The Book of Alchemy: A Creative Practice for an Inspired Life

The Book of Alchemy (2025) is a memoir that also functions as a lyrical journaling guide for the reader, inspired by author Suleika Jaouad’s own creative practice of writing that has seen her through a leukemia diagnosis, treatment, and multiple relapses over the years. Featuring anecdotes and reflections from Jaouad that run through the book, also collected within are short essays and creative prompts by 100 different contributors that are aimed at inspiring readers to initiate their own daily practice, modeled on the 100-day project that first inspired Jaouad herself. Jaouad’s first book, a memoir on her illness and treatment titled Between Two Kingdoms, was published in 2021.

This study guide uses the 2025 Penguin Random House Kindle edition.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of illness, mental illness, and death.

Plot Summary

The book is divided into 10 chapters, each focusing on a distinct theme with a short narrative by Jaouad that is followed by 10 essays and accompanying prompts by different contributors. In the Introduction, Jaouad offers some context to how this book came about. She took up the 100-day project originated by Yale professor Michael Bierut (also a contributor in the book) when she was first diagnosed with leukemia. Her writing over the years eventually culminated in the creation of The Book of Alchemy, which offers 100 different prompts that the readers can use for their own 100-day project.

Jaouad explores how one can begin engaging with creativity, offering suggestions for the reader to incorporate into their own lives as they begin a daily practice. Jaouad reflects on the nature of memory and how it can serve as fodder for creativity and self-reflection. The essays and prompts that follow invite the reader to revisit some of their own memories in different ways, both positive and negative ones.

Jaouad explores the quality of fear and the role it can play in one’s life. She reflects on how it is confronting one’s fears that loosens their grip on one’s psyche. The essays and prompts that follow encourage the reader to make peace with their own fears.

Jaouad presents the art of “seeing,” of paying attention to the moment at hand, as an essential phase in the process of creativity. She recognizes its value in anchoring one to the present in a way that negates worry and anxiety. The essays and prompts that follow offer reminders that help the reader stay connected to the present.

Jaouad then focuses on love. She notes that her definition of it is one that encompasses more than just romantic love, sharing a story of a meaningful friendship from her life to demonstrate the value of truly showing up for another person. The essays and prompts that follow invite the reader to similarly explore the intensity of love in a variety of forms.

Jaouad explores how the body presents a complicated relationship for most people in the Western world, with idealized notions of perfection and beauty often leading to shame or low self-esteem rooted in body image. She shares her experiences of moving towards acceptance of her own body, with the essays and prompts that follow inviting the reader to engage with the relationship with their own body in different ways.

Next, Jaouad presents the phenomenon of rebuilding. Having had to do so multiple times over in her own life, she offers the insight that rebuilding happens simultaneously with evolution and growth. The essays and prompts that follow attempt to offer the reader the same clarity and awareness Jaouad has found in her own experiences of rebuilding.

Jaouad reflects on the relationship between creativity and ego, and how the former often helps one break out of limitations of the self created by the latter. The essays and prompts showcase examples of how different contributors have been able to shed self-perceptions and broaden their horizons through creativity, inviting the reader to do the same.

Jaouad touches on the idea of purpose and what this may mean for each person in their own lives. The essays and prompts are aimed at helping the reader expand the possibilities around what they each believe is their purpose.

Finally, Jaouad revisits the idea of “alchemy” and reflects on the transformative process of creativity. She invites the reader to begin their own process of alchemizing their experiences. In the Afterword, Jaouad reiterates this call to daily creativity once again, even as she prepares to reenter cancer treatment after a relapse in 2024, armed with a journal as always.