The thing is, I only found the sandals because they showed up on an orders report, and I thought, \u201cwell, those look great\u2026\u201d and they are. I often find really excellent, useful, unusual items that have actually helped enhance my life<\/a> and improve my fitness<\/a> \u2014 or given me a perfect gift idea<\/a> exactly when I needed one \u2014 thanks to readers placing their Amazon orders through my site. <\/p>\n My first instinct, I am ashamed to admit, was a little cynical. Something along the lines of, \u201coh, heavens, are we all going to infantilize ourselves with coloring books, now?\u201d (I am forever my mother\u2019s daughter\u2026)<\/p>\n Then I shushed myself and thought, \u201cis this a thing?\u201d and decided to investigate before throwing shade at it.<\/p>\n After reading some comments<\/strong> (and looking at the customer images \u2014 people are really proud of their work and want to show it off!) I considered that a coloring project might be a good thing to have when I want to keep my husband company and he wants to watch a terrible movie, (like \u201cChappie\u201d so, so bad\u2026). It would require less attention than knitting (which I stink at) but I could still check my boredom.<\/p>\n Suddenly, this seemed less silly.<\/p>\n I wanted to ask my neighbor, a recreational therapist who works with high-functioning Alzheimer\u2019s patients and also takes interesting art classes, what she thought, but she was away. Given our past conversations, I\u2019m guessing she would say something to the effect that \u201cputting colors on paper, and making designs relaxes us.\u201d <\/p>\n Apparently, it is confirmed: Adult coloring books are indeed \u201ca thing\u201d and according to this article I was ahead of a trend<\/a>: Adult coloring books are giving Harper Lee a run for the money on best-seller lists this summer.<\/p>\n Dover Publications has sold more than 3 million adult coloring books<\/a> with titles like \u201cFlower Fashion Fantasies.\u201d<\/a> Quarto Publishing will have 1.3 million in print this year ranging from mandalas to fairies. \u201cSecret Garden: An Inky Treasure Hunt,\u201d<\/a> by one of the genre\u2019s most popular illustrators, Johanna Basford, remains a top seller on Amazon two years after its initial publication.<\/p>\n In fact, adult coloring books occupied as many of eight of the top 20 slots in a spot-check of Amazon\u2019s best-seller list last week, including \u201cCreative Cats\u201d<\/a> and \u201cAdult Coloring Book: Stress Relieving Patterns.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWe cannot print them fast enough,\u201d said Amy Yodanis, Quarto\u2019s head of marketing. \u201cWe are getting orders of 60,000 at one time from some of our biggest retailers.\u201d But art therapy is not the only reason coloring has taken off. As hobbies go, coloring books are incredibly simple: portable, easy to pick up and put down, old-school analog pursuits with no batteries or messages, no calorie-counting, skill-building, classes or scores.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The writer tried it out herself, to good effect:<\/p>\n It took me more than two months to complete a single page of \u201cSplendid Cities\u201d<\/a> because I never spent much time on it in one sitting. I\u2019d color during a stressful moment at the office or at home, or use it as a break from a complicated or boring task, or to transition between tasks.<\/p>\n My longest stretch coloring was an hour while awaiting delivery of time-sensitive documents that I feared were lost. Coloring distracted me from worrying about something I couldn\u2019t control or fix. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n Yes, I can see that.<\/strong> I\u2019m very tempted to pick up one of these books, and some pencils the next time I have a long flight; I dislike flying, and can never settle down. This might do the trick.<\/p>\n Once again, readers, thanks<\/em> for something interesting to think about, particularly as picking up a coloring book is blessedly inexpensive! And no-one who knows me would be surprised to hear that this one<\/a> is tempting me, and oh heavens, this could be trouble<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Many of you readers have such generous natures that, when you are looking to purchase something from Amazon, you come over here and click on the Strange Gods image, which both takes you to Amazon and benefits me with a small gratuity, for which I am exceedingly grateful. Last month\u2019s clicks bought me this super-comfy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":63398,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2362],"class_list":["post-63390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-remaking-ourselves","tag-adult-coloring-books"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"creative](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/7\/2015\/07\/creative-cats-225x300.jpg\")
<\/a>Given how interesting and often helpful your purchases are<\/strong> (and no, I can\u2019t see who buys what, so I have no idea who among you might have purchased this<\/em><\/a>; something that can hear me all the time? Terrifying!) I have to admit, I was intrigued when I saw orders<\/a> popping up for Adult Coloring Books<\/a> of varying design<\/a> and subject.<\/a><\/p>\n![\"prismacolor\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/7\/2015\/07\/prismacolor-150x150.jpg\")
<\/a>And then I remembered that toward Christmas, a few years back<\/a><\/strong> I had actually suggested this oomphy \u201cgrown-up\u201d coloring book<\/a> and these colored pencils<\/a> as a Christmas gift for teens, and had given them, myself, to a niece who loved them. How had I forgotten that?<\/p>\n![\"steampunk](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/7\/2015\/07\/steampunk-coloring-225x300.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n
\nThere are coloring clubs, coloring contests and a frenzy of coloring posts on social media. . .\u201dPeople are stressed and anxious all the time,\u201d said Jeannine Dillon, Quarto\u2019s publisher. \u201cColoring is a way to calm down and unwind at the end of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n