapter only has only one content called "here is where you begin."It deals with how what ever you are today may influence you to be the same in the next 10 to 20 years.
Overall this is a great book, though i recomend that you be no younger than 13 to get this because im 13 and there is some stuff in the book i can't relate to which was why i gave it 4 stars, but any way hope this helped. THANKYOU FOR READING-peace

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Return of the Dapper Men Review

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(More customer reviews)The art in this book is breathtakingly gorgeous! There are so many pages I wish I could frame and hang on my wall. The book is slightly larger than most graphic novels, which showcases the art nicely.
The story is great as well. I'm a fan of Jim McCann's work at Marvel, but I didn't know what to expect from an all ages book. This work is a bit of a steampunk fairytale. I loved the characters and the world. I will definitely be rereading this.

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Chromophobia (FOCI) Review

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(More customer reviews)Fascinating and readably well-written argument that western civilization has a long-held prejudice (though not one shared by the author) against color, especially bright color.
Batchelor is highly literate and informed, plus has an impressive knowledge of contemporary art. His suggestion that color tends to be seen as frivolous/minor/feminine/or even evil is backed up with wide-ranging references to culture (contemporary and earlier), art history, lit., and more. (Including an unexpectedly timely observation that historically, evidence of the decadence of Islam included its profusion of color and pattern.)
Just a few other examples:
--the white space as sign of seriousness and quality in the modern gallery or collector's home
--the art historical ranking of disegno as superior to colore
--in French lit, the symbolic association of rich hues and precious materials with decadence
And much more.
As for me, I almost had to buy this book for its hot pink cover alone

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The central argument of Chromophobia is that a chromophobic impulse - a fear of corruption or contamination through color - lurks within much Western cultural and intellectual thought. This is apparent in the many and varied attempts to purge color, either by making it the property of some "foreign body" - the oriental, the feminine, the infantile, the vulgar, or the pathological - or by relegating it to the realm of the superficial, the supplementary, the inessential, or the cosmetic.Chromophobia has been a cultural phenomenon since ancient Greek times; this book is concerned with forms of resistance to it. Writers have tended to look no further than the end of the nineteenth century. David Batchelor seeks to go beyond the limits of earlier studies, analyzing the motivations behind chromophobia and considering the work of writers and artists who have been prepared to look at color as a positive value. Exploring a wide range of imagery including Melville's "great white whale", Huxley's reflections on mescaline, and Le Corbusier's "journey to the East", Batchelor also discusses the use of color in Pop, Minimal, and more recent art.

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The Art of Shen Ku: The First Intergalactic Artform of the Entire Universe Review

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(More customer reviews)Imagine, if you will, that you are in the company of a man who has travelled the world, seen many things that are NOT in the guidebooks, been in the company of many people both great and small, taken a lot of hard knocks, learned much to prevent repeating any mistakes, and lived to tell about it.
This is the book he wrote.
Equal parts Boy Scout Handbook, Whole Earth Catalogue and "Junior Woodchuck Guidebook" (the impossably complete reference book that Donald Duck's nephews carried with them), with painstakingly detailed illustrations on each and every page, tinted with Oriental wisdom.
Just a sampling of the contents (with randomly chosen pages): "Asian secrets of walking stick combat", "A traveler's guide to self-hypnosis", "Rapid reference accupressure treatments", "Emergency entertainment for bored, whining or fighting kids", "Effective beauty treatments with simple natural ingredients", "How to survive disaster situations", "How to condition for martial art strikes", "Non-violent child control", "Simple and healthy vegetarian recipes", "How to execute classic Kung Fu moves".
My friend, this is the one! From boating emergencies to avoiding a fight, from preventing food poisoning to physical fitness information, from natural therapies to preventing bedwetting, from Laws of the Sea to preventing skin problems, from tying knots to yoga postures....
I cannot say enough about this book. Buy it. Better yet, buy two and hide one copy. Someone is bound to "borrow" this from you.
(ADDENDUM: I sent a copy to a friend of mine. He has paid me to send him four additional copies to give away as presents.)

