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jmkuipers's review against another edition
1.0
Interesting premise but unrelatable as the writer is very privileged and tends to focus on trivial/material goods.
masonboerger's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
2.5
Tone-deaf, but really good at parts. Truly is a rich white woman in Manhattan talking about how gratitude makes her enjoy her life more.
She is an amazing writer though, and the findings she has from her interviews are truly insightful, then she goes into an anecdote about her own life and I wish I couldn’t read the English language.
She is an amazing writer though, and the findings she has from her interviews are truly insightful, then she goes into an anecdote about her own life and I wish I couldn’t read the English language.
midwifereading's review against another edition
4.0
Simply put, I enjoyed this book.
I am not much of a self-help reader, but this year, I decided to set aside my pride and try a few that appeal to me. Many of them I don't even finish, because they all seem to be written by spoiled brats who don't know how good they really have it. Their life is full of multiple homes, travel, money, fame, and more, but their lives are somehow so miserable, that they despair at missing out on some enlightenment.
I can't relate to that.
This book is also written by a spoiled woman, except that she realizes that she's spoiled, and decides to spend a year learning to be grateful. Rather than trying to change the circumstances of her life, she seeks to learn how to express and feel gratitude for what's right in front of her.
This is an approach I can get behind!
She didn't need a fully funded trip around the world eating, praying and loving. She didn't need other people to stroke her ego, guide her onto new spiritual plains, or tell her comforting lies over really great food. She realized that it is her responsibility to find her own joy and happiness within the life she has been given.
She also realizes that gratitude allows you the wisdom to see circumstances that might need to change, and the courage to make those changes herself.
Breath of fresh air.
The best part? She doesn't claim to hold the keys to happiness. She just shares her research and personal journey. And I believe her year of gratitude was genuine, and it's going to stick, and she's really going to be better for it.
I appreciated her approach, her conversational writing style, and her humility.
She comes across kind of big-sistery at times, even though she's the little sister in her family. But even that made me appreciate her more, because I related so strongly.
I'm glad I read it, and I think I can apply what I learned from it.
I am not much of a self-help reader, but this year, I decided to set aside my pride and try a few that appeal to me. Many of them I don't even finish, because they all seem to be written by spoiled brats who don't know how good they really have it. Their life is full of multiple homes, travel, money, fame, and more, but their lives are somehow so miserable, that they despair at missing out on some enlightenment.
I can't relate to that.
This book is also written by a spoiled woman, except that she realizes that she's spoiled, and decides to spend a year learning to be grateful. Rather than trying to change the circumstances of her life, she seeks to learn how to express and feel gratitude for what's right in front of her.
This is an approach I can get behind!
She didn't need a fully funded trip around the world eating, praying and loving. She didn't need other people to stroke her ego, guide her onto new spiritual plains, or tell her comforting lies over really great food. She realized that it is her responsibility to find her own joy and happiness within the life she has been given.
She also realizes that gratitude allows you the wisdom to see circumstances that might need to change, and the courage to make those changes herself.
Breath of fresh air.
The best part? She doesn't claim to hold the keys to happiness. She just shares her research and personal journey. And I believe her year of gratitude was genuine, and it's going to stick, and she's really going to be better for it.
I appreciated her approach, her conversational writing style, and her humility.
She comes across kind of big-sistery at times, even though she's the little sister in her family. But even that made me appreciate her more, because I related so strongly.
I'm glad I read it, and I think I can apply what I learned from it.
prianga's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
5.0
lelia_t's review against another edition
1.0
I was given this book by someone I like and admire, so I was dismayed to realize that a book that had been so meaningful for him was insufferable to me. To each his own, but here are some of the things that bothered me about Kaplan’s approach: :
- Oversimplification: For example, Kaplan disagrees with the results of the many studies which suggest that beyond a certain amount, more money doesn’t make us happier. Her analysis goes like this: “I have yet to meet anyone who says, ‘I’d like to be happier-so I need less money.”
- Baffling assumptions: “Given that I am working on a new project about gratitude, I should have woken up on this early April morning to sunny skies, singing birds, and friends gathered in my living room singing ‘Kumbaya.’“ Why on earth is that a given? Being grateful does not entitle you to a Disney princess lifestyle.
- A tone of starry-eyed, life-in-a-Hallmark-movie naivete: Having found $20 on a New York City street, she and her husband paused to listen to street musicians. Then they “exchanged a long glance. We instinctively felt the money wasn’t ours and needed to be shared. When I gave a little nod of agreement, Ron dropped the twenty in the musicians’ collecting hat.”
- Ignorance: “Trying to get a bigger view, I discovered that roughly one-third of the world's population lives on less than two dollars a day.” Surely, as a journalist, she isn’t only now discovering global poverty? I couldn’t tell if she was truly uninformed or if she was posing as a poorly informed person because she thinks her readers are uninformed.
- Jocular parenthetical asides: Telling of a friend in real estate, Kaplan writes, “She had spent her entire career in a macho world (why do you think men build tall buildings?).”
- Misrepresentation of Hamlet: “If somebody had told Hamlet to keep a gratitude journal, maybe he would have concentrated on how fortunate he was to be a prince and to have his beautiful girlfriend, Ophelia. Really, it wasn’t such a bad life!” Has she read Hamlet?
