Two Books...

It is your lucky day! Two book reviews in one post! I have read a lot of books lately but only two really warrant a review: The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin and The Cookbook Collector by Allegra Goodman.

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin is an absolutely amazing book. Gretchen Rubin decided that she wanted to be happier. She was already happy and had a good life but she wanted more, she wanted to enjoy her life more. So she came up with a plan, she would take one year and make goals in 12 different areas of her life (marriage, work, parenting, self-fulfillment, etc.). Each month she came up with a few things that she could work on specifically within each category, such as go to bed earlier or organize her house or not criticizing her husband or not gossiping. Each month was specialized and by the end of the year, she feels more balanced. The year did not go perfectly but she learned things about herself and her relationships.

The book is inspirational and much more entertaining than most self-help books. Gretchen has a very witty writing style that makes it a very easy read. I found a lot of great tips in the book and while I don't have the desire to take an entire year of my life, I found myself thinking of the things I can change in my every day life. She made a really good point on how she is a "gold star" person and she wants to get a figurative gold star when she does something good. For instance, when she makes a good meal, she wants someone to tell her it was good (gold star). Then she realized she needed to not seek recognition but just give herself a gold star in her head if needs be. I recognized that I am similar and I need to not expect gold stars. See, I learned something!

Now for the The Cookbook Collector by Allegra Goodman. I just finished this one last weekend and I really liked it. The characters were so intriguing and the story was great. I started it and next thing I know, I couldn't put it down and when I did, I couldn't stop thinking about the characters. The story is about two sisters in California, the older sister, Emily, is CEO of a major tech company that is about to go public and the younger sister, Jess, is a tree hugging grad student at Berkley who works at an antiquarian bookstore.

The book is about the relationship between sisters and about their individual struggles in life. I absolutely loved the relationship between Emily and Jess. Maybe it is because my sister and I are BFFs, but I love stories about sisters because it reminds me how awesome it is to have someone that knows you so well you don't have to say everything to be understood. Beyond the relationship between Emily and Jess, the story shares the lessons they learn as they each try to fight the allure of power, money and relationship struggles.

I loved both books. The Happiness Project gets 5 stars and The Cookbook Collector gets 4 stars.