3.5 stars

When I was younger I hated having a routine. Yet, as I got older and "adulting" became a thing and finding time to do everything in the day from all of my various "jobs"; wife, mother, teacher, and still find time for me I realized I need those routines in order to manage my time. It became a great stress reliever.

This book was a great example of simple everyday things to do in a busy life. Most of them were things that most people already know but they were gentle reminders of the whys of doing them and their importance in one's life. The educator in me really appreciated that the author in me included her references as a footnote at the end of each daily ritual in case I wanted to read more (which I did several times).

This would be a great book for someone just starting out in wanting to learn how to find balance and starting with the mind, body, spirit. For myself, as someone who is always trying to improve me, it was pretty basic. ( )

I kept waffling between giving The Ritual Yearbook three stars or four. Although this book is well written and flows well, I feel you would have to be unemployed, rich (so you don’t have to work), or not have children to complete the book.

Being your best, healthy self is very important to me. But (and you saw that coming) there is so much to do in this book that I couldn’t even see myself being able to keep up with it, and I retired in June and have no children.

I think the 21 one simple foundation rituals at the beginning of the book have a lot of value, and if people do those every day they would be on a great course for improving themselves. They may seem simple, like making your bed or journaling what you are thankful for, but they have a positive aspect that can help your day start in the right direction. And for people who do none of these right now, they would see a huge improvement in their lives.

It’s when you get into the largest section of the book that contains rituals for the Body, Mind, Spirit and Heart that I can see people getting frustrated and not finishing the course. Each of the four section has 74 rituals. Some can be done relatively quickly, but others take a lot more time.

If you come home from work, have children that need to be fed and helped with their homework, and chores to do around the house, 10pm or 11pm comes very quickly. Leaving you with no time to do that days ritual. That’s why I say you need to not be working or at least not have children to be able to get through The Ritual Yearbook.

If I were to just look at it that way I would have given it three stars, because in my mind you would be buying a book that you would probably only be using ¼ of. But I can see someone taking longer than a year to complete the book. Perhaps doing the 21 beginning rituals everyday and only three or four of the others during the week.

Also there were quite a few of the rituals in the four sections that overlapped. Decluttering, journal writing, affirmations, and yoga poses (although they were different poses) where mentioned in two, three, or even all four of the Body, Mind, Spirit, and Heart sections. So this could speed up the book a bit and perhaps you could complete it in one year.

I’ve already started doing the first 21 rituals daily, and I really do enjoy seeing my bed made and journaling puts my heart in a happy place every morning. My podcast partner for Books Don’t Review Themselves and I are thinking of doing The Ritual Yearbook starting January 1st and recording our progress on social media. So if you’re interested, sign up to follow us on Instagram. ( )