Pia Mailhot-Leichter’s 'Welcome to the Creative Club' offers a mix of memoir, self-help, and neuroscience, and tries to inspire readers to embrace their creativity. While her personal anecdotes—from failed relationships to travels—add authenticity, the book sometimes leans too heavily on familiar creative advice. This book weighs more in the memoir/autobiography genre than it does in the art/creative instruction one; the navel gazing ends up feeling repetitive, and the anecdotes make the author seem as though they are unaware of their privilege. Though it contains useful exercises, much of the guidance feels like a repackaging of existing ideas rather than groundbreaking insights. It’s an encouraging read, but for those already familiar with creative self-help books, they may find it lacking in originality.

When an artist reflects on life, there's bound to be color and texture. So it is as Leichter talks about life in New York, marriage, literature, and art. There's both good advice and hair-raising recollections.

An interesting book that will make you consider your life as a maker and creative soul, while giving practical advice. Paragraphs, prose, and poems. Lots in here.

Recommended if you're stuck in a creative rut or wondering if you could add some interest to the world.

I would like to consider myself a creative person. So Welcome to the Creative Club immediately spoke to me. But don't get fooled - this is not a book just for the creatives. Learning how to apply creativity in your life? This is definitely something that would benefit each and every one of us. Therefore, even though I'm not a self-help type of reader, I was excited to read this book.

In Welcome to the Creative Club, we get a very interesting mix of poetry, personal stories, pieces of advice, and fieldwork. The author makes a really good job at recounting her story and showing how she managed to use creativity to rise even in the roughest situations. I particularly like the fact that she's not afraid to be vulnerable.

My favourite part of the book is the Fieldwork section. In this, we get some useful exercises that aim to reveal our hidden truths and make us take action. I can actually see myself using some of these.

However, I can't deny that reading this book didn't keep me engaged with it, which was very disappointing. Even though there were a couple of useful pieces of advice in its pages, I often found that both the stories and the takeaways from them overlapped. This constant repetition didn't keep me excited to continue reading it.

One more thing that I couldn't get past on was the fact that this book felt that it came from a privileged place. In one chapter, the author mentioned, "Luckily, I had savings and a cushion. My survival wasn't at stake, but my sense of fulfillment and expansion were". And this summarizes perfectly my objections - what happens if you don't have a cushion, if you live from paycheck to paycheck and cannot take a 4-week break to take the Trans-Siberian train and process your failed marriage? In theory, you can just change your perspective, but practically, not everyone has the opportunity to say "Fuck it, I'm jumping".

Finally, I would also like to stand on the chapter "We run in creative packs". I totally agree that when you work with others, you can enhance your creativity, and you can help each other achieve wonderful things. In this chapter, we get a small part from the book's editor, along with the author's description of the book writing process. However, did we really need this conversation about how the book stands out because it's vulnerable, and because the author has a great way of showing that? It felt like a pat on the back.

In conclusion, Welcome to the Creative Club wasn't really the book for me. I admire the author for what she has been able to achieve in her personal journey. However, I didn't feel that she was able to convey these lessons to the readers. But if you want a self-help book that will lay a base for building up your creativity, you could give it a try.

A beautiful blend of memoir, poetry, and advice, “Welcome to the Creative Club” is a raw and direct look into how both the highs and lows of life impact our ability to create. Pia Mailhot-Leichter writes from a place of hopefulness, despite a series of up and down life events. This work is a reminder that to live is to create, and that by being our most authentic selfs, we can create art that is meaningful while also living lives that are as well. Her humor lightens the darker narrative moments while her suggested ‘field work’ exercises guide the reader to deeper creative mindsets.

If you are looking to push past a creativity block or move beyond a “I am not creative” mindset, this book not only will help you achieve those goals, but it will entertain you along the way.

[a copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher from netgalley. thank you!]

5⭐️

i found this book very inspirational and insightful. as someone who was very creative as a child but has since lost that creativity, i think this book might be able to bring some of that spark back.

4.5 ALMOST 5 stars.

Welcome to the Creative Club: Make Life Your Biggest Art Project, an incredible self-help art project. I would call it a solid introduction into understanding how creativity can manifest not only through mediums such as writing a poem or discovering a life-changing idea that impacts every person alive. Nevertheless, creativity has driven some of humanity's greatest challenges. This book demonstrates that creativity, including its writing style, can be found everywhere, showcasing various structures. For instance, some sections are presented as poems, others include scientific citations, and many reflect the author's journey into the realm of creativity.

Reading this book is like talking to an old friend. Words swirl in your mind, forming an environment where you can be yourself. I believe there are lessons hidden throughout the storytelling that everyone should learn. I found myself connecting so profoundly with the expressions and how they relate to my life, such as this quote: "Creativity is so much more than artistic talent; it's not just something you do, it's who you are." This is just one example because this book contains countless influential lessons I wish to share with you all.

If you are on a path to discovering what you truly want your life to be and are eager to design it yourself, look no further. This book encourages readers to apply the knowledge they gain daily. The "fieldwork" sections of the book are my favorite parts. I believe we are always in the process of creation, and this book offers another exploration into essential topics like stress, travel, and relationships, along with how they can act as catalysts for loss or happiness. Welcome to the Creative Club: Make Life Your Biggest Art Project reinforces how everything begins with how you frame these experiences; if you disregard your beliefs and reactions to life, you may live in fear. Also, by not examining your responses to life's duties, you may fall into stressful patterns of thinking.

I'm thrilled I had the chance to read this book! Even though there are some repetitive parts in the story, it beautifully comes back around to a satisfying full-circle moment. These tiny redundancies throughout the book remind us that life is unpredictable, but everything will be okay. I prompt you to try the book out, and if not for me, for yourself, so that you too can learn about the importance of living creatively because whether we like it or not, we already are. I am stoked to be on a creative path alongside the author Pia Mailhot-Leichter through the things she has introduced me to and the guidance I get in her weekly newsletter. A must-read for self-help fans in 2025.

Thank you, BooksGoSocial, for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own. #WelcometotheCreativeClub #NetGalley

I love how this book speaks to creativity in all aspects of life, from simply acknowledging that beauty and art and the ability to create exists all through to simple practical steps to take to work towards this.
The greatest part of it covers the lies we tell ourselves from the moment we were children to the years that we accrued, it's a great read indeed. My favourite line and absolute take away from this book is the phrase, "Your creative growth depends on your capacity to be in uncertainty."
Thanks Netgalley for the eARC.

This book is an important and healing book. I think so many people could benefit from reading this. We are not taught to harness our creative and artistic sides, especially if it's not something you excel at or have a passion for. This book reminds us that we are all creatives. That using creativity can be done in different forms, and the benefit it has on your brain and wellbeing. This book really impacted me and reaffirmed things Ive been discovering about myself the last few years. I really appreciate the author sharing their knowledge with us, this was very impactful and I hope many readers are able to benefit from this.

Thank you so much to the publishers for this ARC opportunity.

This was a lovely read and very inspirational in helping you develop a creative mind-set. It allowed me to learn some new techniques on how I can revive my long lost creativity.