Book review: 'Snail Mail' by Michelle Mackintosh. A 'Portable Magic' post.

Hi you.

 

First things first, because you know I never hide things from you [well, actually you don't know that because, if I was hiding something from you, you wouldn't know would you? Because, well, it'd be hidden. But anyway ...] I need to tell you up front that the book I'm sharing today was sent to me, free of charge, for review purposes. But the views are my own and I didn't receive any other payment.

 

Right then ... now I've got that out of the way [hopefully without having to take a truth serum or show you my bank statements] let me just say that from time to time I get asked to feature or review books but I've only ever accepted the offer when:

1. I feel it's something both you and I would actually like to read AND
2. it's something which won't look out of place here on my paper-loving, life-documenting, nonsense-chattering style blog.

For example I was once offered a book of sewing projects for babies, yet it had two fatal flaws: 

1. sewing and
2. babies...

... neither of which I ever mention here and so ... alas ... I had to decline. [BTW: it was a book of  projects which adults could sew for babies ... it wasn't babies doing the sewing ... because that would have been a book I'd liked to have seen!]

 

But today's book fits in perfectly cosily here as it is dedicated to something we've chatted a lot about here over the last few years: snail mail!

Snail Mail by Michelle Mackintosh (Hardie Grant, £14.99) Photography: Chris Middleton

 

Firstly, here's how the publishers introduce this lovely, and hefty, ode to all things postal:

 

"Beautifully illustrated and complete with cut-out postcard designs and papercraft and rubber stamp templates, Snail Mail explores the art of handwritten correspondence - learn how to romance someone the old-school way through love-letters; understand the etiquette of thank you cards, and be inspired to take time to reflect on your life through writing.

 

Michelle Mackintosh shows you how to improve your handwriting, make your own paper, personalise stickers and stamps, or make beautiful DIY invitations. In a world of internet trolls, 140-character limits, Snapchats and textspeak, are we losing the ability to really communicate with our loved ones? Snail Mail brings back handwritten communication - and more - in one perfectly proper package.

It's time to take back the written word!"

 

And here's what I made of it ...

To begin with - and before you even open it - this book has presence.

It's far weightier [it's a hardback] and more substantial than I'd imagined from looking at photos of it and, with its airmail striped spine and page edges it's beautifully bound:

And from there on in it just gets better and better.

It's an exceptionally beautiful piece of work. And the time, skill and dedication which must have gone into making such a treat for the eyes surely reflects what must be a true love of the subject matter.

In its quest to win us over into returning to more traditional, slower, more personalised, postal contact every page is there to draw us in further. Each one is lovely to look at and there are no obvious 'filler' pages:

There really is something pretty each time your turn over:

And its stunning details make it a complete joy to flip through:

It covers a wide range of postal-themed topics ranging from types of letter you could send, to how to do just that:

And from copies of letters from figures in history, to the practical crafting templates and fun stickers in the back, there's little postal-themed this book doesn't touch on.

This book is perfect for you if:

• you believe that we spend too much time communicating online and we need to get back to something  [personally ... I love communicating online  - ahoy there! - but I know not everyone feels the same].
• you're nostalgic for days of pen friends and stickers or you want to share those times, stories, pleasures with your kids.
• you'd like to revel in an exceptionally creatively designed papery joy that you can leave on your coffee table to share with others.

When reading some of the text [eg. detailing how to write letters, what to say and not to say etc] I did at times wonder if the book's ideal target audience was someone younger than me. Either that or I'm just feeling especially old this week!!

But if you know of a young stationary-loving, thoughtful, girl who you need to find a gift for ...  then I couldn't think of a nicer gift.

I know my teenaged self would have passed out with glee if I'd have unwrapped this on my birthday. Heck, what with the dedicated space to write your name in the front and all those cute stickers in the back ... I think it would've made my stationary-collecting-book-loving head spin!

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So ... if you'd like to find out more about Snail Mail by Michelle Mackintosh then:

• You can visit the Amazon page where you can flip through some of the pages

Or you can read further reviews from this blog tour here:

• Kirsty Neale's review
• Gabrielle Treanor's review at The Green Gables

For more book talk from me visit my 'Portable Magic' Pinterest board:

And for more mail-related projects you can always dip back into my 'Going Postal' series which I started way back in summer 2011.

Thanks for stopping by to pause, to read, and - if you've got time - to leave a comment today.

Julie :-)