The Lost Track of Time by Paige Britt was on my list of books to review even before I launched DoYouMind.life. I LOVE the book (so now that’s out there—no keeping you on the edge of your seat), and I wanted to be able to share it with others. That’s what we do when we love a book, right? So why was it that every time I thought about writing the review, I procrastinated?

Seriously, I found all sorts of things to do, and I was right back in the same pattern I was in thirty years ago when I was trying not to tackle that college essay (which I wrote about in May). While I didn’t completely clean out the ‘fridge or body surf down any stairs as I did back then, I did work on mindless tasks for my Etsy shop, complete a couple of photo shoots, prepare a few meals, and float all afternoon in the swimming pool. All the while, I was aware that I really wanted to write the book review, but I couldn’t seem to make myself sit down to write it.

I finally faced it: I was procrastinating because I care.

And because I care, I want to do Paige Britt’s book justice. I know and respect Paige, and she’s going to be reading the review. She is a mentor to me, so my own “who do you think you are” judge lurks in the shadows. Heap all that on top of my pre-existing conditions of getting-started-phobia and tidsoptimism, and you’ve got one huge pile of… ah, well, procrastination. So now that I’ve blathered on about how hard it is to get started reviewing the book…on to the book!

The Lost Track of Time is written for a middle-grade level audience, but the allegorical tale certainly has meaning for adults as well. It centers on the character Penelope, who is plagued by time from the very first words of the book: “Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.” It’s the first day of summer vacation, but Penelope must awaken to an alarm clock at 6:00 a.m. and face a day that her mother has scheduled in tidy 15-minute increments.

Penelope has little time for daydreaming; her schedule includes only two fifteen-minute blocks of free time per day. She longs for more so that she can stretch her creativity, but her mother adheres to strict rules about her time management. Britt writes, “As far as Penelope was concerned, time was like a bank account, and she was overdrawn.” Like a teller writing in a passbook, Penelope’s mother fills in her for calendar each day, miserly accounting for every minute.

Then, magically, Penelope discovers a day that is completely blank—a hole in her schedule! With the help of her friend Miss Maddie, Penelope falls through the hole into the Realm of Possibility. She quickly meets Dill, who befriends her and pleas for her to help find the Great Moodler. (If you don’t know about moodling, you need to read the book!) The Great Moodler has disappeared after the evil Chronos took over the realm, turned its inhabitants into Clockworkers, and began expanding his dark shadow of influence—the Shadow of Doubt.

And so begins her quest. Along the way, Penelope and Dill encounter the Naughty Woulds (listen to my conversation with Paige on the podcast station to learn about that) and a Wild Bore who bores Dill stiff, bores him to tears, and nearly bores him to death. Penelope saves the day by getting a word in edgewise—quite literally: she writes interesting words she has collected and places them between Dill and the Wild Bore. When Dill is later caught in the grip of time and forced to do the drudgery of a Clockworker, Penelope must again trust her own ideas to rescue him.

Britt’s clever use of words makes the story a delightful read. She introduces us to the fuzzy creatures who thrive on ideas—the Flying Fancies; the colorful mountains—the Range of Possibilities; and the center of the City of Chronos—Timely Manor. She uses language as Penelope longs to use it—with joy and playfulness. The result is a tale of imagination overcoming rigidity and of the main character’s discovering the value of her creativity.

Even more importantly, Penelope learns from her friend Miss Maddie what I think most women need to hear. Miss Maddie says, “I want you to make time for yourself. No one else will.” So true!

I invite you, Dear Reader, to pick up a copy of Paige Britt’s The Lost Track of Time and enjoy it wherever you are relaxing and moodling. Make some time for yourself—do just as Penelope did and write it on your calendar! Make time to do something unproductive, or to do nothing at all. Stop listening to the Naughty Woulds. Give yourself and your beautiful imagination time and space to play. Feed your Fancies. Then see what you discover in your Realm of Possibilities!

Until next time,