I love Felicia Day. She is one of the few auto biographers that I actually enjoy reading. Her quirkiness carries over so well into the written word. I find myself wishing she were right in front of me so we could enjoy a laugh together. I have yet to be disappointed in anything she has written

I would use this in a secondary education setting. I think students would really love reading it and completing the journal entries/prompts.

Not much that's highly original, but Day fans and people looking for a simple supportive book will enjoy this.

This is the second book I’ve read by Felicia Day and it’s just as entertaining as her first book. Lots of insights into keeping that creative spark. Highly recommended

Not that I expected anything less, but this book was highly enjoyable - charming, witty, and warm.

Plus, it's the kind of book that could be easily and quickly revisited whenever a fit of creative block comes along.

I will definitely be adding this book to my library.

This is a handy book if you are looking to do some real journaling/creating. It is very interactive so be prepared for that. Felicia Day has an incredible voice that shines through the pages, and she continues to open up about her own creative struggles. Really great book for people looking for not quite a self-help book, but a guided journey to get your creative juices flowing.

Felicia Day crafted an inspirational book in her quirky tone that allows readers to easily connect with her. Full of humorous anecdotes and a variety of exercises to bring out your own creativity, this is a great resource for anyone looking for a bit of guidance.

I did wish that the exercises had been spaced out a bit more rather than one directly after another. Some prompts felt a bit broad while others didn't seem to even connect to the particular chapter or overall focus of the book at all.

This is ultimately one of those books that would be great to have on hand to reference when you're in need of inspiration or having anxiety. While I was able to takeaway a few creative strategies, I've read other books on the same subject that resonated with me much more.

Creatives are often assumed to be tortured artist types, full of ennui and blessed with brilliance. But in this book, writer/actress/creator Felicia Day reminds us that creative endeavors should be joyful and messy and exciting. Full of tips, brainstorming ideas, and activities, EMBRACE YOUR WEIRD is an accessible and uplifting guide to creativity. It's also a celebration of weirdos; after all, how can you create something new if you don't have something unique to say? If you're stuck creatively, scared to start a new project, or looking for a way to express yourself, this is a great place to start.

I'm not usually into self-help books, but I picked this one up because I love Felicia Day (our mutual love of Anne of Green Gables alone would make us bffs I'm sure). It was definitely a unique format for me, encouraging the reader to doodle, draw, write, and otherwise deface most of the pages within through fun activities that were meant to open up our untapped creative outlets. But, since I read this on NetGalley, it was an e-book copy, so I didn't do the activities; however, even just pondering the answers to many of the questions posed was beneficial! I felt it got a little bogged down in the 'Enemies' section - perhaps because I don't fall victim to all of them so it felt like a depressing slog to get through all the things that could go wrong, but the rest was great and more than makes up for it. Anyone who wants to create anything, enjoys creating anything, or loves Felicia Day like I do would enjoy this book.

Felicia Day has long been a superhero of creativity. From her web series The Guild, to the numerous shows she created at her media company Geek & Sundry, to her many writing and producing projects, she has always had several creative irons in the fire. So it’s exciting to have her devote a book to creativity itself!

Embrace Your Weird
Face Your Fears and Unleash Creativity
by Felicia Day

Paperback, 272 pages
Published October 1st 2019 by Gallery Books




Goodreads synopsis:
An instant New York Times bestseller

In Embrace Your Weird, New York Times bestselling author, producer, actress, TV writer, and award-winning web series creator, Felicia Day takes you on a journey to find, rekindle, or expand your creative passions.

Including Felicia’s personal stories and hard-won wisdom, Embrace Your Weird offers:

—Entertaining and revelatory exercises that empower you to be fearless, so you can rediscover the things that bring you joy, and crack your imagination wide open

—Unique techniques to vanquish enemies of creativity like: anxiety, fear, procrastination, perfectionism, criticism, and jealousy

—Tips to cultivate a creative community

—Space to explore and get your neurons firing

Whether you enjoy writing, baking, painting, podcasting, playing music, or have yet to uncover your favorite creative outlet, Embrace Your Weird will help you unlock the power of self-expression. Get motivated. Get creative. Get weird. 

