After hearing Gretchen Ruben interviewed on a talk show, I decided to give her book a chance. I expected one of those flimsy, dime-a-dozen self-help books. Since I am retired and very happy, I did not expect to learn a whole lot. I was, however, pleasantly surprised and fascinated to read about the author's year-long process to become happier. It made me realize that even I. Retirement, I should still set goals to ensure that I continue to be happy. This book is highly recommended for people in their twenties and thirties since it can give them a lot of personal insight. A good book.

"Act the way you want to feel." Deceptively simple advice but the most profound concept I took away from "The Happiness Project." In self-help's newest "do something off-beat for a year and write a book about it" memoir, Gretchen Rubin dismisses the notion that increased happiness only comes from sweeping life changes. Instead, the author creates a few resolutions per month based on a specific theme (marriage, money, spirituality etc) and chronicles her struggles to make small adjustments to her everyday attitude. Rubin writes in an appealing, conversational style and shares many thought-provoking tips on fostering a greater sense of well-being: cut people slack, tackle a nagging task, laugh every day. She backs up her anecdotes with extensive research and always maintains that what makes HER happy won't necessarily make others happy. Thus, she encourages independence in her readers, guiding us to improve our own unique lives instead of simply following her model. Responsibly, she also makes it clear that she offers no magic formula; her book will not treat depression. Unfortunately, though, a lot of Rubin's memoir feels both tedious and obvious; by the April chapter I started skimming and didn't really stop. Cliches such as, "you can't change your partner, you can only change yourself" crop up all too often and epiphanies like using file boxes to store cards and photos seem ridiculous coming from an intelligent, organized woman who used to clerk for Sandra Day O'Connor. Finally, much of the book's latter half consists of comments that internet users have left on The Happiness Project's blog. A few insightful thoughts from others may have added interest but the larger volume only disrupted Rubin's flow in the name of filling space.

This book is not about ditching your spouse and moving across the continent or to the other side of the world in order to find happiness. It is about an approach to changing your life, without changing your life. It is more about changing yourself, changing the lens through which you view everything familiar. The author was basically happy and had no desire for extraordinary change; she just wanted to change the way she perceived life, to be more appreciative of what she has, to behave better, to create a more positive environment for herself and her family. She also wanted to prepare herself for any future adversity – to develop the self-discipline and the mental habits to deal with a bad thing when it happened. She didn’t want to wait for a crisis before she remade her life. Her project lasted one year. She created a separate set of resolutions, addressing one aspect of life, for each month of the year. She focussed on changing herself, not her family or anyone else. She also placed a lot of emphasis on knowing who she is – what can be changed and what can’t. The book does indeed contain abundant food for thought. Gretchen Rubin describes her own year of self-reflection and resolution -making and –keeping, making it clear that anyone else’s project would take a different path. But her experience provides an excellent starting point, whether you select just a few of her ideas to make small changes or use it as a template to embark on your own year-long project. Another reviewer didn’t like the lack of footnotes. I did not find this a problem. Rather, I liked it; I find that footnotes interfere with the flow. She has done an enormous amount of research; I trust that she has done it properly, in a scholarly way, and I don’t need to know the details of research cited, only the results. I would, however, have appreciated an index. A couple of times I wanted to refer back to something mentioned earlier but couldn’t find it again. The life-areas she addressed each month constituted a comprehensive list. She makes it clear that part of the motivation was that by making herself happier, she could make her family happier. However, I strongly believe that one area that should be included in everyone’s quest for improvement is to change the way we live on this earth – to leave a smaller footprint, to live in a sustainable way. This is a universal requirement not related to individual circumstance. Some of her suggestions have that effect but that was never the motivation and the subject was never directly addressed. Some of her comments make it clear that this is something she doesn’t consider. Making ourselves happier should not only make our families happier, it should make the planet happier. This is my only serious criticism of the book. (Please excuse the green preaching!) This is an excellent book - well structured, easy to read and encouraging. I don’t read a lot of self-help books but this one is by far the best I’ve encountered. Well worth the time.

It's hard to say why I disliked this book exactly. I expected more out of it. It frustrated me that she didn't footnote the 'studies' she cited.

gives much "food for thought" for life

great read

I loved it! If approached with an open mind, it can be life changing. Definitely recommend.

A bit slow-going in some parts, but there are the inspiring parts to balance it out. I definitely found some good advice to take away from this book, and will attempt to apply to my own life.

I was ready to dismiss this as a latecomer in the "Happiness" & "Stunt Non-Fiction" categories (non-fiction's answer to fiction's vampire trend), but ended up pleasantly surprised. The author is a tad obsessive in her pursuit of happiness and definitely a bit of a control freak, but she is very smart and has a knack for harvesting the essence from a huge variety of sources. Essentially, you're getting all the good bits from the entire self-help section of your library nicely served up in one book! Clutter control, marriage & parenting advice, spiritual guidance, it's all here and more - no fluff and flaky stuff, all very useful in everyday life. A book group could discuss a chapter a month, there's so much food for thought (and action!) Read it, it'll make you happier! flag

Lots of inspiring moments and food for thought. Very enjoyable read!