The Happiness Project

The Happiness Project: Or Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun by Gretchen Rubin
Published by Harper on December 29, 2009
Pages: 301
Goodreads
four-stars

Gretchen Rubin had an epiphany one rainy afternoon in the unlikeliest of places: a city bus. “The days are long, but the years are short,” she realized. “Time is passing, and I’m not focusing enough on the things that really matter.” In that moment, she decided to dedicate a year to her happiness project.
In this lively and compelling account, Rubin chronicles her adventures during the twelve months she spent test-driving the wisdom of the ages, current scientific research, and lessons from popular culture about how to be happier. Among other things, she found that novelty and challenge are powerful sources of happiness; that money can help buy happiness, when spent wisely; that outer order contributes to inner calm; and that the very smallest of changes can make the biggest difference.

Hello!
I know that it has been a minute since I have written a post here, but if you have been following along with my Goodreads, always linked in the sidebar, you will know that I still have been reading. There are a few books that I finished this month that won’t end up being reviewed here, but if you saw that I finished it feel free to ask for my quick thoughts on the books. I may also end up doing a monthly wrap up of everything that happened this month, but we’ll see what happened.

Let’s get back to the real reason why we are here, I finished Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project earlier this month and it was a quick read. I loved that every month was a different chapter and in ways it felt quit a bit like some of the books she referenced. I also loved that she had some thought on goals and resolutions and creating a detailed vision of each month. This also gave me the idea of starting my own version of the project, but there will probably be for another year. There is just a lot happening this year ( more on that in a later post).

I would definitely recommend this book for someone who likes Gretchen Rubin, and someone who is into self help books. If you have read quite a bit of self help books you might find the information a bit repetitive, but Gretchen’s presentation of the information is different than others and it is worth giving a shot.

Outer Order, Inner Calm

1 / 30 / 202 / 1 / 20

Outer Order, Inner Calm: Declutter & Organize to Make More Room for Happiness by Gretchen Rubin
Published by Harmony on March 5, 2019
Pages: 208
Goodreads
four-stars

Bestselling author of The Four Tendencies and The Happiness Project Gretchen Rubin illuminates one of her key realizations about happiness: For most of us, outer order contributes to inner calm. In a new book packed with more than one hundred concrete ideas, she helps us create the order and organization that can make our lives happier, healthier, more productive, and more creative.
In the context of a happy life, a messy desk or crowded coat closet is a trivial problem–yet Gretchen Rubin has found that getting control of the stuff of life makes us feel more in control of our lives generally. By getting rid of things we don’t use, don’t need, or don’t love, as well as things that don’t work, don’t fit, or don’t suit, we free our mind (and our shelves) for what we truly value.
In this trim book filled with insights, strategies, and sometimes surprising tips, Gretchen tackles the key challenges of creating outer order, by explaining how to “Make Choices,” “Create Order,” “Know Yourself–and Others,” “Cultivate Helpful Habits,” and, of course, “Add Beauty.”
When we get our possessions under control, we feel both calmer and more energetic. With a sense of humor, and also a clear sense of what’s realistic for most people, Gretchen suggests dozens of manageable steps for creating a more serene, orderly environment–one that helps us to create the lives we yearn for.

Hey!
I’m back with yet another book interview. I’m still pulling my life together with the latest computer migration along with some crazy personal life things that have happened recently. I’ll talk about all of this a bit more in a later post. Right now we’re here to talk about my latest read Outer Order, Inner Calm by Gretchen Rubin. This was the January read for the Paper & Glam book club, which means that I am currently doing well with my reading goals for the year.

I thought that this book read a quite a bit like Marie Kondo’s The Magic of Tidying Up. If you want you can read my review of that book here, it was actually last January that this craze hit! I thought that Gretchen Rubin’s take on tidying up was less drastic and crazy than Marie Kondo’s so that the two methods can be used in conjunction with each other to completely a tidy up. I would recommend you read this book if you have already read the Marie Kondo book and need a bit more motivation for tidying up or have cleaned out Marie Kondo style and are wondering what’s next. I loved Gretchen Rubin as an author and plan on reading a couple more of her books this year.

Let me know what you have been reading lately and if you have read this book or are planning on reading it. See you soon!

WinterWood

1 / 23 / 201 / 30 / 20

Winterwood by Shea Ernshaw
Published by Simon Pulse on November 5, 2019
Pages: 323
Goodreads
four-stars

Be careful of the dark, dark wood…
Especially the woods surrounding the town of Fir Haven. Some say these woods are magical. Haunted, even.
Rumored to be a witch, only Nora Walker knows the truth. She and the Walker women before her have always shared a special connection with the woods. And it’s this special connection that leads Nora to Oliver Huntsman—the same boy who disappeared from the Camp for Wayward Boys weeks ago—and in the middle of the worst snowstorm in years. He should be dead, but here he is alive, and left in the woods with no memory of the time he’d been missing.
But Nora can feel an uneasy shift in the woods at Oliver’s presence. And it’s not too long after that Nora realizes she has no choice but to unearth the truth behind how the boy she has come to care so deeply about survived his time in the forest, and what led him there in the first place. What Nora doesn’t know, though, is that Oliver has secrets of his own—secrets he’ll do anything to keep buried, because as it turns out, he wasn’t the only one to have gone missing on that fateful night all those weeks ago.
For as long as there have been fairy tales, we have been warned to fear what lies within the dark, dark woods and in Winterwood, New York Times bestselling author Shea Ernshaw, shows us why.
From New York Times bestselling author of The Wicked Deep comes a haunting romance perfect for fans of Practical Magic, where dark fairy tales and enchanted folklore collide after a boy, believed to be missing, emerges from the magical woods—and falls in love with the witch determined to unravel his secrets.