***

4.5 Stars

The thing I liked the most about this book was that I received a peek into the backstory of Felicia Day. I remember when she was a recurring character on Star Trek the Next Generation and then started her own web series called The Guild. I am not even sure how I stumbled upon it in the first place but I soon realized what a powerhouse Felicia was and is.

This book gives you all the tools you need to jumpstart a lackluster creative spark. She not only gives examples but she gives you real life situations to draw upon. She’s been there. She knows the deal. I loved that about this books. The real man’s/woman’s book to creative abundance and how to attain it.

You need to spark some joy in your life? Read this. Konmari has nothing on this. This helps you to live your joy every day and be more authentic in your truth. No trashing of valuables required.

Just a great book and one that I would recommend to anyone.

I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.

I was not the biggest fan of this, I just couldn't get into the story. Oh well, maybe her next book will be for me :)

This book really shook up my stagnant mind and helped me to re-accept my inner creative wild child. It was filled with the quirky humor I’ve come to associate with Felicia Day, while still having some really solid advice and guidance.

First, I probably wouldn’t recommend this via kindle. I’m a kindle lover and audiobooker, but I think that paper is probably the way to go here. There’s lots of drawing and writing involved, so it will just slow you down if you’re digital. It starts simply enough, with some creative exercises, but gets really deep fast. It’s amazing how opening one door can lead to so many others. My primary field is not super creative, but my husband is photographer, so I immediately bought the book for him to check out, too! It applies to everyone, so there’s no real age group or demographic I could see this targeting (unless it’s just me – is it me?).

If you’re looking for something to truly shake you up – this is the book! It’s fun, weird, and super creative. I’m tired of the boring helpful books and am happy to have discovered this one!

First, I'm a HUGE fan of Felicia Day, so it's not surprising that I'm going to give this book two thumbs up! Personally, I would highly recommend getting the physical book instead of the ebook, which is what I read. There are a number of activities within the book that require you to draw things on the page or write your thoughts, so having all of this contained in one book is going to be really useful for people. From what I understand, the audiobook does come with a download containing all of the activities, so that could work as well.

As for the book itself, Felicia writes in a way that is very easy to read. The book is definitely not complicated and probably falls into the genre of quirky self-help books that aren't really self-help books. I think anyone who is familiar with Day's previous book or her internet personality will truly appreciate this book.

I want to thank the publisher for allowing me to read this book prior to publication. Although I thank the publisher for this opportunity, the review is 100% mine.

I love Felicia Day. She is perky (a word I hate, but which actually applies perfectly here), but also highly self-aware, self-deprecating, and funny. I’ve been a fan since Dr. Horrible and the Singalong Blog & The Guild. I liked her last book, You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) and recommend it. So, I wanted to like this new book. And I do. Her voice is still unique. She’s still upbeat and hilarious, even when talking about painful moments and crippling anxiety. “She’s a self-doubting introvert, just like me!”
I think it’s just the book’s topic that is not very exciting to me. Or rather, the topic - unleashing your creativity - is one that has been done over and over (ironically). I’ve read a mountain of books on overcoming writer’s block or achieving flow. And, as with any self-help-related treatise, such problems are difficult to overcome. So, many people turn to multiple sources for help.
I love the title, Embrace Your Weird, and it actually dovetails quite nicely with another book I reviewed recently, Jenny Slate’s Little Weirds. Both explore the struggle to create. But Embrace is formulated as a how-to manual, complete with workbook. Granted, the exercises encourage you to doodle and list and, essentially, deface the book itself which is satisfyingly subversive (though not great for library books...) However, that’s been done before, with the super popular Wreck This Journal, for example. So have many of the exercises Day encourages. There just wasn’t anything groundbreaking about the content, which is a shame because she’s made a name for herself by so things differently. But, I’ll gamely go along with some of the exercises, because they are, in fact, tried and true. And she’s funny. And I’m a fan.

