Happier at Home: Kiss More, Jump More, Abandon a Project, Read Samuel Johnson, and My Other Experiments in the Practice of Everyday Life

The content is very similar to The Happiness Project, without being too repetitive. I listened to one book right after the other and enjoyed both pretty equally. The both provide inspiration and motivation to tackle self-improvement projects, while also being excellent reminders to keep our lives and thoughts focused on the positive. In Happier at Home, Rubin's resolutions are focused on home life, which is especially useful for anyone who has a family and wants to find more balance.

I wish the author or someone with a similar sardonic take on the content had read this book, as she did The Happiness Project. The narrator Kathe Mazur over-dramatized the book, reading it as if it were a juicy secret she was whispering to a friend, and her tone was too saccharine for my taste. As a result, the author sometimes comes across sounding annoying, while I know from having listened to her previous book that her own tone when reading has the right level of self-deprecation to let you know she understands when she's not being her most admirable self.

I especially cringed at Mazur's children's voices, which were just...AWFUL. So sickly sweet I had to wonder if she's ever actually met a normal child.

She's a talented reader--I just really dislike what she did with this book.

Gretchen Rubin read "The Happiness Project" herself, and I loved her goofy, cheerful voice. She genuinely sounded happy! Her projects are nerdy and offbeat, but they feel authentic.

The projects feel less fun without the author's infectious, silly enthusiasm to win me over. The narrator isn't bad, she just isn't as genuinely excited about the projects and resolutions. This makes the experience sound less exhilarating and more exhausting. I also don't like her use of actual character voices for Gretchen's daughters, who sound like Rugrats. These are small things, but they definitely shaped my experience of the audiobook.

This book is definitely informed by the author's experiences with "The Happiness Project." She feels the need to remind readers that she knows how lucky she is to be able to be living a writerly life in New York City. She responds to some of the criticisms of the last book in this one in a way that feels defensive. I hope she realizes that many people enjoyed the book exactly as it was, and though we might envy her freedom and her great Manhattan apartment, we enjoy the chance to live vicariously through her experience. I appreciate her willingness to write so openly about her life and her experience. The people who did not like the last book are not going to be interested in reading this one.

I am not ready to tackle such a huge number of resolutions and projects all at once, but I like many of the ideas here. It's nice to think about giving more attention to greetings and goodbyes, for example. It's a good idea to remember that 15 minutes of unpleasant work each day can make me happier in the long run.

If you liked "The Happiness Project," you will probably enjoy "Happier at Home." If you haven't read "The Happiness Project" yet, read it first, because this book doesn't stand completely on its own, it relies heavily on material covered in the first book. Besides, as I said, the first book was more fun.

I think there are such fun and great systems in here. She has great ideas, and they are jumping off points to come up with what applies to you. Working on monthly themes is a great and do-able way to change things around in your life, and it's actually fun to break it down this way, and invent ideas for yourself.

I like the way she lays it out. It's easy, accessible, and she has a nice personality. I went to Youtube and watched interviews with her after listening to the book, and she is such a likable person.

I loved the first book (The Happiness Project), but I could barely make it through the first half of this book because I found the reader to be TERRIBLE. Soft, whispery, she has a "self-help, slow talking" voice that made me miss Gretchen Rubin's intent completely. Sbe would be better suited to that Saturday Night Live NPR skit where she says "Good times, good times" over and over. Rubin read her first book and I was entranced by how real she was and how great her ideas came across in her own voice...this reader COMPLETELY missed the mark for me.

i LOVED her first book and this book is very pleasent to listen as well. my only regret is that this time (unlike with the happiness project) mrs rubin is not the narrator. i think her voice adds a lot to the book overall.

Yes. As long as Gretchen Rubin was narrating. I love her expression, tone, and speed of narration.

Finding a book dealing with home is interesting to me, especially since we live in a very transient culture. Least interesting? Gretchen's cushy life.

If Gretchen had read her own work, just like in The Happiness Project.

Not sure. I think I would have enjoyed it more in printed form.

I am thinking about playing this narrator's work for my kids at bedtime to help them fall asleep faster.

I found this book very hard to listen too. My suspicions are the physical book would be more engaging. Gretchen's books are amazing and it was likely just the format I chose to listen.

I found this particular 'read' tough as it was life help vs a novel. Perhaps that was the issue. Novels are better on audio format for me.

I listened to The Happiness Project and really liked that it was read by the author. This one, however, is read by someone else. Kathe Mazur I'm sure has good intentions, but she reads the book like it is a book of poetry or a book of proverbs. Every word is treated as important. And the fact that it's not Gretchen Rubin's voice even though it's her words (and having listened to a whole book by her already) is jarring and disconcerting. I have not been able to get past the first hour and a half. I used to listen to the book while getting ready for work in the morning and eating breakfast, but now I prefer silence or reading. I'll try to get back into it -- but Gretchen, I wish you had read this one too.

This book is packed with useful ideas, thoughts, suggestions to take responsibility for making our homes happier and healthier. Love it! Now I intend to listen to "The Happiness Project."

Although I have both happiness books in print, I own them both on audible. I love listening to the books many times because it really helps solidify things for me. Whenever I do not have an audio book, I turn on Grethchen';s books again even though I have already listened to them many times. I feel like I am talking with a friend.

I love how honest Gretchen is about how she feels as she goes through her daily life.

I like the simplicity of her voice. It is clear and easily understood. This is not a book to be done with drama and she is a perfect reader for this.

I felt like the book was written to me. Gretchen's first book helped me a lot and helped me look at things in new ways. This book hits things right on the head and really put me in my place.

I read a lot and for a book to give me new ideas that I had not though of before is saying a lot.