Hey!
I’m back with yet another book review. Also I apologize if it looks like a hot mess around here for a bit. I am in the midst of switching computers, so I am trying to get things back up and running around the scenes. I do miss you guys and I hope to be back here more with more real entries, but the beginning of this year has been a little rough.

I had finished this book a couple of weeks ago and I just haven’t had the time to write about it here. In case you haven’t figured it out, but this entry is going to be a review of the book Winterwood by Shea Ernshaw. This is Shea Ernshaw’s second book, if you haven’t read my review on her first one you can read that here, I actually included it my Creating & Co September Readathon called the TBR Throwdown, since I didn’t get to read it when it was an actual read for the Creating & Co book club.

I won’t give a huge long summary since I’m hoping to get my blog a bit more fixed up, before this entry gets full fledged read by the masses. In general I enjoyed the book and it kept with Shea Ernshaw’s theme of creating very atmospheric story. I can’t remember if she did the back and forth between the two characters, but I thought that it worked in this book really well. I really should learn to expect the twist at the ending of these books, but I haven’t gotten to the point yet. I was still really surprised for the twist and yet I loved it all the same. I especially loved the witchy aspects of the books with the spells and such.

I would definitely recommend this book to people who have previously read Shea Ernshaw’s book and if you are into atmospheric books. I would also recommend this to someone who would like the slight witchy vibes to the story. Let me know if you have read this book and what you thought of it. I hope to be back soon with another post.

Let it Snow

12 / 18 / 1912 / 16 / 19

Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances by John Green, Maureen Johnson, Lauren Myracle
Published by Speak on October 2, 2008
Pages: 352
Format: Paperback
Goodreads
four-stars

Alternate cover edition for B006MOW98E
Sparkling white snowdrifts, beautiful presents wrapped in ribbons, and multicolored lights glittering in the night through the falling snow. A Christmas Eve snowstorm transforms one small town into a romantic haven, the kind you see only in movies. Well, kinda. After all, a cold and wet hike from a stranded train through the middle of nowhere would not normally end with a delicious kiss from a charming stranger. And no one would think that a trip to the Waffle House through four feet of snow would lead to love with an old friend. Or that the way back to true love begins with a painfully early morning shift at Starbucks.
Thanks to three of today’s best-selling teen authors—John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle—the magic of the holidays shines on these hilarious and charming interconnected tales of love, romance, and breathtaking kisses.

Hello Everyone!
I finished this book over a week ago, but actually forgot to do a review since I have been so busy. I had also intended on watching the Netflix movie that recently came out based on the book, but alas I haven’t had time. Perhaps that movie review will come later.

Let it Snow is a book that is a combination of three separate stories that take place over the course of a weekend in several towns that are affected by a freak snowstorm. In each story, we find a few overlapping characters that tie the story together and we also get to briefly meet characters from the other stories. I won’t spoil any of the stories for you since I think the book is definitely worth reading. I loved John Green as an author, so I can’t recommend him enough. There are several of his books I have read in the past so in case you need recommendations just search here. I haven’t read any Maureen Johnson books, but I definitely liked her writing style from what I read here. I did read Lauren Myracle’s words in the Catwoman comic book and I can’t say that I love what I have read from her so far, but the jury is still out.

If you are looking for a lighthearted tween holiday read this is definitely a book that I would recommend for you. This book will definitely get you in the holiday spirit. I hope to see you soon for another holiday post.!

My True Love Gave to Me

12 / 10 / 1912 / 8 / 19

My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories by Stephanie Perkins, Holly Black, Ally Carter, Matt de la Pena, Gayle Forman, Jenny Han, David Levithan, Kelly Link, Myra McEntire, Rainbow Rowell, Laini Taylor, Kiersten White, Jim Tierney
on October 14, 2014
Pages: 321
Goodreads
four-half-stars

If you love holiday stories, holiday movies, made-for-TV-holiday specials, holiday episodes of your favorite sitcoms and, especially, if you love holiday anthologies, you’re going to fall in love with My True Love Gave To Me: Twelve Holiday Stories by twelve bestselling young adult writers, edited by international bestselling author Stephanie Perkins. Whether you enjoy celebrating Christmas or Hanukkah, Winter Solstice or New Year's there's something here for everyone. So curl up by the fireplace and get cozy. You have twelve reasons this season to stay indoors and fall in love.

Hey!
I’m back with yet another book review. Yes, I know I should post more real life things, but at least I am catching up on my reading goals. This past week I was reading for the #Tistheseasonathon Reading Challenge, which I love and find it so fun to read holiday books during this time of year. This is actually the second book I finished for the week, but since the first book will actually come with a movie review that will come later. I loved this book for the most part. There were a few stories that I couldn’t get into, but I couldn’t stop turning pages and wanting to read more. An anthology like this is so great because it gives me a chance to try out new authors and find books that I might want to read in the future.

This is also the second book edited by Stephanie Perkins for the holidays the first one is Summer Days, and Summer Nights and you can read my review here. I kind of wish that there were more anthology books out there. Let me know if you have read this book or the other anthology edited by Stephanie Perkins and what you thought. I hope to see you soon in another post.