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What is Shen Ku? Roughly translated: "Pure Traveler" or "Phantom Passenger." What exactly is the "art of...?" Mastering the skill and knowledge of practically everything anyone comes across while on Earth, including:* Tying knots and enhancing sex* Numerology and self hypnosis * Herbal therapy and forecasting weather * Curing nosebleeds and removing stains* Kung fu and magic tricks* Isometric and breathing exercises of monks* Self defense and catching fishAnd this is only the beginning.Irreverent and quirky, serious and 100% straightforward, The Art of Shen Ku explores hundreds of topics from a broad spectrum of life situations, and gives ingeniously simple advice on how to cope with them, overcome them, use them, and benefit from them. "One amazing book...intensely practical. Offering awesome crash courses in everything from joke telling to acupuncture...if you are a traveler in life, this book is for you. If you have anybody who needs an awe-inspiring present, then this book is for you. In short, buy it!" (The Travel and Leisure Magazine)

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This Book Will Change Your Life Review

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(More customer reviews)I have devoted much time to the exercises in this book and so far my life has not changed (drats!) but I have accomplished making a complete fool out of myself (which, to be honest, is no real change).
So far I watched a movie starting with an "F" (Fern Gully), imagined everyone naked (which I do not recommend because it eventually becomes rather icky), ignored a day (more difficult then it sounds), glued a spatula to my arm (strangely no one noticed), managed to lure a fly into the box but missed, tried growing another toe (no luck, yet), went on a one minute hunger strike (more difficult then it sounds), applied for a knighthood (no response, yet), imagined myself as that old man of day 362 and realized that no I am not fulfilled plus I forgot to buy a copy of that weeks TV Guide, took the psychopath test (nope, not telling the results), discovered I am not symmetrical, attempted to invent a new color but only ended up with a mucky sort of beige, spent an entire day ticking off each minute (boring yet profound), and a few other things I cannot or will not mention.
Oh! I even combined two days worth of activities by memorizing Aubrey's face and dressing like a tourist. I searched the city for her, while stopping at tourist attractions which made me recognize the need to move to someplace more exciting, but never found her. I really want to know that secret she is supposedly harboring. I feel it necessary to warn you that I truly believe the whole "Aubrey" thing may be a trick.
Oh! A really eerie thing is that an actual photo of me is in this book. Yes, really! They must have "borrowed" it from a friend's website, that is the only way they could have gotten a hold of it. I tell you, it was quite startling to see myself on one of the pages - I didn`t know whether to be flattered or not. Anyway, it gave me a great opportunity to take advantage of the suggestion for day 256 - tearing up all photos that make you look ugly - and ripped out the page for day 130. I request you do the same and forget you ever saw that picture, please. I look much better in person - I Swear!!!
All in all, I suppose I must admit I've rather enjoyed most of the stuff I've tried. I am starting to feel a bit hysterical so I guess that is a sign it's working. But is that a "good" sign? hmmm....

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Is the year ahead looking much the same as the last? Another 365-day grind of meetings, dinner dates, and deadlines? If so, try this book. Part instruction manual, part therapy, part religious cult, part sheer anarchy, This Book Will Change Your Life will help you poke a stick in the spokes of your routine. It's not the soft-hearted kind of book that's interested in what you have to say; rather it contains 365 daily orders, each one of which could turn your humdrum existence into a daily free-fall.

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My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me: Forty New Fairy Tales Review

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(More customer reviews)I'd been eagerly awaiting this book's publication for months, and my expectations have been greatly exceeded. These are fairy tales for grown-ups...or, I should say grown-up children. The authors and stories are diverse; there is no consistent literary style. As the editor writes: "The goal was to bring together a variety of writers...whose work had suggested 'fairy tales' to me."
Here are the writers and the fairy tales each used as inspiration:
Joy Williams, Baba Yaga
Jonathon Keats, The Snow Maiden
Ludmilla Petrushevskaya, Ivan Tsaevich
Alissa Nutting, The Juniper Tree
Francine Pose, Hansel and Gretel
Kevin Brockmeie, Rumpelstiltskin
Neil LaBute, Rumpelstilstskin
Shelley Jackson, The Six Swans
Joyelle McSweeney, The Bremen Town Musicians
Lydia Millet, Snow White and Rose Red
Saah Shun-Lien Bynum, The Erlking
Brian Evenson, Dapplegrim
Michael Cunningham, The Wild Swans
Kaen Joy Fowler, The Wild Swans
Rikki Ducornet, The Little Match Gil
Timothy Schaffert, The Little Mermaid
Katherine Vaz, The Little Mermaid
Karen Bennan, The Snow Queen
Lucy Corin, The Tinder Box
Ilya Kaminsky, The Teapot
Michael Martone, Jack and the Beanstalk
Kelly Link, Catskin
Chris Adrian, Teague O'Kane and the Corpse
Jim Shepard, Jump Into My Sack
Kathryn Davis, Body Without Soul
Kellie Wells, The Story of Grandmother
Sabrina Orah Mark, The Young Slave
Aimee Bender, Donkeyskin
Marjorie Sandor, The White Cat
Joyce Carol Oates, Bluebeard
John Updike, Bluebead
Rabih Alameddine, Sleeping Beauty
Stacy Richter, Cinderella
Neil Gaiman, The Odyssey
Francesca Lia Block, Cupid and Psyche
Lily Hoang, The Story of the Mosquito
Noako Awa, A Kamikakushi Tale
Hiomi Ito, Sansho the Steward
Michael Mejia, Tales from Jalisco
Kim Addonizio, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Kate Bernheimer, The Oval Portrait
Don't expect the stories to stick too closely to the source material. But do expect to find some new favorite writers.
If I could have bought only one book this year, it would be collection.

