The Book of Alchemy A Creative Practice for an Inspired Life

A guide to the art of journaling—and a meditation on the central questions of life—by the bestselling author of Between Two Kingdoms

For as long as she can remember, Suleika Jaouad has kept a journal. She has used it to mark life's biggest occasions and to ride its roughest waves. It has buoyed her through illness, through heartbreak, and the deepest oceans of uncertainty. And Suleika is not alone. For so many people, journaling is a process of discovery, sometimes vulnerable and terrifying, always transformative.

The Book of Alchemy is based on the premise that journaling is an essential tool for navigating the challenges of modern life. We live in a world where we’re not only forced to grapple with personal peaks and valleys but also global upheavals far beyond our control—political, social, economic, technological, environmental. More than ever, we need a space for puzzling through.

Designed to be a companion through challenging times, The Book of Alchemy will explore the art of journaling, offering encouragement, direction, and support to those looking for a way to navigate the in-between. It is designed to expand that space, giving readers tools to engage with discomfort, to ask questions, to peel back the layers, to uncover their truest self—and in doing so, to find clarity and calm, to hold the astonishingly beautiful and the often unbearable facts of life in the same palm.

Suleika Jaouad is the author of the instant New York Times bestselling memoir, Between Two Kingdoms. She wrote the Emmy Award–winning New York Times column Life, Interrupted. Her essays and feature stories have appeared in The New York Times Magazine and Vogue and on NPR. She is also the creator of the Isolation Journals, a global project cultivating creativity and community during challenging times.