"The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin

I received The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin from Ann at Up North in a book giveaway and have enjoyed reading it. Basically, Gretchen decided to make an effort at becoming a happier person and focus on that mission for a year. She set some goals each month that she felt would increase her level of happiness if she met them and wrote a book about her project as well as starting a blog about it (www.happiness-project.com). She makes the point over and over that anyone could do their own happiness project and it would be unique to them.


I really found some of her research about happiness very interesting and she gives a lot of good suggestions. On the other hand, there was a good chunk of the book that really didn't interest me because some of her goals just didn't appeal to me. Those parts I just skimmed. Overall though, I think the basic concept is intriguing and found myself marking quite a few things in it that interested me. I loved how she lists her goals each month at the beginning of the chapters and in the back has summary pages of tips for attaining certain common goals such as "Tips to stick to a regular schedule of exercise," "Tips on getting your sweetheart to do chores without nagging," "Tips for coping with the fact that you don't remember a person's name," "Tips for getting an energy boost in the next ten minutes," to name a few.

There are actually Happiness Project Groups started across the country that you can join or you can get a kit and start one of your own. I found this out when I went on the Facebook page. The Happiness Project is a thought provoking book that is worth keeping.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? You can help our charity of the month just by leaving a comment on any of our blogs! We will donate 50 cents per comment at the end of the month. The charity for this month is at the top of our blog.

"Turn Of Mind" by Alice LaPlante

Turn of Mind by Alice LaPlante is told by Dr. Jennifer White, who has Dementia, where it is hard to remember and recognize people.  Unfortunately, in reality a lot of people suffer from this. 

In Turn of Mind, Jennifer may or may not have killed her long-time friend and neighbor.  She also has to deal with her two grown children who have their own agenda, plus a caregiver who is anything but.  I enjoyed reading this right from the start and the incredible ending made this a "two WOW" book for me! 

If you are looking for a beach read or light reading, this is not it.  However, if you are looking for a page turner and something you will remember, you just found it! 
(Gerard's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? You can help our charity of the month just by leaving a comment on any of our blogs! We will donate 50 cents per comment at the end of the month. The charity for this month is at the top of our blog.

Tuesday Teaser: "Turn of Mind" and "Red Hook Road"

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should  Be Reading. Anyone can play along, so I thought  I  would play for fun! Just do the following

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on  that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away!   You don’t  want  to  ruin the  book for others!)
• Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can  add the book to their TBR  Lists  if they  like your teaser. 

Gerard's:

Killed? Amanda? I asked. But it was true. Somehow I knew that.

From p. 42 of Turn of Mind by Alice LaPlante

Karen's:

A few hours that would be misery to get through, with or without Iris and the rest of the Copaken family. And after it was over she would have nothing more to do with them.

From p. 138 of Red Hook Road by Ayelet Waldman

You can help our charity of the month just by leaving a comment on any of our blogs! We will donate 50 cents per comment at the end of the month. The charity for this month is at the top of our blog.

"This Life Is In Your Hands" by Melissa Coleman

This Life Is In Your Hands--A Dream, Sixty Acres and A Family Undone by Melissa Coleman is about how her family lived by the land with no electric devices nor a bathroom. I enjoyed the story of how they built their house and had their garden for food. What they thought would be paradise turned out to be anything but. I liked how Melissa told the story.
(Gerard's Review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? You can help our charity of the month just by leaving a comment on any of our blogs! We will donate 50 cents per comment at the end of the month. The charity for this month is at the top of our blog.

"Long Drive Home" by Will Allison

WOW! Long Drive Home by Will Allison is good! A man has to deal with road rage three times on the way home with his first grade daughter. When the same driver who was the cause of the third one is at it again, he decides to teach him a lesson. It turns into a fatal accident with the only witness being his daughter. He is not all that forth coming to the cop and when his wife finds out, this book goes into super drive. I really enjoyed it a lot. It will keep you turning pages, trust me. With it only 182 pages, it is worth your while to read it.
(Gerard's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? You can help our charity of the month just by leaving a comment on any of our blogs! We will donate 50 cents per comment at the end of the month. The charity for this month is at the top of our blog.