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The fairy tale lives again in these forty new stories by some of the biggest names in contemporary fiction Neil Gaiman, Michael Cunningham, Aimee Bender, Kelly Link, Lydia Millet, and more than thirty other extraordinary writers celebrate fairy tales in this thrilling volume-the ultimate literary costume party. Spinning houses and talking birds. Whispered secrets and borrowed hope. Here are new stories sewn from old skins, gathered from around the world by visionary editor Kate Bernheimer and inspired by everything from Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen" and "The Little Match Girl" to Charles Perrault's "Bluebeard" and "Cinderella" to the Brothers Grimm's "Hansel and Gretel" and "Rumpelstiltskin" to fairy tales by Goethe and Calvino. Fairy tales are our oldest literary tradition, and yet they chart the imaginative frontiers of the twenty-first century as powerfully as they evoke our earliest encounters with literature. This exhilarating collection restores their place in the literary canon.

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The Monster Book of Manga: Draw Like the Experts Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a wonderful book period. But wonderful for whom?
I am not a beginner in manga art but I am far from advanced. I found this book to be helpful AFTER I read other How to Draw Manga Books.
This is not a book for a beginner. The following are some pros and cons I have with this book.
First the Pros
PROS
1. The book is 377 pages long.
2. The artwork is incredible!
3.The Variety of characters examples it contains.The index is as follows, each is met with a brief explanation of what is in each chapter.
Introduction: Just as it says.
Girls: The girls shown are: The Shy School Girl, Sporty, Static Movement,Cat Girl, Fighter,Gothic Lolita(my favorite), Cybergirl, Pinup girl, and friends.
Fantasy: Male Elf, Female Elf, Knight, Explorer, Orc, Dwarf, Amazons, Goblin, Devil
Monsters: Succubus Dragon, Ghost, Worm, Werewolf,Mummmy, Monster from the Deep, and the every popular Vampire
Science Fiction: Demon ,Bionic Girl, Cyberpet, Android, Combat Mecha, Octopus, star pilot, princess nebula, and reflections.
Music: Is my fave section in the book. It covers characters in all the different styles of music from Hip-hop to traditional to children's music.
The samurai section is amazing as well. It has witches, geisha, princesses, ninja, ronin, wanderer, samurai, and Sakura(is a samurai that can fuse their body and spirit with their surroundings.
The final chapter is Drawing Digitally. This covers so much that I really can't type out the chapter titles.
4. For each character there is a page each of the following:
A summary of the character, shape, anatomy, clothes, ink and lighting, and color.Now for the cons of this book.
CONS:
1. There aren't enough detailed descriptions on how to draw them although there are diagrams that you can look at.
2. No angels, faries or anything like that in the fantasy section or anywhere in the book. That is a downfall to me.
3. There is not a section particularly for boys. Just girls.
4. The digital tutorial is only for adobe photoshop. All in all I say if you like manga then pick this book up. I think you will enjoy it very much.

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The popularity of manga continues to row, inspiring interest in learning how to draw in this exciting style of comics. Estudio Joso creates the ultimate guide to illustration—384 pages of manga instruction. The Monster Book of Manga is divided into sections focusing on the most figures and themes—Girls, Boys, Samurais, Monsters, and more. Each illustration is broken down into six stages accompanied by step-by-step instructions, taking the artist from initial back-and-white sketches to the final color piece. They are all accompanied by practical suggestions, hints, and tips.

