PLEASURES OF DISTRACTION
Is 2016 over yet? As this tempestuous year draws to a close, and we spend more time cocooning indoors, isn’t it time for some comfort reading? We’ve all earned it. So, welcome to Cozy Up, a special edition of Foreword Reviews, where we take a look at books from small and indie presses that actively call upon us to engage in a comforting activity. Cooking, crafting, and coloring. Any one of them sounds to me like a stress-free alternative to cable news.
COOKING
In contrast to crafting and coloring, cooking is largely about the final product. But, as we learned from the success of cooking shows from Julia Child’s The French Chef to the Food Network’s Iron Chef, there has long been a fascination with the process. Veteran reviewer Rachel Jagareski reveals the joy and comfort of preparing food that’s both good and good for you.
CRAFTING
From knitting to Origami to Legos, crafting isn’t any one thing. Nor is the pleasure derived solely from the finished product. It’s the process of building, cutting, stitching, piecing together that gives the greatest satisfaction. The finished work is almost beside the point. For crafting reviews, we turned to a writer who truly “gets it,” who knows firsthand the joy of the process. Sarah E. White has been a knitter for most of her life and is the author of two books on the subject. Plus, she blogs about knitting and crafting for Craft Gossip, Our Daily Craft, and About.com.
COLORING
Yeah, we were a little baffled at first, too. Adult coloring books? Seriously? Then, a couple of our editors started using them, experiencing them, becoming addicted to them. They even made a time-lapse video of the coloring process! We also saw that coloring books were helping the bottom line at bookstores across the country. Whether it’s the intricate patterns, the color choices, the hypnotic lure of a creative, repetitive activity, some kind of chemistry is happening that soothes and comforts the colorer. That often-written-about, yet poorly understood, demographic, the millennial generation, lead the clamor for coloring books, so we decided it’d be best to ask an actual millennial to review the nineteen books we chose for this issue. Hannah Hohman, our associate editor, was the perfect choice—as the youngest among our editors and also as a coloring-book consumer.
I’m not saying you should disengage from the world completely. Important things are happening, crucial decisions are being made about our futures, and a little stress now and then lets us know we’re alive and engaged in the world. But a good life is about achieving balance. Results may vary, distraction is guaranteed.