The Best of the Happiness Project Blog: Ten Years of Happiness, Good Habits, and More

by Gretchen Rubin

Did you love THE HAPPINESS PROJECT?New York Times bestselling author, Gretchen Rubin, celebrates ten years of blogging with a special commemorative ebook. This collection offers Gretchen’s best articles from a decade of studying happiness and habits.From her first day as a blogger to the happiest day of her life, Rubin relives the moments that have helped us understand our habits, improve our relationships, and lead happier lives. Whether you’re a longtime fan who has read Gretchen’s recent New York Times bestsellers THE HAPPINESS PROJECT, HAPPIER AT HOME, and BETTER THAN BEFORE, or a new convert from her wildly popular podcast, Happier with Gretchen Rubin, this funny and poignant compilation will entertain and inspire you in your own pursuit of happiness and good habits.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Psychology, Personal Development, Ebooks

118 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 20, 2016

About the author

Out now: "Secrets of Adulthood"
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Happiness Project and Better Than Before distills her key insights into simple truths for living with greater satisfaction, clarity, and happiness. Order your copy of "Secrets of Adulthood" today.

Author Bio
Gretchen Rubin is one of today’s most influential and thought-provoking observers of happiness and human nature. 

She’s the author of many New York Times bestselling books, such as The Happiness Project, Better Than Before, and The Four Tendencies, Life in Five Senses, and Secrets of Adulthood, which have sold millions of copies in more than thirty languages. Her next book Secrets of Adulthood comes out April 2025.

She’s the host of the popular, award-winning podcast Happier with Gretchen Rubin, where she and her co-host (and sister) Elizabeth Craft explore strategies and insights about how to make life happier. As the founder of The Happiness Project, she has helped create imaginative products for people to use in their own happiness projects.

She has been interviewed by Oprah, eaten dinner with Nobel Prize-winner Daniel Kahneman, walked arm-in-arm with the Dalai Lama, had her work reported on in a medical journal, been written up in the New Yorker, and been an answer on Jeopardy!

Gretchen Rubin started her career in law, and she realized she wanted to be a writer while she was clerking for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. Raised in Kansas City, she lives in New York City with her family.

Reviews

[debbicat *made of stardust* · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you follow Gretchen Rubin and listen to her podcast, this is very helpful to have. I enjoyed this and am glad I have it as a reference, as I find a lot of Gretchen's insights extremely helpful to me. I highly recommend it for self improvement and anyone who wants to build better habits and be happier. :-)

[Jena Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

You may have heard about Gretchen Rubin and her books on Happiness, Habits, and Tendancies. She also has a marvelous website and podcast. The Best of the Happiness Project Blog is a wonderful way to dip into her writings and get to know Gretchen. Yes, she is a thorough and exhausting researcher and yes, she has a penchant for lists, but she also has a warm-hearted, humorous, understanding and relatable voice. We do want to be happier and Gretchen wants us to be happier. I highly recommend this book. Are you ready to “Be You”?

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author spends a considerable amount of time writing from her own perspective, delving into personal stories that aren't always relatable. These anecdotes often drag on and detract from the main themes of the book. While I appreciated the sections on happiness, especially those grounded in statistics and research, the frequent intrusion of her personal life diminishes the overall impact.

At times, her personal experiences are beneficial, as she candidly shares her struggles and the eventual benefits she gains from her efforts. However, the book becomes overwhelmingly centered on her life, making it challenging to stay focused on the more informative and research-based content. It’s also written in 2009, which was 15 years ago and many things have changed.

I don't think it's an awful book, but it does need a rewrite to become something I'd recommend. Updating it to reflect contemporary knowledge and cutting out the detailed personal life stories would improve it significantly. The book could benefit from being more research-focused and less centered on the author's personal experiences. I find it hard to relate to the author, who is about twice my age.

