Coloring away the background noise.

I can't begin to explain how excited I was to receive this book. I checked my front step every single day since I ordered the book! Before I even ordered Daria Song's the time chamber, I had been searching for the perfect coloring book to try my hand at coloring. If you didn't know already, coloring books for adults have been the new fad and I've seen various types of coloring books all over the place. It's been said that coloring could provide stress relief and who doesn't need some of that? However, none of the coloring books I saw tickled my fancy. 

When none of the coloring books were appealing to me, I was really disappointed and hoped that there will someday be a coloring book that interested me. Well, lo and behold I see Daria Song's book and I knew right away it was the perfect book for me. The illustrations were so enchanting and told a story through the pictures. For the most part, none of the other coloring books I've come across had a story line but rather a theme. the time chamber had some sentences to start out the story but was told mostly through images and movement through the pages from scene to scene, which was one of the reasons I loved the book right off the bat. Beautiful art, fairy tale-esque story, and lots of things to color!

The book itself is printed on good quality paper and even the dust jacket of the book has a panoramic image that spreads out to color! I am personally using color pencils but I'm sure some lighter markers may work as well (maybe not sharpies). Some of the images that take up both sides tend to have some unreachable areas that are in the creases of the book. That may be my biggest disappointment from the book but I still love it! My mom also loves the book and has been coloring some of the pages as well! Between the two of us, the pages will run out quick so I hope Daria Song has a new book to release soon!

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review. 

Instant Happy Journal

When I initially saw this book I thought, "Another one of those self-help books". I didn't realize it was a journal until I looked into more thoroughly. Personally, I never finish journals because I always start them but don't have the motivation to finish. I often stared at a page wondering what to write. That's where this journal is different.

As I looked through the book I realized a couple things. Each page has a prompt (Karen calls these ""happiness prompters"), ranging from a thought-provoking quote, a question, a short phrase, and even some interesting facts about happiness. I liked the fact that the pages are short because I think bigger spaces would have been more intimidating for me to fill. There is just enough space to write a paragraph depending on how you write. The prompt is also simple and straightforward, making your journaling session almost...instant! But still enough to keep you thinking about it throughout the day. 

Some of the pages I really enjoyed were pages that would mention studies and biological aspects of happiness. "Studies show that acts of altruism create an instant happy mood boomerang - raising the serotonin in the giver as well as the receiver..." I also enjoyed the fact that Karen encourages various themes such as forgiveness and positive thinking throughout the book. I feel that anybody is capable of happiness, as long as they allow it. This book reminds us of that everyday and provides a new way to find a silver lining to every cloud that may come our way.

The book is colorful inside and out! Each page has different types of fonts, borders, and colors to keep it interesting day to day. If you have a friend who has been stuck in a rut, going through a rough patch, or simply needs a little more positive energy, this book would be a great gift. This book is meant to be used for a whole year (365 entries) so it would also be a great Christmas gift to prepare for a new year full of happiness!

Overall, I think Karen's positive energy is felt throughout the book and encourages you to also learn to approach each day with a little more optimism as "awesome seekers".

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review.