Self-help or not?

At one point Gretchen Rubin says that Happier at Home is not a self-help book, but perhaps a "self-helpful" book. Do you think it qualifies as self-help? To me, it almost seemed more like an immersion journalism project, like A.J. Jacobs trying to follow everything in the Old Testament in The Year of Living Biblically. Although not much of it was helpful to me, it was often interesting to see the results.

I think it is a helpful self-help book. It is a bit of a how to do-it-yourself and a way to examine your own life, home and family. The book focuses on how Gretchen identified items that she wanted to improve although many are universal and I would think others would adopt them. The concepts can get repetitive but with her month focus structure she was able to avoid some of the repetition so common in a typical self help book. I enjoyed it but still read more like a self-help book then a memoir.

Not sure if it is a self help book, definitely makes you think.

I read it as a self help book but it was so specific it left me feeling distanced rather than wanting to try out the techniques.

I loved the research that went into this book and finding out what others have said over the years. This book really impacted my life and made me think about what brings satisfaction and happiness into my life. I generally don't care for self help books--often too preachy or not specific enough for me. I found this book to be practical and geared toward ideas for finding your own road.