[Cassandra Marie Darling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really did enjoy the summarises of Gretchen on her happiness project. I wasn't blown away and have come prefound with all the answers but I was found of Gretchens way of writing, thought process and analogy on every day relatable subjects which we are all equally guilty of. For me its given me a few ideas to go away and think about. I do agree a lot of us spend a lot of time saying how unhappy we are that I rarely hear people say they are, I do think attitude plays a big part in this but also mental health takes a lot of that out of people unfortunately. Cognitive and mind therapy is key and working in thoughts and ideas which Gretchen proposes is only enabling positivity even if it doesn't succeed or completely work. Thanks Gretchen.

[Yang G · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not quite sure if I read this by mistake...

I read and enjoyed Better Than Before, so I enjoy Gretchen Rubin's writing, but when I got this from Kindle Unlimited I think half of me thought that this was the Happiness Project book. But when I opened it I also knew it was going to be a light read, so maybe I knew what I was getting into?

It's a small collection of her blog posts, sort of a behind the scene of her full-length books. Took me an hour and half to get through and a nice way to spend the morning.

[Síona Worrall · Rating 1 out of 5]

waste of time and money

This is literally just blog post from her website copied and pasted into a book, most of which have been referenced in some way in the happiness project. I gave up after 5 minutes having seen it all before. What a waste of time and money - I really don’t have enough free time be be wasting it on regurgitated material.

[Angie Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the book

I enjoyed reading this book. I found useful ideas, insight into my personality, and I enjoyed every chapter. Looking forward to reading more books from Gretchen Rubin.

[lourdes_quintano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Happiness Project Blog Rocks!

A very insightful read on how one can seek and maintain happiness. The author makes the goal of happiness tangible and truly love her lists. I would definitely recommend this book to my 15 year old daughter.

[Fayette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple ideas about living intentionally to improve your life and, therefore, the lives of those around you. I am happy (truly!) that I had discovered many of these things already, but there were many good reminders.

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book I read in Gretchin Rubin's Happiness Project. It was interesting, informative, and helpful. It was a worthwhile read and makes me want to do more reseach on gaining more happiness and better habits.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Long time listener of the podcast, first book of hers that I've read... I will now race through all of them

[gretchen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this author/premise of the book.
She also has a podcast with the same name. Have been listening to it during COVID-19

[Kate Olson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A reminder of how good these books are

This book made me wasn’t to go back and read The Happiness Project and Happier at Home all over again.

[Tracey · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a Gretchen Rubin fan I enjoy her style of writing, and this book has me wanting to go back and read the others again.

[Jawa Chang · Rating 3 out of 5]

A light book with some interesting stories and insights. Good for casual reading

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was kind of an odd, erratic collection that would have benefited from some editing.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect Sampling

I have been listening to Gretchen's podcast, so some of these were repeats, but it always sinks in more when I read it and hear it.

[bethany m. planton · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a huge fan of Gretchen Rubin's work, when she announced this ebook I purchased it right away. The Best of the Happiness Project Blog is a fun, informative, and inspiring collection of Gretchen's 38 best blog posts. It is nice to have the posts all together instead of reading through her whole blog. I think this book has something for the avid, daily reader of Gretchen's blog as well as the novice.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

A perfect primer to Gretchen Rubin's work. This ten year blog compilation highlights the main points of her three books. For someone wanting a good introduction or a quick (100 page) summation look no further.

I am a Gretchen Rubin fan, having read her three books, as a podcast listener and an email subscriber (though I rarely read them.)

[kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this might serve as a pretty good intro to Rubin's work, for those who don't know if they're willing to commit to The Happiness Project and aren't already regular readers of her blog. Mostly familiar material, otherwise.

[Char · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know I will revisit this book again and again. I enjoyed each of the focuses for the month, and hope one day to spend time focusing on different aspects of my life too that will bring me happiness.

[Crysta · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice, quick introduction to Rubin's work - and easier than flipping through her blog. It's given me direction to search out some of her themes in more depth.

[Marilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable. I think I'll go back and write down some of her categories to explore in my bullet journal.

[Brandy Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Gretchen

She just always has thoughtful and practical insights to make life happier...or at least to make us appreciate life more!

[Marcia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice introduction to Gretchen's work but I would always recommend her actual books over these snippets.