“Wonder and Joy for the Wired and Tired” is a lovely call to slow down and look around; the world is a magical place if only we take the time to see it. Author Pam Stephens Lehenbauer cites recent research to support her thesis that we need to stop looking for happiness as a marker of wellness, and instead seek well-being, which she sees as both more realistic and commonsense. Lehenbauer offers many examples of what we might choose to notice (as simple as indoor plumbing or as complex as the Milky Way) and encourages us to learn more deeply about what interests us. She urges us to find the joy in pursuing knowledge of all sorts — not just what will benefit us in our professional lives, self-help, and so on — to help our physical and mental well-being.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I appreciate the idea behind this book but it's essentially just a list of trivia facts, not HOW to see the wonder and joy of the world. Very misleading.

This book comes out at a very appropriate time as many people around the world need to reconnect with the natural wonder that has always been there, will continue to be there and is readily accessible to all, whether you are in a forest or a desert. I agree with the author's premise that the wellness industry has missed the boat in regards to helping others to improve their wellbeing, mainly in the fact that the former points too people inward instead of outward. To open our eyes again as children do so easily to what is right in front of them and experience the joy while learning something new. Why have so many of us as adults seem to have lost this ability to use the overused phrase " to smell the roses"? The author brings in research to support what she sees as a straightforward approach to finding wonder and joy, not just in facts but in the desire to pursue knowing more about that particular fact that has engaged our neural processes, whether by sight, smell, touch, taste or audibly. This book is an easy read and can benefit not just those who are "wired and tired" but encourage anyone, at any age, to utilize this process daily in finding the wonder and joy all around us. Thank you BearPaw Press for this book and these comments are my own.

This is an interesting trivia book, not a wellness guide for how to experience wonder and joy. The lists and facts are meant to make the reader feel wonder and joy - and yes, some of them are interesting and cover a lot of different topics. However, the book’s wonderful and insightful introductory information is the only part of the book that matches the misleading title and description, and many of the facts are common knowledge. I wish this book had lived up more to its advertising, because it had a lot of promise. If you just want to read some awe-inspiring trivia, you will enjoy this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bear Paw Press for the free eARC. I post this review with my honest opinions.