Review of "Wreck This Journal" by Keri Smith

This is definitely not your typical book. It is listed under the following genres: non-fiction, art, humor, language writing, self-help, crafts, diary and journal. And it is all of those things and more . This is not a book to read like you would read a story, it is a book to make you forget everything you know about books.

The first page states: "To create is to destroy". And I found that true. Then Keri gives us a "warning" about questioning things, being reckless and other things. Then the instructions came next which are as follows:

1. Carry this with you everywhere you go.

2. Follow the instructions on every page.

3. Order is not important.

4. Instructions are open to interpretation.

5. Experiment (work against your better judgement).

Then she gives you a list of material you will need here are a few: ideas, gum, glue, dirt, newspaper, white things, tears, sticky things, emotions, etc. And you get to add your own page numbers.

Okay so this book is such a mess I cannot find my page one. But on page five was "Crack the spine". As a book lover, this was the easiest thing for me to do. About 10 pages later I took the directions to create a nonstop line. This loosened my up and I did not make a big deal about it but I sure did loop it around a lot an make a lot of squigglies. I wrote with the pen in my mouth, I wrote backwards. My book was still neat though. It was not until I poked holes in the page, poured, spilled, dripped, spit and flung my coffee on a page, glued two pages together, scribbled wildly with reckless abandon, drew with glue and other thing even messier and more destructive that I started to get the idea of this book.

To create is to destroy. By destroying this book, which is still hard to look at because of how I feel about books, I had some therapy that I did not have to pay for. I have been traveling around with this book since at least August or September. I believe I was into the pages at 90 or 92. So I did most of what they asked in the book. One page asks you to hide it in your neighbor's yard. Well I would not like that so I did not do that. But I may one day. Plus there were a few things I did not get to just because of circumstance or lack of supplies.

This book took me on a journey. A journey to discover myself. And I loved every minute of it. Once you get past the fact you a destroying a books, you will be fine because you will see what you have created and love it. And you will learn a lot about yourself.

This is a great gift for anyone but I had teenage girls in mind. They can have their regular diaries or journals, and then this. And if they are very artistic they are sure to love it.

There are more books in the series: Finish This Book, The Pocket Scavenger, Mess - The Manual of Accidents and Mistakes, This Is Not A Book, and How To Be An Explorer Of The World - Portable Life Museum. I picked up Mess but it was a little more artistic than Wreck This Journal so I am still working on it. But I suggest you check out the whole series and, from what I hear from others who have purchased this book is that it is the best one to start with.