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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
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.
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 :(
informative
reflective
medium-paced
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.
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
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...
A friend recommended this book, and I was almost offended. Did she think I wasn't grateful? It took me a while to pick it up, but I'm so glad I finally did! I could hardly put it down and now I'm the one recommending it to all my friends. I think this book should be required reading for all!
Good blend of research and journalism to extoll the virtues of an attitude of gratitude. It was a good reminder, with some particularly good pragmatic ideas for improvement.
inspiring
medium-paced
This book took me a long time to read, but it was convenient to finish it in November and count it towards non-fiction November reading. I felt like I would have liked to read more advice about how to be more grateful and less of the research on why being grateful is a good thing. There was a lot of name dropping in the book, as well as a few chapters about being grateful in the work place, which I only skimmed. I did find some quotes on gratitude and ideas that I found helpful, including the advice to find reasons to thank your spouse daily, focusing on the positives, appreciating your meals, and eating foods that make you grateful. This was an mix of memoir and non-fiction, and I guess it needed to just decide where it wanted to be.