For those who love to journal and for those who want to journal...

Whether or not you are familiar with Jaouad's Substack newsletter "Isolation Journals", you are in for a treat with this book. Born from Jaouad's love of journaling and documenting, The Isolation Journals was created in 2020 during the height of the pandemic when she started communal journaling, inviting others to contribute. Each "journal" entry—or essay—that was shared offered a prompt for the rest of the readers to get their creative juices flowing.

The Book of Alchemy is a collection of 100 of these essays from The Isolation Journals, each offering a prompt that relates back to the essay and invites readers to open up their journals and their hearts, and write their own piece. With prompts on Beginning; Memory; Fear; Seeing; Love; Body; Rebuilding; Ego; Purpose; and Alchemy; The Book of Alchemy will take readers through a slew of outsider experiences that force them to turn inward, reflect, and recognize the universal experience of being human.

This book best works as a "100 days of journaling" practice, reading one essay and prompt per day. But if you are anything like me, you don't have the patience for that. In that case, my best advice with this book would be to settle in with it and read through the whole thing—cover to cover—and see what resonates with you, what speaks to you. When you finish, start from the beginning again. Only this time, let yourself move through the prompts one day at a time.

I look forward to grabbing my own physical copy when it releases so I can underline, highlight, and deeply engage.

Thank you Penguin Random House for the early copy in exchange for an honest review! Available Apr. 22 2025