The Little Book of Life Hacks: How to Make Your Life Happier, Healthier, and More Beautiful

by Yumi Sakugawa

"A modern-day survival guide, Yumi's incredibly charming artwork and insights are endlessly engaging. An absolute gem of a book!" -Keiko Agena, award-winning actress on Gilmore Girls, Shameless, and Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Author, illustrator and comic book artist Yumi Sakugawa shares a wide range of useful and unexpected tips for looking and feeling better, streamlining and improving your home life, and creating fun and artsy DIY projects that can brighten your living space. Inspired by her popular “Secret Yumiverse” tips originally posted on WonderHowTo.com, The Little Book of Life Hacks offers a wide range of practical advice and fun tips for everything from how to:

- Remove dark circles from under your eyes
- Make cold brew iced coffee at home
- Throw the perfect apartment party on a budget
- Work out at home without a gym membership
- Take the perfect afternoon power nap...and more!

Featuring Yumi’s signature hand-drawn illustrations throughout, The Little Book of Life Hacks is a distinctive and perfect gift for recent graduates and young working women who want to learn practical ways to organize and improve their daily life while still having fun.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Graphic Novels, Comics, Lifestyle, How To, Personal Development

208 pages, Flexibound

First published May 2, 2017

About the author

California-based comic artist and illustrator Yumi Sakugawa's work has featured everything from lonely one-eyed monsters to an ode to The Baby-Sitters Club character Claudia Kishi. Her off-beat comics that explore the trials and tribulations of human interaction have been featured in Sadie Magazine and The Rumpus and her comic zine Mundane Fortunes for the Next Ten Billion Years And Other Stories was chosen as a Notable Comic of 2012 by the Best American Comics anthology.

- excerpt from http://www.papermag.com/2013/01/yumi_...

You can find her on: Facebook and Instagram and contributing to The Rumpus and Wonder How To.

Reviews

[Sheri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of great tips to make life easier, mostly by saving money or time. Due to the presentation of the material, I would say this is marketed to a younger adult crowd, particularly college-aged females. Busy pages are sometimes hard to read, but the style will most likely appeal to the younger crowd.

[Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Allow me to sum up the majority of the "life hacks" (some of which are just common sense) found in this beautifully illustrated but painfully twee guide for millenials: vinegar and rose water. That's it. Just drench your body and all of your belongings in vinegar and rose water and you will achieve True Enlightenment. Also took issue with some of the "life hacks" that perpetuate the sneaky damaging tropes of diet culture/eating disorder mentality and behavior.

[Stella Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

A perfect necessity for anyone living on their own!

Yumi Sakugawa’s illustrations portray life hacks in several simple steps from home remedies, facial masks, cooking tips, etc. Most self-help books are written as guidelines, but this book dares you to live healthy while still being quirky.

3.20 stars ✩✩✩

[Anna Chenoweth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations but the actual "life hacks" are pretty obvious.

[Devyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book from Goodreads.

I debated on giving this book two stars... or three.
At first I was going to give this book two stars because, honestly, this book didn't fit my personality. This book's very girly, and I'm...not. It's filled with tips on how to make lipstick, put frills on shorts, face masks, how to host parties, and a bunch of other things that are unfortunately useless for someone like me who doesn't do any of those things.
There were two or three life tips in here that I found useful and that I'd actually use. One of the tips is that you can use white vinegar for everything. Cooking, cleaning, laundry, soaking in the bath. You name it, white vinegar can be used doing it.
Plus, the entire book was encouraging and persistent on health and self love. And the drawings were full of diversity in race and size.
I finally decided on three because the book was quite cute and visually entertaining. I liked how similar it was to manga.

