Sitting on a city bus one day, Gretchen Rubin realizes she is not as happy as she could be, and that she is taking a lot of stuff for granted. Being a writer and researcher, she meticulously researches happiness and decides to try out her findings over the course of a year. So she divides them into 12 topics, and works on a new topic each month (while carrying over the stuff she has learned from previous months).
I really wanted to read this book. And I really wanted to like this book. I think most happy people share certain traits, so it sounded like a cool experiment. Can you become a happier person just by applying those same traits to your own life?
So far so good.
Buuuut...
I just couldn't get on with Gretchen's persona and writing style. She may lovely in real life, but my goodness, that sure isn't how she comes across in the book. Even though we seem to have a lot of interests in common, I felt no connection with her whatsoever. She just annoyed the heck out of me.
I persevered with the book till the end, hoping her conclusions at the end of the year would be worth it. They weren't. And the more I read, the more she grated on me.
That said, the author did produce one of my favourite quotes of the moment; "the days are long, but the years are short". For that I'm grateful!
I gave it two stars on goodreads.
