What do readers think of Happier at Home by Gretchen Rubin? Write your own review.

J.D. Salinger said, "what I like best is a book that's at least funny once in awhile....What really knocks me out is a book that when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call (her) up on the phone whenever you felt like it." That is how this book appealed to me. Gretchen Rubin seems like someone I would enjoy getting to know even better. This is not a manual of self help. This is the start of a conversation. Ms. Rubin doesn't always succeed in following her own rules and some of her descriptions of failures made me laugh. An example was when she yelled at her daughter through the bathroom door demanding that the child control herself. If we sat down and conversed about some of her ideas I would sometimes have cheered her on, sometimes suggested she rethink them and sometimes joined her immediately in her experiment. I would have been happy to share her pleasure in her projects. I am grateful that she shared her year with us.
I hope that others enjoy her writing as much as I did.

Written in an engaging and easy to read style, I still felt that much of this was just plain ol' common sense. How to be happier at home by sections, show more affection to those you live with, spend some time each day doing something you love, show interest in others personal interests, etc. See common sense, but a good read for those who need reminding or those who are at a lost. May find something in it that will help those who are looking for answers and those who are questioning if what they are doing is going to work.

As a genre that I don't naturally veer toward, getting this from Bookbrowse for a club read, mandated that I read it. I am happy that I did, although most of the insights in it are pretty obvious.

All I can say is that after I read the book, I decided to try the author's approach of creating a shrine in my cluttered but favorite area at home.

It worked! I did sacrifice 5 hours of my Sunday to do it, but the end product was worth it.

I would recommend this book to those who need that little extra push to get started.