Friday Book Review: Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project

By the halfway point of January, lots of people have already given up on their New Year’s resolutions. Altering a habit — snapping at loved ones, for instance — requires constant self-monitoring. Pursuing a passion involves self-discipline and self-confidence — what if other people aren’t supportive?

Author Gretchen Rubin understands the challenge. She took a hard look at herself, and, in a totally Type A personality way, embarked on a yearlong mission to change. The result: a 301-page book, 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 (Harper Collins, $25.99), and an accompanying, interactive blog.

Unlike the glut of memoirists who flee their families, even their country, for a personal overhaul, Rubin, a wife, mother and writer who originally hails from Kansas City but now lives in New York City, sought to change her life without changing her life. A best-selling author in a healthy marriage, Rubin wasn’t unhappy in the first place. However, she recognized that, like a lot of reasonably happy people, she could stand to be happier.