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Girl in Hyacinth Blue Review

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(More customer reviews)The concept of this novel, tracing the history of a painting by going back in time chapter by chapter, is just my cup of tea. Susan Vreeland has done an excellent job in transferring this unique notion to paper. I've always enjoyed antiques and wondered about its origination; Girl in Hyacinth Blue was like a dream come true in that respect.
The story begins with math professor, Cornelius Engelbrecht. He was bequeathed a painting from his father, who claims it a masterpiece by the Dutch artist Vermeer. There are no papers to prove this statement; however, the bigger picture is the way Cornelius's father obtained the painting...a way that has haunted him all his life.
Each chapter moves back in time to the previous owner of the painting. Readers follow the painting from the wall of Cornelius's father to the actual inspiration and creation of it. Each vignette houses new sets of characters with the painting as its central core. Slowly, with each turning page, we reveal another part of the painting's history, layer by layer, and what it has meant to the people whose lives it touched.
Girl in Hyacinth Blue made for a wonderful reading experience. I recommend this novel to those who enjoy lovely period pieces or like getting to the bare bones of a story. A very in depth and beautiful premise. I have Susan's next book on my list.

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Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie: A Tale of Love and Fallout Review

Radioactive: Marie and Pierre Curie: A Tale of Love and Fallout

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(More customer reviews)This is the first review I've ever been compelled to write. I also bought "Radioactive" after reading the New York Times' glowing praise. I couldn't put it down. After I read it, I couldn't go to sleep. I promptly ordered a dozen copies for friends, and wished I had the means to buy this book for everyone I know. This book changed my perspective on art, history, science and storytelling.
First, the little things: the author created her own type based on the title pages of the New York Public Library; through evident hard work and determination, she tracked down astonishing anecdotes, photographs, gravestone rubbings, x-rays, and little known facts; the bibliography includes a breathtaking spectrum of sources, from interviews, lectures, biographies (in English and French), scientific journals, classified documents, correspondence, maps, notebooks, newspapers, scientific society proceedings; the illustrations are stunning. What unfolds on pages 83 - 85 is profoundly affecting and viscerally unforgettable. I am embarrassed by the number of superlatives in this paragraph.
Now, the big thing: this book, like the story it tells, is a miracle.
The reviewer below is entitled to his opinion. But may I offer a counterpoint. On page 94 Marie recalls a day in the meadows with her family, picking flowers. And there is an illustration of buttercups. Pages later, when Marie learns that Pierre is dead: "The flowers he had picked in the country remained fresh on the table." And then, let's say for curiosity's sake, you flip to the Notes and see this citation: "flowers...on the table." Curie Archives, microfilm, 4300.
Perhaps you will "learn" "more" from a Wikipedia article. But I have rarely encountered a book that has made me feel so strongly and care more deeply about a topic (an entire world, really) that, prior to opening the cover, I had little interest in. Buy this book at once if you are a humanist; if you know anyone -- a journalist, artist, doctor, scientist -- looking for inspiration; if you believe in the confounding collision of serendipity, discovery, destruction and love; if you've never read a graphic novel; if there is a curious young woman in your life who you suspect might one day change the world with her intellect, or desperately wishes to. This book earns and deserves the attention of those of us who live beyond Wikipedia where stories are told, hearts swell and break, the buttercups matter (No. The buttercups are essential.), and man discovers a way to make mutant roses and glowing tubes of fairy light that change the course of history.

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Pictorial Webster's: A Visual Dictionary of Curiosities Review

