Bookshelf II

Normally I'm a speed reader. I have been all my life. But I just finished a book that took me two months to read: Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project.

I've been really into memoirs for the past couple of years, and I saw Gretchen speak at a work event back in February. I didn't think her presentation was as funny as the other speakers, but I didn't think she was horrible either - she was okay. So when I found I could get two of her books for the price of one from the event on Amazon I thought I'd give her a shot.

I wanted to like the book, really I did, but I had the hardest time getting into it.

I wonder if that's because I saw a lot of myself in her and her admitted faults. Like her, I'm quick to judge and I like to "debate" (Ricky just calls me argumentative - I, of course, disagree). Maybe she's just not enough of a difference in personality for me to see it as a form of escape (or walking in someone else's shoes) to enjoy - reasons I prefer Jen Lancaster and Jenny Lawson better. They've had all kinds of madcap experiences that are so out of my realm that they give me something to think about (and in Jen's case, the sort of person I wouldn't mind learning from/befriending).

I dunno.

Maybe it's that, but maybe it also has to do with the fact that she's a bit of a research nut and included a lot of that and comments from her blog in the book that slowed things down for me. Research is great and all, but I don't need to know the nitty gritty about it. Hit me with your best quotes you've found and then move on to your perspective again.

I dunno.

At least she gave me a new way to look at the idea of resolutions. They're different from goals. A goal has a tangible end. A resolution should be on-going and something to continually work on/toward. 

I still have her other book to read, but I'm going to take a break from Gretchen for a bit and read The 5th Wave and its sequel next. Ricky's been waiting for me to read those since we got them. Maybe Better Than Before will truly be better. One can hope.