Bryan Hutchinson

Review: 5 stars

General: I don’t normally frequent self help books as I am not in a place in my life to use them. However I saw this and used it as an opportuiny to expand my non fiction reviews as I don’t read many. This book was an entertaining read though and I was intrigued by his reasoning and logic behind each step. It felt very well researched and thought out from ideas, reasoning and formatting.

What was truly nice about this book was it was indeed a very short, simple read. The book was not top loaded with psychiatric explanations and was written clearly for any age and reading level. I do not wish to add much to the review as books of this nature tend to be very personal.… (mer)

I doubt that there’s a normal, rational person who doesn’t want to be happy. There is certainly no shortage of books by self-styled gurus telling us how to be happy, successful, rich, you name it. The problem with most of these books is, THEY DON’T REALLY WORK.
If you think I’m skeptical about books that offer the secret to (fill in the blanks), you’d be right on the money. It was, therefore, with just that skeptical, ‘I’m from Missouri, so show me’ mindset that I began reading Bryan Hutchinson’s Happy Every Day: Simple, Effective Ways to Better Days. From page one I challenged Hutchinson to ‘show me.’
Well, guess what folks, he did. This is not one of those, ‘here’s the great secret to happiness, and if you’ll only follow these 5 simple steps, you’ll never be unhappy again’ books. This is a practical, no-nonsense book that dissects happiness and, using the author’s own experience, shows that true happiness is within the reach of each of us, but that it is up to us to chart the path to achieve it.
Hutchinson makes no grandiose claims. He just outlines in simple language how an individual can have a life that is, on balance, more happy than unhappy – and moreover, more fulfilling. There are no real surprises here – just plain old common sense. But, it’s pulled together in an easy-to-read, easy-to-comprehend format, complete with end of chapter exercises to help chart your path to happiness.
I’m still not a fan of most how-to books, but Hutchinson has me hooked on his brand of ‘you can.’ Maybe he’s started a new category here, and we just have find a name for it.
Four and a half stars. I took a half star off for a few grammatical missteps. Can’t have him thinking he’s one of the best motivational authors around, now can we?… (mer)