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(More customer reviews)In the 1940s I attended a country school with a single teacher and 20 kids ranging from first to eighth grade. During the last four years, I was the only kid in my "class" and was permitted (encouraged?) to do a great deal of independent reading.
Once a week the county superintendent would send around a circulating box of books, and I would often read and report on ten to twenty books a week. These reports were sent to Jefferson, the county seat, and if the superintendent approved, he would send back a certificate with a gold star for each book read, a total of 12 to each certificate. During my most productive year, I read and reported on 365 books, and received 30 certificates filled with stars, and a letter of commendation containing the five extra stars.
My teacher had me sit right next to the "New International Dictionary", which contained over three thousand pages and had a much shorter "History" with chronologies of various events from different countries. I loved checking the meaning of new words, and often just paged through both books, usually looking at the pictures first, then picking one word and listing all the meanings in a journal I kept for the purpose.
I've still got several of those early journals and I see that I made a few crude drawings based on the pictures in the dictionary. The words have become a part of my vocabulary but the pictures lived on in my imagination, many of them with a life of their own.
I was absolutely delighted to find this wonderful book of images. Some of them are a bit fuzzy and unclear, but the pages of the big dictionary were printed on a very thin paper and coal dust from the school's furnace smeared the pages and many of the images. Paging through this volume brings back many memories, even a sense of actually being back there in Joeville Country School.
This book contains so many personal meanings I'm not sure how to recommend it to others. I'm pretty sure others will find looking through the images will be a fascinating journey of discovery. It was for me many years ago, and still is today.
Robert C. Ross 2009

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Featuring over 1,500 engravings that originally graced the pages of Webster's dictionaries in the 19th century, this chunky volume is an irresistible treasure trove for art lovers, designers, and anyone with an interest in visual history. Meticulously cleaned and restored by fine-press bookmaker Johnny Carrera, the engravings in Pictorial Webster's have been compiled into an alluring and unusual visual reference guide for the modern day. Images range from the entirely mysterious to the classically iconic. From Acorns to Zebras, Bell Jars to Velocipedes, these alphabetically arranged archetypes and curiosities create enigmatic juxtapositions and illustrate the items deemed important to the Victorian mind. Sure to inspire and delight, Pictorial Webster's is at once a fascinatinghistorical record and a stunning jewel of a book.

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How to Be an Explorer of the World: Portable Life Museum Review

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(More customer reviews)Smith's newest book is the most recent installment in her passionate, ongoing process to distill life and the art process (indistinguishable to most artists) down to it's bare matter. If you can embrace playfulness, open courageously to the idea of art as life, are willing to turn off the television and look around you, love to challenge yourself to learn to BE and create from essence as opposed to trend or fancy, Explorer is for you.
As an author, she seems to live her life exactly the way she writes (as one can easily pick up when visiting her blog The Wish Jar Journal).

As an artist, she is apparently very well read on the subjects of art and life and willing to push beyond art school rules to find her own voice among so many artsy voices that seem to blend together these days. For an insightful, modern perspective on gathering the fodder to create amazing experiences, I was not disappointed with this book.
I completely disagree with other reviews which state that this book is not for deep thinkers. I find her simple, freshened concepts to be timely and revolutionary, just what artists have been missing from our creative processes.
I also recommend Wreck This Journal and Guerilla Art, also by Keri Smith.

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From the author of Wreck This Journal, an interactive guide for exploring and documenting the art and science of everyday life.Artists and scientists analyze the world around them in surprisingly similar ways, by observing, collecting, documenting, analyzing, and comparing. In this captivating guided journal, readers are encouraged to explore their world as both artists and scientists. The mission Smith proposes? "To document and observe the world around you. As if you've never seen it before. Take notes. Collect things you find on your travels. Document findings. Notice patterns. Copy. Trace. Focus on one thing at a time. Record what you are drawn to." With a series of interactive prompts and a beautifully hand-illustrated two-color package, readers will enjoy exploring and discovering the world through this gorgeous book.

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The Mammoth Book of Tattoos Review

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(More customer reviews)I usually don't like 'flash tattoo' books of any sort. Unless it's a very genre specific book with very high quality photos like
Bushido : Legacies of the Japanese Tattoo by Takahiro Kitamura.
Mammoth Tattoos is not a collection for the 'I must get this tattoo for my next inking' folks... Leave that for the flash books and various tattoo magazines out there.
Unlike all those though--The Mammoth Book Of Tattoos had me floored as I had never before seen such a staggeringly fresh and inspirational collection of art on almost every page. And certainly every genre. Each artist and their art represented by very high quality photos. I had to pick what I didn't like and came up with three out of the 80 artists represented.
This really is a fascinating (coffee-table/reference)book for anyone who appreciates graphic design, classic and modern and yes art which only happens to be on an epidermal canvas.

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This collection covers all styles of tattoos from bold tribal pieces, Chines characters, and hieroglyphs to delicate air-brushed designs. Included are striking images of tattoos ranging from all-over "body suits" to individual motifs.

