SBC: Happier at Home

Kate&Mark · April 2014

I read this for the finish a previous, unfinished challenge task - "Close your eyes and point to a book randomly on your bookshelf, to read list, bookstore or library shelf and read that book". This one was picked randomly off my library TBR list.

I was pretty excited for this book because it seemed right up my alley - and ended up really disliking it. I haven't read her first book, The Happiness Project, but I gather that each month she undertook a set of goals/projects to make one area of her life happier. She set up this book as, even though I'm happy, the last happiness project was such a success, I should do another one focusing on home. It felt more like, the last book was such a success, I need to captialize on this shit and do another!

During the into/first few pages, I was totally getting on board and thinking about little life improvements that I could be doing for my own happiness project. By the end of the book, I wanted nothing to do with it. Her goals and suggestions felt so out-of-touch and unrelateable to me that I was completely turned off.

(Small spoiler: One of the things she decides to do to make her home "happier" near the end of the book is to commission a custom piece of artwork that mimiced something she saw in a museum and loved. She had a small scene made in one of her kitchen cabinets so it could be a "secret space" in the house. What!?)

Overall, it was disappointing for me.

kpow · April 2014

I have The Happiness Project. I hope it's better than this.

Kate&Mark · April 2014

I'd be really interested to hear how it is. I feel like I probably would have liked that one more!

jjr1214 · April 2014

I read the happiness project and thought it was just ok. I liked the basic premise and some of the ideas were interesting and applicable to my own life, but I found her to be kind of whiny and annoying.

kpow · April 2014

Oh dang. I was looking forward to this.

denmanam · April 2014

I really liked The Happiness Project and the idea of focusing on one particular change for an entire month. I also really liked Happier at Home, too. I agree that some of her ideas were a bit out there and totally not for me, but after reading both books I did find myself thinking about how happy I am and what I can do to be happier.

One Sweet Shannon · April 2014

jjr1214 said:

I read the happiness project and thought it was just ok. I liked the basic premise and some of the ideas were interesting and applicable to my own life, but I found her to be kind of whiny and annoying.

I felt this exact same way. The more time has elapsed and I've had to think about it, the less I liked it. I just went back to revisit my review and I am surprised to see I rated it 3.5 stars at the time. I was thinking of lowering it from the 3 stars I was sure I had given it.

Kate&Mark's review has helped confirm that I have no interest in reading Happier at Home.

SBC: Happier at Home

Re: SBC: Happier at Home

Choose Another Board

Search Boards