Reading Challenge: Happier at Home

Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project is one of my favorite books, so I was excited to see that she embarked on a second happiness project chronicling it in Happier at Home. In the first project, Gretchen worked to make herself happier through a 12-month plan focusing on one resolution theme per month. In this follow up, her daughters are both at key points in their childhood; her youngest entering kindergarten and her second in sixth grade about to enter into her teen years, rather than the conventional calendar year she used the school year to expand her happiness with nine resolutions to boost her happiness specifically at home.

This style of writing is one of my favorites to read, it's so inspiring and makes the reader want to jump in and start their own projects! But don't get too caught up with that. Yes, I think starting your own happiness project is an awesome idea and reading Gretchen's books will definitely point you in the direction that you need to get started. But trying to work along as you read can be very overwhelming and I've known people who stopped reading because they ended up feeling bad that they couldn't keep up. My advice would be to take notes as you read with ideas that jump out to you or thoughts on what you'd like to tackle in your own project, but don't start anything until you've finished the book!

Another thing I really love about The Happiness Project and now Happier at Home is that Gretchen seamlessly incorporates research and quotes in perfect context. (You'll notice I'm using the author's first name rather than last, this is because through reading her books I feel like I know her and that we're old friends. Another quality that I love in books of this genre/style.)  I love research and reading so the integration of quotes into anything I'm reading is very appealing to me.

It's important to note that Gretchen didn't start these projects because she was unhappy, she just knew that there were things in her life that could be worked on and she could be happier. Who doesn't want to be happier. These books are not about getting out of a depression, although I do think some of her ideas could easily be used to help in those situations as well. While she does use some flowery language at times that could drive this book toward a more feminine audience, the themes are universal and can apply to anyone!

I highly recommend this book (and also The Happiness Project), both are books that I could re-read every year (or alternate each one every other year) to remind myself to take action toward being happier! If you want more information about starting a happiness project check out Gretchen's blog here!

Let's be happy people!

Book 19/50