I love Felicia Day. I think most people who pick this up are going to be fans, or at least people who have heard of her. And that will make this book enjoyable for them, because it's nice to receive encouragement from someone you know a little about (which you do if you've read her memoir or watched her stuff).
There are a lot of self-help prompts, which made this book feel very much like a therapy tool. I think that's mostly to be expected, since Day is a proponent of mental health, though it's not entirely what I was expecting when I picked this up. The writing also didn't feel...authentic? In Day's memoir you could hear her voice in the words; it was obviously her story (duh, it's her life) but it also just seemed more real. More meaningful. This book almost felt like it was trying too hard? To be a self-help book? Which is the point of it, really, but it didn't always feel natural.
All that aside, this is still a fun book to work through and Day is of course still funny in it.

Embrace Your Weird by Felicia Day is an amazing book. It is truly encouraging, empowering and a real creative outlet. I don't say this often, but I highly encourage the actual book. Don't get the digital or the audio book. For this, you want a book that you can scribble in, spill on, rip up and maybe even throw. The exercises are wonderful, the message is beautiful and clear. If you're interested in creating, being weird or creating weird, I highly encourage buying this book.

EMBRACE YOUR WEIRD by professional actress Felicia Day was actually recommended recently by another member of the Library staff. In this "part guided journal, part workbook" Day encourages her readers to "Face Your Fears and Unleash Creativity." Early on, she encourages readers to write "I am the greatest thing since Swiss cheese" over and over and to REALLY believe it. She encourages her readers to let go of self-consciousness by keeping the process of working through the book private – and offers a quick exercise about adjectives and dancing to explain why. I think that Psych classes and advisories will find this book amusing and quirky, but also perceptive and helpful. There could be some really great prompts for journaling and introspection. Potentially, Creative Writers classes could also have fun and learn to "loosen-up" with this text. Day writes humorously and yet offers some serious suggestions to unlock our weird, creative voices, "combining the inventory we already have in our brains in new and interesting ways." There is an entire chapter called Playtime! And another labeled Quests; as Day says, "What do you have to lose?"

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

EMBRACE YOUR WEIRD reminded me of why I adore Felicia Day. The book is smart, quirky, and fun just like the energy she brings to her every venture. Hearing about someone like her who seems to have everything together struggling with mundane problems such as writer’s block is empowering. I needed the reminder that even the most confident seeming people sometime struggle with things like anxiety, doubt, and insecurity, things which tend to be isolating.

With each topic, Day offers several exercises and shares her personal experiences, with plenty of references to writing her memoir YOU’RE NEVER WEIRD ON THE INTERNET (ALMOST) and to her baby girl. The book, which embraces play is a refreshing alternative from some of the drier books that tackle struggles with creativity. Day does a great job of making the book inclusive, turning it into a no judgement zone that honors every individual’s passions. She uses humor and pop culture references (such as comparing one’s enemies to Ramsay Bolton from Game of Thrones) to drive her points home in a fun way.

The chapters address topics such as friends, mentors, enemies, perfectionism, procrastination, anxiety, powerlessness, fear of failure, shame, regret, and jealousy. Day includes exercises and tools to put her advice (such as tapping into flow by working quickly and focusing on finishing) into action.

In the final chapter, Day invites the reader to run a gauntlet of quests to help keep creativity flowing by doing thing such as opening one’s mind to travel, breaking out of comfort zones, learning new things, and making time for creative pursuits. Day acts as a cheerleader, encouraging the reader to take their creative projects to completion and avoiding abandoning in progress projects in favor of new pursuits.

EMBRACE YOUR WEIRD is a super fun and inspirational book with quirky, creativity-unlocking exercises such as writing a Craigslist ad as though as though we were putting ourselves up for sale. But Day doesn’t advocate selling ourselves, rather she encourages us to become the best creators we can be, making the best of our unique qualities and the most of our finite time as sentient beings.

Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books An Imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc. for providing an Advance Reader Copy.

A solid purchase for adult nonfiction collections that serve creative types, but a great choice for HS and YA collections.