Beautiful book with interesting art work that fully engages the reader. The kind of book that makes a wonderful gift for a close friend and one that invites you to contemplate the pages.

I won this book a while back in a LibraryThing giveaway. It’s odd in some parts, I don’t think people looking for advice will be entirely satisfied (for lack of a better phrase) with this book. However, I enjoyed the illustrations and the following sections: “The Merits of Peril”, “It Takes Stamina”, and “You Have a Limited Amount of Time During Which to Become An Unrelenting Beam of Light”. 3/5 stars ( )

This is a strange book. It seems to be a woman talking about how life was hard and she made it better but it's not clear either what made it hard or how she improved it. There's some art with phrases whose relevance (or even meanings) are not always apparent. When I finished it I was left wondering why I read it, or at least what I was supposed to have gotten out of it. But it was short, so it's not like I wasted a lot of time on it. ( )

A visual and linguistic affirmation of the paradoxes of life.
"Gentleness is strength" "Let's stand firm with our fragility "

PLUSES: Insightful and poignant, humorous and witty. Effectively using the text interspersed with colorful geometrically shaped artwork and hand lettering.

"I'm all I've got to work with."

"You have a limited amount of time during which to become an unrelenting beam of light."

"You are the sign you've been waiting for"

Minuses: The text size of the narrative was tiny in comparison with the hand lettering and artwork and did not support the flow of material throughout in a harmonious manner.

Mixed reactions about some of the artwork - At times the playful mix of geometrics, colors, and shapes was refreshing - it felt original and enhanced the hand lettering, and at other times.the artwork felt random and uninspired.

NOTE: I received a promotional copy of this book with the request for a review. ( )

On its surface a charming little book, inside are some thought provoking words. I especially related to “The Merits of Peril” as a great slap upside my head. I know I will be returning to this work often down my road. ( )