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Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist (Galaxy Books) Review

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(More customer reviews)Copyright 1951? Wow, what a stimulating discovery, and what fun! Besides the skeletal and musculature illustrations, "Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist" is full of Peck's own drawings of basic anatomical features. These are not just the "final" drawings, like the master prints in Hale, but the beginning "rough sketches". I find this delightful because every beginner needs some inspirational guidance in drawing's first steps. A simple rough sketch of a nose, with shading; or bones drawn as a simple hinge joint, an arm or leg.... Peck's general reduction of the human figure to basic shapes is of inestimable help. The reader may just find himself saying, "Hey, I can do THAT!!!" And that is the wonderful thing about PECK's book.
Peck has impeccable credentials and must be compared to Robert Beverly Hale. Peck's is not merely an alternate duplication of the same material Hale covers. There is a 'personal' touch in Peck; but the problem with any/all anatomy books, for beginners, is that they are simply intimidating, in their detail, their precision, their absolute realism. PECK overcomes this anatomical intimidation. I would venture that PECK ought to be included in at least the first several "drawing" books that one acquires. Sometimes it seems that several pages offer more practical instruction to a new student than entire chapters in the books coming out in recent years with gimmicky titles.
"Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist," in combination with any beginning book on figure drawing is a must. With Famous Artist's School, Willy Pogany, Walt Reed, Jack Hamm, Viktor Perard and similar instruction, any ...................
book-buyer / beginning artist will find themselves advancing steadily. I rate this in the top 4 of figure drawing books for the beginner.
The chapter on "Distinctions of Age, Sex, And Race" is highly useful. PECK may be in danger of getting shoved aside with time and the publication of new pablum texts containing nothing new or vital; but PECK has written a timeless text that commands respect. CARPE DIEM [Seize the day!] I rate this book a very deserved 5 stars*

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Stephen Rogers Peck's Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist remains unsurpassed as a manual for students. It includes sections on bones, muscles, surface anatomy, proportion, equilibrium, and locomotion. Other unique features are sections on the types of human physique, anatomy from birth to old age, an orientation on racial anatomy, and an analysis of facial expressions. The wealth of information offered by the Atlas ensures its place as a classic for the study of the human form.

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Wreck This Journal Review

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(More customer reviews)When this journal arrived, my heart sank when I saw there was a tiny tear on the bottom of the spine. My first reaction was to contact Amazon and have them ship me a brand new copy. Then I came to my senses; the whole purpose of the journal *was* to wreck it, and in light of what I was going to do to it, a tiny tear would be the least of its worries.
You see, I made a promise to myself: Follow the instructions and wreck the journal, no matter what my better judgment told me.
It took a few days to get started. In fact, I spent those first few days grieving over what I had to do to the journal (yes, I started by reading through some of the instructions). When it comes to my books and journals, I'm a perfectionist and *damaging* any of them makes me uneasy. Even the sight of someone else damaging a book makes me uneasy.
But, when I finally let loose and did one of the tasks in the book, suddenly it didn't seem so bad. (Plus, it helped that I started with such an innocuous task -- sticking a sticker from bought fruit on a page.) Before long, I was flinging the book at the walls, ripping pages, drawing with glue, showering with it, and a bunch of other interesting (yet highly suspect) activities.
At the end of the day, my family members may think I'm a little nuts for buying a journal I would eventually destroy, however, it's incredibly fun, liberating, and therapeutic. Enough so that I enlisted the aid of a Starbucks barista for my recent experiment (and I think he liked it too).
Truth be told, it exceeded my expectations. Usually, I'm not a guided-journal girl, but Kerri somehow transformed what could be a boring task into something amazing. Kudos to her for it.
(Between you and me, I'm strongly contemplating getting one just for my journal collection. It's *that* good.)

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For anyone who's ever wished to, but had trouble starting, keeping, or finishing a journal or sketchbook comes Wreck This Journal, an illustrated book that features a subversive collection of prompts, asking readers to muster up their best mistake- and mess-making abilities to fill the pages of the book (and destroy them). Acclaimed illustrator Keri Smith encourages journalers to engage in "destructive" acts-poking holes through pages, adding photos and defacing them, painting with coffee, and more-in order to experience the true creative process. Readers discover a new way of art and journal making-and new ways to escape the fear of the blank page and fully engage in the creative process.

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