THE INACTIVITY BOOK

Amid an increasingly hectic world, Maclear presents a convincing treatise on the importance of doing nothing at all.

Relying on plainspoken but soulful language, the author proposes ways to take a break. Her ideas are by turns practical, dreamy, and even a tad absurd. Maybe you can stand barefoot in the soil, becoming a “climbing structure for creatures in the garden,” or “imagine drifting to the ocean floor.” Perhaps you’ll “assume the shrubbyness of a shrub” or “the corneryness of a corner.” Some suggestions, like becoming an “ancient mountain,” seem rooted in yoga. Others, like becoming a “sea sponge, soaking everything in and then letting it go again,” feel influenced by mindfulness and meditation techniques. By the end, some readers’ interest may wane as the prompts begin to blur together, potentially making them less useful, but overall, Maclear’s framing—presenting idleness as praiseworthy, not slothful—is delectably subversive. Relying on a surprisingly flashy, near-neon palette, Subisak’s art, rendered in watercolor, ink, crayon, and colored pencil, is upbeat and good-natured, though boisterous for a guidebook on subdued, often internal pursuits. Nevertheless, unexpected color contrasts, frequent perspective changes, and creative imagery feel appropriately dreamy. The protagonist demonstrating the ideas is brown-skinned with black hair.

Gratifying permission to pause and dwell in the “very quiet quiet.”