Extraordinary Ordinary Moments: A Journal

— 4.5 stars —If I had to choose just one word to describe EXTRAORDINARY ORDINARY MOMENTS: A JOURNAL, it would be “adorable.” Jorey Hurley’s artwork is simple and understated – yet cute as all get out. Her previous titles include four picture books for kids – NEST, FETCH, HOP, and RIBBIT – and the illustrations in EXTRAORDINARY ORDINARY MOMENTS are similar in style to what you see on the covers. (Of course I can’t speak to the interior artwork, seeing as I don’t own any of the books!)Each page in this thick, 368-page journal features a different image or scene, along with a prompt. The general theme is “extraordinary ordinary moments”: an event, chore, object, person, or experience that’s so mundane that maybe you often take it for granted, or don’t even register it at all.Some of my favorite examples include:– something nerdy– comfort food– something with nice curves– something that puts you in a good mood (yeah, because there’s an illustration of a dog! you got me!)– something silly (^ditto!)– a good walk (definitely should include a dog, okay.)– something eternal– something you carry with you– a good excuse to order a pizzaYou can take the prompts literally, interpret them loosely, or ignore them altogether; that’s what makes this journal so versatile. The prompts are written in a smallish font and are rather unobtrusive so, if you’re not especially partial to one (or all), just use that page for regular journaling. I guess the lack of lines might make this difficult, though all the white space is conducive to drawing, sketching, or scrapbooking, so there’s a tradeoff.The pages are made of a thick paper stock, and the book has a pliable but bendy cover; it’s softcover, but not quite paperback. There’s an image of an orange peel embossed on the cover, which might sound a little boring, except you can actually feel the texture of the peel when you run your fingers across it.Many of Potter Style’s journals are tiny, about the size of a mass market paperback; the small size of the paper, coupled with the thickness of the book, makes them very difficult to write in. EXTRAORDINARY ORDINARY MOMENTS is a little more generously sized, at six by eight inches. New rule: all journals should be these dimensions at the very least!Though I enjoyed most of the artwork, there are a few pictures of animal-based foods that didn’t come as a surprise, but turned me off just the same. I can pretend that the sizzling bacon strips are Lightlife Smart Bacon (delish!), but the whole roasted turkey is a little harder to rationalize away. I know not everyone’s a vegan like me – I’m not delusional, okay – but it’s still tedious to see images of animal suffering everywhere I look. Even in seemingly neutral places, like guided journals. (I guess maybe I can use that page for all my favorite AR quotes?)I feel a little weird deducting a full star for this, though, so let’s call it 4.5 stars, rounded up to five where necessary.** Full disclosure: I received a free copy of this book for review through Blogging for Books. **

This is an awesome journal to be as creative and expressive as you dare!

I never managed to keep a journal or diary. I always wanted to write something beautiful, profound and inspired. In other words, there were a lot of blank pages. This book caught my eye exactly because it was the opposite of all my previous attempts.Extraordinary Ordinary Moments, by Jorey Hurley, celebrates the small things in life, those mundane but perfect moments that we often look over. Each page has a prompt, ranging from "something you carry with you" to "something with potential," and a drawing, which may or may not be relevant or inspiring. The rest of the page is left blank, to allow writing, drawing, collage or any other interpretation of the prompt. The book is large and opens flat, making it easy to use, and the pages are nice and thick.As always, some of the prompts were interesting and relevant to me. Others, not as much, tending to the cliche and trite. Perhaps I'll see those as an interesting challenge when I get there. Perhaps I'll decide to skip that page. Hey, it's my journal, I can do what I like! Overall, I believe it will be a useful guide for my journaling experiment. The drawings, however, are somewhat too cutesy for my taste. After a while, they started to annoy me.In exchange for an honest review, Blogging for Books had provided me with a complimentary copy of this journal.

During a lull in her career and after a friend advised Jorey to write and draw every day, Jorey developed a daily drawing habit. Despite her success she continues to draw everyday. Which has ultimately led to the creation of this journal. Jorey writes, “I realized eventually that my love of this ritual-and it has indeed become a ritual-isn’t actually about the drawing. It’s about the noticing and the celebrating. I now go through my day collecting little moments and tucking them away for later… any given point in a completely uneventful, ordinary day might yield some little beauty, so long as I have the wherewithal to notice it and take the time to realize what’s great about it.” (Introduction)I love what she says here, we do need to stop and take notice of the beautiful things. The journal is unique because every page opens with a writing prompt. There are so many possibilities for this journal. Ironically the first prompt, something full of possibilities, can refer directly to the journal. Whether or not Jorey purposely wrote this prompt first, I know not. Without knowing for sure, I think she did. And if she did, she is quite clever.The journal is much larger than other journals, there is plenty of room to record your best work. There are no lines on the page, but each page includes a drawing and a prompt. The journal cover is not hardcover or softcover, but in between. Whatever the material, it has a great feel to it and almost feels like fine suede. If you look at the image of the journal you can recognize the orange peel. The surface of the orange peel actually feels like an orange peel. The cover is great, I love it.As written before each page includes a writing prompt and a drawing. For example, one prompt, “something on your street” includes a drawing of a USPS mail drop. Another “a gadget that you love” includes a image of a toaster. I really appreciate the art, it adds to the fun concept that I believe the author is trying to encourage, the concept of noticing every beautiful think, even the unlikely. I didn’t really care for the prompt, “favorite cussword,” for obvious reasons. The journal could be used to record daily writing. It could also be used as s sketch book. For those of you who like to scrapbook, I believe that this book could perfectly meet your needs. Whatever art that you engage in, each day offers a new prompt with a new opportunity for you to create.Amazon offers this journal to the prime customer for 16.99. For a journal this size 16.99 is a great price. And there is much more to this journal than space to write on. Remember, this journal is full of possibilities.In exchange for an honest review, Blogging for Books had provided me with a complimentary copy of this journal. I have written an honest review.