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300 Things I Hope – Book Review

I received an ARC of the book, 300 Things I Hope, written by Iain S. Thomas, and illustrated by Carla Kreuser, which was very generous of Central Venue Publishing. The book was released on October 1st, 2016, and I apologise that it has taken me this long to get to reading and reviewing it! My delay is no reflection of the quality of the book, but of my assignment overload with university!

This poetic book is beautiful! It is a mixture of philosophy, humour, love and pondering. A sentence or two lie on each page, and is written from Iain to the reader as a message of hope. Some lines make you think, some make you laugh, some make you nod your head and agree, some make you reflect, and some make you acknowledge all the things ahead of you in life. There is a rhythm to the prose that makes the writing flow, and playful drawings are dotted throughout and add interest to the line it sits alongside.

I read this on a morning when I felt a little low, and with a Spotify playlist called ‘Atmospheric Calm’ playing in my headphones (which accompanied the book perfectly), I was reminded that the only way is up, to hope and plan, and to laugh and reflect.

There are many lines in this book that I marked as favourites, but here are a random six of those…

“I hope you learn everything you need to learn before what you don’t learn, hurts you.”

“I hope you find truth at the top of the bottle, and not at the bottom of it.”

“I hope your clothes fit the same at home as they did at the store.”

“I hope that if someone stops to help you change a tyre, they’re about as far from a serial killer as you can get.”

“I hope you see something everyone’s seen a million times, and see something different.”

“I hope you take your shoes off one day and there’s a really soft carpet under your feet.”

Although I read this from page one to the last in one sitting, I know that it is something I could dip in and out of in any order when I need a little pick-me-up.

I recommend that you immerse yourself in this book. Though it appears simple and sweet, it is also thought-provoking and mood-altering.