April 10, 2015

Calm by Lonely Planet

Who doesn't a little more serenity in their life?  We all are constantly rushed, going about our days, rarely taking the time to just stop and appreciate everything.  This little book aims at sharing the secrets to being "calm" from around the world.

Calm is a mini-book that splits up ideas for achieving serenity into different sections like "sharing" or "nature" and offer a brief description of what different people in the world do.  Each page has a picture on the left side and the description on the right side.  The pictures are both drawings and photographs.  On the photograph is a little caption saying what the secret is, what the tradition or activity is, and where it originated.

This is a very tiny book with small print.  If you have bad eyesight you're not going to be able to read it.  That being said, it's perfect to carry in your purse or keep in your desk when you need a little pick me up.  And it does seem geared towards women (which is why I mentioned the purse), although not very obtrusively.  I just happened to notice, especially in the one that mentioned dancing, that the women's role was more described than the man's and seemed like the particular tradition was being recommended more to women.  But again, not really a huge deal, I think anyone would probably like this book.

The pictures are where I was slightly disappointed.  While I found the cartoons and illustrations nice, this is a lonely planet book, which being a travel publisher, I expected there to be more photographs.  I would have much rather seen a real picture of the tradition as opposed to the illustration. I think it would have been easier to connect to the traditions and understand them better that way as well.

It's a cute little book and would make a great stocking stuffer or small gift.  And again, who doesn't need more serenity in their life?

**This book was received through the Amazon Vine Program**

Calm
Copyright 2015
125 pages

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