Day by Day by Sister Stan

Promising to be ‘a treasury of mediations on mindfulness to comfort and inspire,’ Day by Day is formatted in 365 short sections intended to be read quotidian. For each day there is a quote from multifarious figures from Ghandi to Camus, Lao-Tzu to Euripides. Encompassing a curious mixture of collected wisdom, the text spans many faiths, though the heavy bias leans towards biblical quotations. Sometimes the cross-religion pollination sits a little uncomfortably, with quotes from the Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa and Buddha juxtaposed.

Accompanying each quote are meditative words from Sister Stan which are sometimes enlightening and imbued with profundity but sadly often rather unoriginal. Stan has the tendency to state the obvious: "everyone who has a job knows how work can eat into their personal time."

The book is interspersed with essays on subjects such as friendship, gratitude and listening. There is wisdom to be gleaned from these pages, but the tone can verge on the saccharine or condescending. Though the text promises to ‘inspire and enlighten’ the reader is more likely to cringe at the sort of motivational quotes that all too often pepper social media. [Rosie Hopegood]