Looking for a way to make a change for the better? Start by picking up this book. Gretchen Rubin uses her chatty, personal approach to address the topic of habits, just as she did with happiness in her two most recent books (note: if you didn't like the tone or style of those books, you won't like this one either).

Lately much as been written about how we exert control over ourselves (I'm thinking in particular of "The Power of Habit", and "Willpower", among others). While many books provide ample scientific background about why we do what we do (or don't do what we should) without providing an action plan, Rubin lays out practical steps for creating and sustaining habits based on one's personality type. She includes a quiz to help the reader self-identify his/her likely pattern of behavior (upholder, questioner, rebel, or obliger).

Rubin discusses the human nature of managing only what we monitor, the necessity of accountability in establishing good habits, and why convenience is worth the cost if positive habits are a result. ( )

Habit

Lots of good reviews here so I'm missing something I guess. I thought it was babbling nonsense. ( )

I have decided that anything Gretchen Rubin writes is going to be great. The first book I read, "The Four Tendencies,"describes four distinct categories of people and how they react in certain situations. This book is a continuation of that, but based on who you are and how you react, it delves more deeply into discovering the ways to make positive change in your life by rewarding yourself in a way that works. I really enjoyed this book. There is so much to digest that it is really hard to try to read this in one sitting. I look forward to even more books by Gretchen. She has such a huge understanding on the types of people that I had never seen discussed elsewhere. ( )

This is not a book. This is a series of poor personal rants, or substandard blog posts at best.

The author is extremely lucky to have so many supportive people -judging by what she says in the book- in her life enabling her to publish such shallow, incoherent, and incomplete personal observations that can only apply to her own life, as if they were "revelations" that can be dropped on the masses to enlighten them!

The readers are not as lucky as the author though. How this book got any star ratings, in any factor or criteria a book can be rated in, higher than 2 stars is really beyond my comprehension.

I created a new shelf, "Won't continue reading", because of this book. ( )