I would recommend buying this book in hard back. It is a nice little book to look through when you need cheering up.

'Open When' by Karen Salmansohn is a book of 12 letters that you can pop open during various life moments.

Each letter contains a time to open, like when life gets messy or after you've been hurt. They all have as few as a sentence, and in some cases some short paragraphs. There is design and typeset for each one, but I didn't find myself overly impressed. Some of the advice seems good, but some feels a bit mean-spirited. The advice for when someone's been mean is that "sometimes the first step to forgiveness is understanding that the other person is an Idiot" (that last word in larger font and all caps). Perhaps that would spur a laugh, but it served another purpose for me.

The book is very short and feels mostly pretty light in the advice it gives. This is a book for the mildly hurt or grieved, not for the deep hurts we sometimes have. These are band-aids, not deep surgery. Maybe this is a gift book for that friend who is always having shallow problems.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Ten Speed Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

I know you should never pick a book by its cover, but I thought this looked super cute. Kind of like the gift books I see on the Target shelf near the greeting cards.

Sadly, I didn't think the watercolors inside looked nearly as nice as the cover. While the paintings and lettering aren't terrible, I didn't find most of the art or typography to work much for me in either appearing clean, calm or inspiring. The few exceptions I liked where art and message made me sort of smile are Life Renovation painting room, Being Different unicorn, Idiot beach, Happiness Kitten. I could see myself sending those to others for a lift, but think my $ would be better spent selecting something on my own from the greeting card aisle.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to browse through virtually.

"Being different is a GOOD thing. It means you're BRAVE enough to be yourself." What wonderful insight.

"Sometimes the first step to forgiveness is understanding that the other person is an IDIOT." YES!!!

This book was cute with some nice advice. It was underwhelming, but could be a quick "pick me up" if you just needed to smile.

The first step to forgiveness is understanding that the other person is an IDIOT

OPEN WHEN: LETTERS TO LIFT YOUR SPIRITS is an unusual book. The impact of this little book goes beyond it's brief length. OPEN WHEN is actually a book of letters that you "open" as needed. Each letter is filled with encouraging, uplifting affirmations. Each letter is accompanied by cute artwork depicting an actual envelope to be opened.

I admit I was a little skeptical when I started reading the letters. I wondered if this was some sort of new age enlightenment? What's the purpose of this? Does this really do any good?

Yes, when an open mind, I found these uplifting messages are genuinely helpful. The letters are not trying to mesmerize the reader into new age thinking; on the contrary, the use of positive affirmations is a well-established method of improving feeling of well-being, and even performance.

I decided to see if there was any scientific research to support using positive affirmation. I discovered that there is indeed solid scientific evidence to support "self-talk" like this. The evidence is easy to find.

One study at Carnegie Mellon University showed that "a brief self-affirmation activity at the beginning of a school term can boost academic grade-point averages in underperforming kids at the end of the semester." Research published in "Society for Personality and Social Psychology" showed that self-affirmation caused executives to have higher confidence and perform better.

The first letter points out that even optimistic people can have blue days: "POSITIVE PEOPLE have negative thoughts too." The letter suggests that people who remain positive "don’t allow those thoughts to grow too big. And they make sure to stop those negative thoughts from following them around all day. "

Here's my favorite letter: "Next time you feel sad or stressed, do a Mental Rental and check that happy memory out again." Even before reading this little book, I had already found this advice to be true. I have personally recalled happy memories as a way of adjusting my attitude.

There was one message that really surprised me: "Sometimes the first step to forgiveness is understanding that the other person is an IDIOT."

Wow--Why didn't I think of that?

All in all, I found this little book to indeed be an uplifting source of encouragement. I suspect that engineering-types may not be too receptive to the encouraging affirmations, but I encourage readers to keep an open mind. I found it worth the effort.

Advance Review Copy courtesy of the publisher

Open When - Letters to lift your spirit - by Karen Salmansohn by Ten Speed Press will be released this March 7th.

I requested this book at NetGalley being approved last Aug 27th so some months before that my dad passed away. I didn't notice that Open When had to be reviewed with the new year at first and I remain of the idea that all the books I picked up before my dad's illness and later departure have a sort of strong coincidence with what happened later and the powerful words of novels, self-help books I picked up a strong guidance for healing.

Open When is a wonderful, quick but not for this reason light self-help book.

It is profound in its simplicity and informality and plenty of good and inspirational wise short letters that in the sentiment of the author must be opened when it is more necessary.

Beautiful, cute inspirational drawing will accompany every letter and trust me when I tell you this, you will find all the possible positive vibes from these letters.

Encouragement, advices where necessary because life sometimes is not simple, but a continuous change, this book wants to help you through changes and through new expectations, paths, remaining positive....Plus it wants to donate you the most precious word of this world: happiness, and the ability to staying focus in what it matters the most for you.


This book wants to donate you happiness, joy and a good start in your daily life.

I would suggest you to read Open When in a daily-base for not losing your sparkle and going on with serenity. You can also think of choosing the letters more close to your soul reading them often during the day or the week.

But...It's not important how you will use this book for your personal growth and happiness, the important thing is that you read carefully the words contained.

A real balm for your soul and your spirit.

This one is a brief book but plenty of meanings and that's why it is so precious.

I thank NetGalley and Ten Speed Press for this lovely book.

When we feel down and need encouragement, the right words can make a huge difference. That is what this book does. It has quotes for different situations to lift the reader's spirit. The art is also pleasing to the eye and works well along with the quotes to make the reader positive. I would highly recommend this book!