The Book of Hope

While none of the recommended practices in The Book of Hope are likely to be new to readers (particularly readers who often read in this field/genre), it is nonetheless a wonderfully pleasing little reference book of mindfulness, gratitude cultivation, a hope generation. I'll be buying a physical copy when it becomes available to keep for those moments when all feels lost and I need a prompt or reminder of how to fight back against despair.

This book was received as an ARC from Adams Media in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

Like any other self help book, this book focuses on rewiring your mindset to be hopeful and be more of a optimist to enjoy life and cherish every moment. This book is helpful when you need those reminders to get you through your tough day. I also liked how there was a famous quote from historical figures and celebrities to show that you are not alone and everyone needs a positive reminder no matter who you are. This book will certainly do well at our library and our self-help collection is very popular among our library community.

We will consider adding this title to our Self-Help collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

The Book of Hope offers a wide variety of prompts to reflect on the human experience and find opportunities for hope. I appreciated the sheer number of ideas this book offers and that the suggestions were pretty practical. This book covers mindfulness, breathing exercises, yoga poses, journaling prompts, activities and more. There are also quotes sprinkled throughout. This book would be a great resource for someone going through a difficult time as it encourages the reader that their feelings are valid and to find moments of calm. I could imagine flipping through this book for ideas when experiencing a challenge and needing some inspiration. I would have loved if this book could have been a bit more stylized to be more visually appealing. For example, for the yoga poses it would be helpful to have an illustration or picture. Overall, I think this is a great basic resource for someone needing hope.

Beautifully written and laid out. I absolutely love love stories and poetry. Most of these you will know. Some I have never heard of before. These stories transported me to another world of love and light. I felt like this book was speaking to me and for me. It was so beautifully written and resonated to my core. Highly recommend. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely love this cover. The colors, the white text against the color scheme.. all of it.

The Book of Hope is obviously a self-hope book. I Honestly usually stay clear of these, because I never really find them helpful or even interesting.. But the cover really did catch my eye, so why not right?
The book is focused more on rewiring your mindset to be more of an optimist and to be more "hopeful"... easier said than done, that's for sure. As a self-proclaimed pessimist, I wanted to try to be a tad more open to this book and the message. did it cure me? nah. But I'm sure a lot of that is my own mindset and willingness here.

Some of the quotes and advice really did click with me though.

I'll definitely be looking out for other work by this author.

What a beautiful book when I needed it most. I recommend this to anyone who feels a little lost and needs to center themselves for success.

I've read many a self help book over the years, they all promise to transform your life from the moment you start reading it. But this actually fulfills those promises. There's nothing complicated to confuse you. You don't have to commit to filling journals every day. The book is filled with inspiring ways to develop your mindset and basically make you feel better about self, the book starts simply with lighting a candle and meditating around the flame, just those few minutes of taking time out and concentrating on the flicker on the flame for those few moments does actually help clear the mind.
Carley moves on and gives helpful tips about acknowledging your feelings, to be able to move on, to pause, ground oneself, to 'STOP' and take a breath. That we must trust in our self, and forgive our self too. Exercise, dancing, chanting works amazing for that feel good factor, Carley also recommends howling at the moon, though not sure the neighbour's would be too keen if I started howling in the evening.
Forget your regrets, learn to live from them. Dreams, we all have those, but Carley explains how you should visualize your future, each day. Don't compare your self with others, with seems like sound advice, just like taking yourself on a date, that's a great excuse to treat yourself to a day out.
The last one I want to mention is to write yourself a new set of rules, I think everyone should do this, especially when we come out of lockdown. We should actually do it every couple of years, re assess our life, out with the old, in with the new, just like sorting your wardrobe out, you know how good you feel then?
All in all, this would make the ideal gift for someone who's just at one of life's junctions. it's a book that is so simple to navigate, to read, you can dip and out as you want, or just read. No stress there either.
Thanks Carley for giving us a little bit of hope x

Good stuff. Very short ideas and suggestions that include helpful reminders and helpful exercises. A very nice book of brief wisdom. Recommended.

Thanks very much for the review copy!!