- Elitism: “The unlikeliest people (including a cabdriver) told me they kept gratitude journals.” Why is it unlikely that a cabdriver keeps a gratitude journal?
- Inspiresting messaging: In an article in the Drift, Oscar Schwartz defines this term: “Stylistically, the inspiresting is earnest and contrived. It is smart but not quite intellectual, personal but not sincere, jokey but not funny. It is an aesthetic of populist elitism. Politically, the inspiresting performs a certain kind of progressivism, as it is concerned with making the world a better place, however vaguely.”
It’s this last one that really irritates me because as a marketing copywriter, I spent decades writing my own “inspiresting” articles for newsletters and blogs, bromides that offer easy, feel-good answers and/or try to sell you something.
- Oversimplification: For example, Kaplan disagrees with the results of the many studies which suggest that beyond a certain amount, more money doesn’t make us happier. Her analysis goes like this: “I have yet to meet anyone who says, ‘I’d like to be happier-so I need less money.”
- Baffling assumptions: “Given that I am working on a new project about gratitude, I should have woken up on this early April morning to sunny skies, singing birds, and friends gathered in my living room singing ‘Kumbaya.’“ Why on earth is that a given? Being grateful does not entitle you to a Disney princess lifestyle.
- A tone of starry-eyed, life-in-a-Hallmark-movie naivete: Having found $20 on a New York City street, she and her husband paused to listen to street musicians. Then they “exchanged a long glance. We instinctively felt the money wasn’t ours and needed to be shared. When I gave a little nod of agreement, Ron dropped the twenty in the musicians’ collecting hat.”
- Ignorance: “Trying to get a bigger view, I discovered that roughly one-third of the world's population lives on less than two dollars a day.” Surely, as a journalist, she isn’t only now discovering global poverty? I couldn’t tell if she was truly uninformed or if she was posing as a poorly informed person because she thinks her readers are uninformed.
- Jocular parenthetical asides: Telling of a friend in real estate, Kaplan writes, “She had spent her entire career in a macho world (why do you think men build tall buildings?).”
- Misrepresentation of Hamlet: “If somebody had told Hamlet to keep a gratitude journal, maybe he would have concentrated on how fortunate he was to be a prince and to have his beautiful girlfriend, Ophelia. Really, it wasn’t such a bad life!” Has she read Hamlet?
- Elitism: “The unlikeliest people (including a cabdriver) told me they kept gratitude journals.” Why is it unlikely that a cabdriver keeps a gratitude journal?
- Inspiresting messaging: In an article in the Drift, Oscar Schwartz defines this term: “Stylistically, the inspiresting is earnest and contrived. It is smart but not quite intellectual, personal but not sincere, jokey but not funny. It is an aesthetic of populist elitism. Politically, the inspiresting performs a certain kind of progressivism, as it is concerned with making the world a better place, however vaguely.”
It’s this last one that really irritates me because as a marketing copywriter, I spent decades writing my own “inspiresting” articles for newsletters and blogs, bromides that offer easy, feel-good answers and/or try to sell you something.
sammybecause's review against another edition
1.0
who was she writing this book for??? dog this book was written from a POV that i just could not relate to. the author speaks on gratitude from the point of: well at least my life isn't as bad as THAT guys is! and that guy is (as said in the book); from africa (lol???), an alcoholic, fat, poor, disabled, etc. i think gratitude is so important but the message was missed for me when the author made sure to point out her fancy, expensive dinners and luxury vacations for seemingly no reason...
ps. i wrote a way better review for this book then closed the app and lost all my progress so this is the tldr :(
ps. i wrote a way better review for this book then closed the app and lost all my progress so this is the tldr :(
boiledbagels's review against another edition
1.0
I mean this in no disrespect to the author, but for me, it was quite uninspiring; the stories were colorless. Typically, I do not read these kinds of books, but I received it in a subscription box and was willing to give it a try. Perhaps it is because I see gratitude in a different perspective than the author, who relies on intellectual, matured, famous, or personal opinions. I will stick to what works best for me: good old-fashioned quiet time with me and my bestie (Jesus) with prayer, my devotional, and my Bible.
That being said, just because I did not gain anything from it, does not mean someone else cannot. I hope the next person who receives this book may find this read a bit more rewarding.
That being said, just because I did not gain anything from it, does not mean someone else cannot. I hope the next person who receives this book may find this read a bit more rewarding.
kayha's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
4.0
jenniferstringer's review against another edition
3.0
I had to babysit the office Thanksgiving week and this seemed like a timely book to listen to. It does carry a whiff of privilege as we listen to a woman who for all intents and purposes has it all (there was a lot of name dropping, but then those are the circles she runs in), and feels a need to develop a grateful outlook. She gives herself a yearlong goal of exploring gratitude in various aspects of her life, keeping a journal of her thoughts, experiences and research. Her research showed that one feels the most benefit from gratitude when one expresses it in some tangible form. She went on to show how that becomes a ripple in a pond, affecting others. It's almost as if gratitude is much more than a verbal expression of thanks. Action expresses more gratitude than speech...