Not sure why this is the first book review in 2 years on the Ignorant Historian?  Check out the reason here.

You knew this was coming right?  Though I read The Happiness Project after sharing my thoughts on our happiness idol, it contains some of the same thinking that’s so common to our culture but counter to a biblical worldview.

Though The Happiness Project follows a similar patern to The Year of Living Biblically (which I enjoyed) and Eat, Pray, Love (which I didn’t), it’s different, too.  Author Gretchen Rubin’s goal is happiness, but I felt like that goal was mis-stated or at least two-fold.  Most of her monthly goals dealt with self-improvement, not necessarily happiness (though obviously they can be related).

Interestingly enough, what I found least intersting about this book is the comments she included from her blog.  While I like to read blog comments (of course on my own blog *hint hint* but also on interesting subjects on other blogs), I don’t necessarily want to read them listed out in a book.  Perhaps they added to what she was saying, but I found whole blocks of comments without discussion from Rubin to be distracting and disruptive to the flow of the  book.

While Rubin’s endeavor for greater happiness was an understandable one, she was looking for happiness (or better yet, joy) in all the wrong places.  Nor can we truly change who we are on our own.  True, lasting joy and true, lasting change can only be found when we are in right relation to our Creator.