cover image One Year Wiser: An Illustrated Guide to Mindfulness

One Year Wiser: An Illustrated Guide to Mindfulness

Mike Medaglia. SelfMadeHero, $14.99 (128p) ISBN 978-1-910593-38-7

Medaglia’s peppy guide to Buddhism-lite is divided into four parts, following a seasonal theme. Each chapter explores a topic, such as meditation, gratitude, simplicity, anxiety, or impermanence. The pages combine comics and illustrated text, full of intricate hand-drawn patterns, with recurring motifs of flowering vines, clouds, falling leaves, and swirls of wind woven throughout. Madaglia, who has long been making comics and books on similar themes, introduces himself as a character sporadically. Unfortunately,this somewhat generic tone leaves something to be desired. Most topics are covered in four pages of explanation, followed by a daily practice which can be added to one’s normal routines. There are some useful lessons here about increasing compassion and quieting spinning thoughts, and a moving passage exploring moving away from the ego. Readers already on board with the book’s message will get the most out of it. (Oct.)