[Apollo Mul · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty basic life hacks book with cute illustrations. The “”hacks”” about reading people’s body language and facial expressions are pretty sus because someone not giving you eye contact doesn’t mean they’re lying and hiding something: sometimes, people are just uncomfortable with eye contact lol

BUT TRULY WHO THE FUCK CUTS A CIRCULAR CAKE HORIZONTALLY??? WHAT PSYCHOPATH IS ACTUALLY DOING THAT BECAUSE I HAVE SOME FUCKING QUESTIONS SUCH AS: HOW DARE YOU.

[DayZee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book was the cutest book I have had the privilege to read in a long time. The tips were spot on and the illustrations/drawings were very cute. I have seen some of the tips used before and I am actually looking forward to using a few others noted in this book.

The only con that I see concerning this book is that sometimes some of the tips were in a very small, quite tiny, writing/font. My vision is pretty good and even then I found myself squinting at times to read the tips, bringing the book in close to understand what had been published.

That is my only qualm. Besides that, very cool book and I am glad I got a chance to read it and can look back on it for some solid tips to try out in the future!

[Christiana · Rating 2 out of 5]

This could be super cute to give as a graduation gift to somebody who is just beginning to live in your own but honestly, I just google all this stuff. Best page was "9 uses for Nutella". Also, someone at WPL please tell Lindsey Smith there is a page about how to wake up without caffeine because I like to roll my eyes about these informational pieces because CAFFEINE IS NOT DUPLICATABLE.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book as part of a giveaway, thanks to Goodreads and St. Martin's press for the opportunity. This would be the perfect present for either a high school or college graduate just starting out on their own. Beautiful illustrations and practical advice with tons of DIY make it the perfect reference book for life in general.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are a lot of negative comments surrounding this book. I just have to say that some of us millennials might of been raised by older parents. I also never knew my grandparents because they all passed away when I was little. My mom worked first shift and dad worked third. I still feel like there’s a lot to learn, but books like this, that are visually appealing, help so much.

[MariNaomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can look at this all day.

[Olive Harker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think that this book was very helpful and fun to read, while giving me tons of great life hacks!🙂

[Kanyon · Rating 5 out of 5]

First I would like to thank Griffin Teen for an advanced reader’s copy of this book via a giveaway.

For those young adults just setting off into the world, The Little Book of Life Hacks: How to Make Your Life Happier, Healthier, and More Beautiful, is a perfect guide to have while navigating life. This book is filled with just about everything you can imagine. There are fun projects to do, tips on living healthier and more organized, and plenty of advice on living life to the fullest. There are also beautiful illustrations accompanying each entry.

Overall, if you’re looking for a fun self-help book, you cannot go wrong with this gem. This book is simple, doable and absolutely perfect for a gift to those who are going off to college.

Final Rating: 4 ½ Stars

[Vanellope · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the pictures and overall aesthetics were super cute! And there were some helpful tips, but a significant amount was either insubstantial, repetitive, or just didn't apply to me. I also feel like in a lot of situations where these tips would be useful, I would turn to the internet for help before returning to this book for reference-- and I'd probably find the same information and more, anyways.

Overall, though, it did have at least a few good ideas spanning different areas, and it's also super pretty! It would make a good gift for someone going off to college/ living on her own for the first time.

[Mary Frances · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a useful, realistic, upbeat book about living. The many illustrations convey a sense of peace and joy even while some of the advice is for people handling social anxiety. Many self-help books erase lots of kinds of people. This one is not like that, IMHO.

If you wonder how to throw a party, how to decorate a small space on limited funds, or how to do some real self-care, this is a great book to pick up.

Today we had the Nutella and banana Popsicles! Genius! I also enjoyed the facial massage and will be making a habit of it.

[Roxanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won an advanced uncorrected proof from Goodreads.

While the actual content of the book is very helpful, I did not care for how the book was put together. The graphics and lettering/font was not pleasing to the eye. I hope the finished copy is of a better style.

Lots of beneficial information for younger adults who would actually read the book.

Would make a great gift to a college graduate.

[KelceyTheLibrarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good book with some good tips and tricks for easier, cheaper or different ways of doing things. Many of these were things I already knew or things that I didn't care about, but a few gems in the rough are better than none.
I also wasn't in love with the illustrations and text. It was sometimes difficult to read/see what was being illustrated or explained.
Fun to look at once, but I wouldn't buy it.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this very light book of life hacks, a woman tells us some secrets to living better. Some of these include home remedies for issues such as sunburns, headaches. Other sections include socialization tips, recipes, makeup tips etc. A lot of the stuff in this book did not apply to me, but the book was well done and a nice pleasure to read.

[Nex Juice · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you know me, you know I love practical books. This is exactly that. Tons of DIY suggestions from hair care to cooking tricks - and beyond. I’ve noted at least 13 different things I’ll be trying in the near future - most of which will be broadcasted live on pscp.tv/femyoga - I’m excited!!!

One interesting example - putting an avocado on your hair as shine treatment! Let's try it!

[Kristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very cute book with lots of the author's signature hand-drawn illustrations. It was too "busy" for me, but my teenage son thought it was great! Many useful tips but the overall look turned out not to work for me. Would certainly recommend to those who enjoy a fun and visual learning style.

[Brianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this would definitely be more useful/interesting to someone younger than me, so I didn't deduct too many stars from it for that very reason - the drawings are cute, and there's some life advice in there that some wee 20-something would probably value. I marked it down because a/ there are some questionable health and beauty recommendations re: DIY makeup remover and such (be careful what you rub into your eyes, kids) and b/ it starts to teeter just so into territory that rings a little dog-whistly like concern trolling if not flat-out pro-ana. For those of us who are fat and/or have disabilities or have eating disorders, this can be dangerous. 'Health' doesn't look the same for everyone, and exercise isn't one-size-fits-all - some people flat out can't do it. There are young people who are disabled that would benefit from less of the kind of signal-y things that well-meaning but overall uninformed loved ones sometimes say without meaning any harm. Probably won't check out this author again, but this is worth a (mindful) flip through.

[Jannell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it. Really a majority of listed "life hacks" are common sense or commonly known. The food-person ratio for party planning is a prep detail I hadn't thought of before, and if I ever host parties I'll keep those in mind. I think the greatest selling point to practical application of a majority of the hacks is the ready availability of supplies at a grocery store. They'd be relatively cheap to attempt.

Hacks I'm going to try:
-Adding drops of eucalyptus around the shower drain for a relaxing shower
-Pinching and separating eyebrows to relieve tension (Actually, the moment I read that hack I tried it and it hurt so much! But the day after it felt so good and my bridge has relaxed quite a bit. I didn't realize I carried so much tension in my brow. Hack for the win!)

[C.E. G · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. I love Yumi Sakugawa but didn't feel like this had much of what I think of as her voice or perspective in it - more like illustrated wikihows. A lot of the hacks were oriented to beauty or household stuff, and even rubbed me the wrong way sometimes because they subscribed to diet culture.

[Sarah Ressler Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super fun. Drawing style isn’t exactly my style but lots of great DIY hacks covering every aspect of life. Definitely something fun to peruse and take notes. From how to use white vinegar to how to engage at social events, there is something for everyone!

[Emily]

Beautiful art, but not for me. A lot of it seems like common sense, or otherwise stresses me out to think of more things I should be doing.

[Tasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute little book of simple life hacks. Mostly for women.

[Danette · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was basic stuff a woman of my age should already know. :)

There were sections on "Manifesting" and "Positive Affirmations" so I can not recommend.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is for a young person. I am not a young person. It could make a good going-away-to-college gift. Cute, though.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute and easy to read. Definitely appears written for and by millennials. Fun little tips from self care to laundry to cooking. Learned a few new things myself.

[Stef · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s easy to find these life hacks online — you won’t find much new advice here — but it’s colorful and has a fun, childlike, zine-ish presentation.