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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
This book was a great reminder to be grateful. While none of the ideas were new or original, and quite a bit of reference was made to the 'right' names, it does walk you through a year's worth of personal experience and advice. Her personal results are moving.
If you need a reminder to stop and take the time to be grateful, this is a good one.
If you need a reminder to stop and take the time to be grateful, this is a good one.
I'm not sure how to rate this one. Like so many in this genre, it could have been a long article -- lots of fluff. And the name-dropping annoyed me. (also the whining about money -- pretty sure a magazine editor and a doctor make plenty of money!!). But I loved the ideas and reading the research. So: a bland three stars ;-)
The principle is good and I think this book would have made for an interesting article. But I found it over-simplified and too rah-rah and ended up skimming much of it because the tone was too much for me.
The book would have benefited from a bulleted list of highlights at the front of each chapter. The three gratitude quotes that introduces each chapter were fine, but having the key takeaways up front would have been a good guide for whether the chapter was worth reading.
Also, maybe this is in the book and I just didn’t see it, but I think it’s worth saying that while gratitude *within* may be transformative — I do believe that premise and the research she sites — constantly reminding others of all they have to be grateful for seems to be a good way to lose friends. Pollyanna may be good in small doses, but not all the time.
The book would have benefited from a bulleted list of highlights at the front of each chapter. The three gratitude quotes that introduces each chapter were fine, but having the key takeaways up front would have been a good guide for whether the chapter was worth reading.
Also, maybe this is in the book and I just didn’t see it, but I think it’s worth saying that while gratitude *within* may be transformative — I do believe that premise and the research she sites — constantly reminding others of all they have to be grateful for seems to be a good way to lose friends. Pollyanna may be good in small doses, but not all the time.
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Basically, this is Janice Kaplan's account of her year of grateful living. After deciding she doesn't want to be the "ungrateful lady," she begins to keep a gratitude diary (3 things she's grateful for, every day) and starts living life more positively. In addition to recounting her personal experiences, she also shares research that has been conducted about the effects of gratitude by doctors, social scientists, psychologists, etc.
I'm of two minds about this book.
First off, this book has a wonderful message: be grateful. (Because I'm a pessimist, the fact that I enjoyed it should speak volumes.) Since I started the book I've been keeping a gratitude diary, and I can honestly say that it has helped me to focus on the positive, rather than the negative. Also, Kaplan has done an impressive job of researching gratitude and its effects. The scientific information she pulled together was extremely interesting and thorough.
On the other hand, my tolerance for Janice Kaplan only lasted through about 20% of the book. The remaining 80% of the way, she grated on me terribly.
The most infuriating parts of the book were the (numerous) places where she casually mentions certain events in her life and how she spun them to focus on gratitude. Several, if not many, of these events would be the highlight of any other person's year. These include: when dinner at the restaurant was slow and mediocre during their vacation to Amsterdam; when part of their family's hike through the Alps was scary; and when the resort in California wasn't all it could have been. Need I go on?
Despite the fact that reading it irritated me, I do highly recommend this book. The positive message and solid research far outweighed the irritating bits.
Then again, you would probably get all the same benefits if you just started keeping a gratitude diary. :-)
I'm of two minds about this book.
First off, this book has a wonderful message: be grateful. (Because I'm a pessimist, the fact that I enjoyed it should speak volumes.) Since I started the book I've been keeping a gratitude diary, and I can honestly say that it has helped me to focus on the positive, rather than the negative. Also, Kaplan has done an impressive job of researching gratitude and its effects. The scientific information she pulled together was extremely interesting and thorough.
On the other hand, my tolerance for Janice Kaplan only lasted through about 20% of the book. The remaining 80% of the way, she grated on me terribly.
The most infuriating parts of the book were the (numerous) places where she casually mentions certain events in her life and how she spun them to focus on gratitude. Several, if not many, of these events would be the highlight of any other person's year. These include: when dinner at the restaurant was slow and mediocre during their vacation to Amsterdam; when part of their family's hike through the Alps was scary; and when the resort in California wasn't all it could have been. Need I go on?
Despite the fact that reading it irritated me, I do highly recommend this book. The positive message and solid research far outweighed the irritating bits.
Then again, you would probably get all the same benefits if you just started keeping a gratitude diary. :-)
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Grateful for this book!
Great read for anyone looking to improve their life through changing their perspective! Would recommend for anyone as we head into the holiday season and new year!
Great read for anyone looking to improve their life through changing their perspective! Would recommend for anyone as we head into the holiday season and new year!
I LOVED the first ~100 pages of this book, which covered the introduction/why Kaplan chose this topic and her first season, Winter. Completely putting aside the fact that Janice Kaplan has plenty to be grateful for (including, but not limited to, a New York City apartment, a second home in Connecticut, her husband's career as a doctor, multiple vacations around the world, tickets to popular Broadway shows, etc), I can appreciate that someone is trying to improve their life. Plenty of the suggestions and recommendations can be applied to any life, not just Kaplan's sort of life. I was excited to keep reading, recommending to friends, and planning to put some suggestions into practice.
Then the rest of the "seasons" dragged on, and I stopped looking forward to this book. I would carry it around with me, fully intending to read it, but I would end up reading the news online or playing on my phone. I finally pushed myself to finish it so I could start something else. The book turned too repetitive and would benefit from headers and subtitles to divide up some of the numerous subtopics per chapter. I'd also like to send Kaplan a dictionary so her chapter beginnings could stop ending, "grateful that gratitude....".
Then the rest of the "seasons" dragged on, and I stopped looking forward to this book. I would carry it around with me, fully intending to read it, but I would end up reading the news online or playing on my phone. I finally pushed myself to finish it so I could start something else. The book turned too repetitive and would benefit from headers and subtitles to divide up some of the numerous subtopics per chapter. I'd also like to send Kaplan a dictionary so her chapter beginnings could stop ending, "grateful that gratitude....".
I constantly have to remind myself that 3 stars is "liked it." I liked this book. I skipped the exercise/weight/whatever chapter because I'm all set on that front and you never know when someone is going to say something profoundly dumb and backward (jk, you know it's pretty much always). I'm pretty skeptical about anything that has a self helpy angle, but this wasn't really cloying or shamey, and it's an appropriate time for me to set aside some effort to reframing how I see things in my life. It's an easy read, pretty light, and I'm glad I saw it at the library and decided to give it a try.
I loved reading this book -- I've been thinking about it constantly the last two week as I've been reading. I'm also glad I picked it to read now, to help mentally prepare me for the High Holy Days (Rosh Hashanah was Sept 30, and Yom Kippur is Oct 9. I heard the author, Janice Kaplan, speak in mid-September, and she is just as expressive and funny in the book as she as in person. This book, which is a combination of memoir and study of the latest gratitude research (which is summarized in an extremely readable manner) is inspiring me to make gratitude a focus of my life this year to improve my appreciation of my life as well as my mental and physical wellness. Gratitude as Kaplan describes it is not being unrealistically optimistic, but my letting an attitude of gratitude shape how you respond to life's real challenges while appreciating the good things in your life.