I had hoped by the title that this book would truly be a handbook— a short, accessible guide you could turn to on a bad day. Instead, it is a wise series of many essays on happiness and unhappiness. It is full of things that got me thinking and I hope to spend more time with it, but it’s exactly the opposite of what I’d reach for on a bad day. I’m not up for reading endless deep essays when I’m feeling blue. At best, I can handle a few bullet points or a good list. It is still a very good book, just not right for me for this particular niche.

This is a nice practical guide for getting through days where your mental health isn't the best. Whether its a random bad day or you're just in a funk.

Eveline Helmink put a lot of work into presenting a number of multifaced approaches to getting through difficult times & this book doesn't present a multi-step method or a one-size-fits-all approach. It lays out a number of different practical things to do to start getting momentum to seeing a better state of mind. I can see this book being useful to flip through for ideas in the moment or to lay a foundation for when the bad days do come.

I really think that the coping strategies presented in this book are very useful and relevant to the needs of many in our culture today.

I loved this book and I will be using some of the tips in the book in my real life. I also recommend this book to anyone who needs a little help getting passed the bad days. Thank you Netgalley and Tiller Press for letting me read and review this book

Great read. Very approachable. Friendly tone. Found myself resonating with most of what was said. Awesome book

The Handbook for Bad Days presents a unique form of self help with 70 strategies to feel better on bad days.

With a variety of ideas and caring advice, this book is incredibly creative and thoughtful. There were no five steps to achieve happiness or strict rules, there were just suggestions to provide comfort in hard times.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I struggle a lot with bad days. This book is wonderful!!!!!
This is something i would love to keep by my desk at work.

I really liked that the way that this book acknowledges that we can't do everything we want on bad days. That sometimes it's enough just to get through, and this books has different suggestions on how to do that. They didn't all resonate with me, but I got some ideas and enjoyed reading it.

The Handbook for Bad Days: Shortcuts to Get Present When Things Aren't Perfect by Eveline Helmink is a practical book for bad days – and good days too! This book encourages us to be more present, take care of ourselves, and suggests strategies for coping and growth on days when life is less than desirable. #NetGalley

This is a nice practical guide for getting through tough mental health days whether it's an isolated bad day or you're finding yourself in a bit of a funk.

Eveline Helmink may not be a Mental Health professional, but it's clear she's put a lot of work into presenting a number of multifaced approaches to getting through difficult times.

This book doesn't present a multi-step method or a one-size-fits-all approach. It lays out a number of different practical things to do to start getting momentum to seeing a better state of mind. I can see this book being useful to flip through for ideas in the moment or to lay a foundation for when the bad days do come.



Many thanks to Tiller Press and NetGalley for the advance copy.

The Handbook for Bad Days provides 70 practical strategies for finding happiness and managing bad days and emotions by seeking presence rather than perfection. The message of the story is simple: “in an inclusive life, one in which everything is allowed to unfold, everything belongs: darkness and light, intact and cracked.”

It is hard for me to put into words just how meaningful this book was. I’m fairly certain that I highlighted 90% of the text just willing my brain to absorb it all. I loved Eveline’s straightforward writing style and that she spent just enough time on each strategy to make it personal without making it annoying. So many of the strategies deal with just listening to what the bad is telling you because those big bad scary days are the best days to learn about yourself. Just three weeks ago, I broke my shoulder. Every night I have been tortured trying to distract myself by looking at my phone. So after reading this book, I decided to try something new. I laid in bed and thought about what my body was telling me (besides “ow that hurts!”). Here are some things I learned from that moment: my body can be broken and it will heal, that this is evidence I can be athletic even if I’ve always told myself I can’t (and if I broke myself in the process of being athletic), that I’m grateful to have a partner whose been so helpful. The pain of daily living isn’t fun, it’s never going to be fun. But the pain can be meaningful and it can point you to truths about yourself.

As Eveline puts it, “A good prayer makes you feel like you’re a little lighter, more connected and heard.” This book felt like a good prayer. I walked away from it a little lighter and a little more connected to myself. I would strongly recommend this book to others looking to feel understood and to better understand themselves.

{Thank you to Tiller Press for my gifted copy}

The Handbook for Bad Days was one of those books that caught my eye because, at the time, I was having a bad day. I was not familiar with the author Eveline Helmink, or anything about it really, but knew it was a sign and I decided to dive right in.

First off, any book synopsis that shares "Why a fuzzy pink cardigan and some Celine Dion is just as good as a Sanskrit mantra" is a book for me. I a big fan of personal development books but I also am a person with my feet placed firmly in reality and the ones that just seem a bit too far-fetched and impractical often make me roll my eyes.

There is no perfect path to life, nor is there a secret equation to perfecting it so you never have a bad day again. And Eveline Helmink gets this. Her writing is approachable, humorous, and real. I also appreciated that from the very beginning she differentiated between a bad day and reaching out if bad days become the norm.

As someone who deals with both anxiety and depression, it is an immediate red flag when an author shares advice about mental health issues being something you can just "choose" to think differently about. Accessing and utilizing support and/or medication for mental health is something I feel strongly about normalizing, and I appreciate that she didn't downplay this part.

Anyway, I could go on and on about this book because it just spoke to me so much. Her image of bad days being similar to the feeling of being in the dark woods, often drawn in almost unknowingly by an unpleasant feeling or negative thought is one of the most accurate ways I have ever heard it described.

I also appreciated her thoughts on how being in this space has its benefits when we let ourselves really feel them. Some of the most challenging times of my life, also brought me so much clarity and information about myself when I stopped fighting to "get out" and allowed myself to learn as I worked my way through them.

Written with compassion and the idea that life is indeed a learning process, I know this is a book that will stick with me for a very long time. I highly recommend this and also found that it was easy to consume as it is broken up into small sections that are easy to take in bit by bit.

Thank you to Tiller Press for my gifted copy. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book It’s perfect for quarantine and really any time. This book expertly describes how to survive hard times by small actions. It was extremely informative and I think will be useful to a lot of people.

A great read! Honestly, such an interesting and thoughtful book. It talks about having a bad day and discuses various methods to approach it. It offers strategies and ways to find a little bit of light when you are struggling. It’s just an all around great read for anyone having a bad day!

*Thanks Netgalley and Tiller Press for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*