book review: the happiness project

I picked up this book from a bookstore at the airport. It was on sale, so I bought it along with two other books. I've been wanting to read this book since it has many good reviews. The Happiness Project, a book by Gretchen Rubin, is basically about how she dedicated a year to make her life happier and more fulfilling. She divided the project into twelve months; each month with a different area of her life she wanted to improve or change in order to make her happier.

Reading this book is like reading her own journal. The whole book is about how she wanted to make herself happier, and hopefully the readers can pick up some valuable lessons from her experience. Some areas she discussed are quite interesting, for example, in February, she tried to work on her marriage, which is already good but she wanted to make it better, by changing some of her bad habits, or in November, she wanted to have a more positive and cheerful attitude. I flipped through some chapters as I don't really find them relatable to me. I also skipped through all her readers' ideas or stories she excerpted from her blog; a bit boring and unnecessary, in my opinion.

I had quite a good time reading this book. If you are looking for a light reading and feel-good aftermath, I recommend this book, but keep an open mind. Although she is smart and dedicated, I personally feel that she is probably not the most pleasant person to be friends with, or someone I would want to be friends with. I don't know why I conclude that but reading her book, I find her constantly nagging and wanting to take control all the time. There's a part in the book where she described herself as belligerent and a know-it-all, how annoying that is to be around someone like that. I guess that's why she wrote chapter 11: Attitude. What I think she was trying to say is that if you think you're happy then you are and vice versa. You are the one who has control over your own life, you're the one who chooses to be happy or unhappy.