Ep. 573: Do You Avoid Failure & Rejection? Plus the Joy of a Same-Day Book

Summary

Podcast Summary – Happier with Gretchen Rubin

Episode 573: Do You Avoid Failure & Rejection? Plus the Joy of a Same-Day Book
Date: February 11, 2026
Hosts: Gretchen Rubin & Elizabeth Craft

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Main Theme

This episode explores the value of reframing failure and rejection as essential elements of personal growth and success, encapsulated in the idea of “Go for the No.” Additionally, Gretchen and Elizabeth dive into the sheer delight of “same-day books”—those reads you can start and finish in a single day—and share practical recommendations for anyone planning a reading retreat or looking for a satisfying bookish binge.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Community Updates & Listener Letters

• Stammtisch Tradition: A listener from Germany shares how regular, low-effort meetups with friends (Stammtisch) contribute to happiness and connectedness throughout life’s phases.
• Roast Chicken Substack: Listeners express excitement about Sarah’s upcoming “Chickening Out” Substack, with Gretchen admitting unexpected interest in chicken-roasting methods.

2. Movement Motivation – Move 26 in 26

• Winter Bingo Card: Gretchen introduces a bingo card to inspire new approaches to daily movement—small prompts that gamify exercise and help people stick with their 26-minutes-a-day goal.
• Gamification: Elizabeth highlights how the element of play (gamification) keeps her motivated:
  • “I love a bingo card. I love to gamify.” (05:16)

3. Try This at Home: Go for the No

[6:18]

• Concept: Reframe failure and rejection as positive progress. “Going for the no” means intentionally seeking out opportunities where rejection is possible, understanding that each “no” is a step closer to a “yes.”

• Research Basis: Dr. Joel Le Bon’s work is mentioned, which shows that focusing on rejections helps people remain resilient, motivated, and ready to try again.

  • “A no is a success. Yeah, you can succeed by failing.” – Gretchen (06:22)

• Practical Examples:

  • Jenna Fischer’s 49 Nos: As shared in her acting memoir, Fischer encouraged aspiring actors to collect 49 rejections, knowing that persistence would eventually yield a yes.
  • Tracking Unfinished Books: Gretchen applies the theory to her reading life, vowing to give herself credit for books she “fails” to finish as a means to value both success and strategic quitting.
    • “Now I’m thinking I should also keep track of the books that I don’t finish—give myself credit for the books that I don’t finish.” – Gretchen (08:19)

4. Happiness Hack: Email Organization

[14:02]

• Digital Hack from Mom:
  • Use email folders (in Outlook or other clients) to organize communications around trips, projects, or ongoing issues.
  • Both hosts note how rediscovering this basic tool brought noticeably less stress and more order to daily life.

5. Listener Question: Same-Day Book Recommendations

[16:05]

• Definition: Books you can start and finish in a single sitting—either because they’re brief or so gripping that you can’t put them down.

• The Unexpected Speed of Reading:

  • Gretchen shares the surprising fact that most people can read a 50,000-word novel (not even a novella!) in about 3.5 hours when reading straight through:
    • “You get up, have breakfast, go for a walk, read for an hour forty-five, take a nap, have lunch, read for another hour forty-five—you’ve finished a 50,000-word novel.” (17:12)

• Personal Approaches:

  • Both sisters recommend bringing a variety of books to reading retreats—some short and breezy, others more demanding or literary.
  • They discuss the particular pleasure of finishing a book on a flight or during a single, immersive day.

6. Same-Day Book Recommendations

[20:00+]
A rich, varied list spanning genres, cultures, and moods:

• The English Understand Wool by Helen DeWitt (Gretchen’s current top pick; best approached without spoilers)
• Foster by Claire Keegan (short, beautiful Irish novella)
• The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark (for fans of deep character studies)
• Heartburn by Nora Ephron (witty, semi-autobiographical divorce novel; “A hilarious divorce book, which you wouldn’t think you could pull off, but she does.” – Gretchen, 21:17)
• Murderbot Series: All Systems Red by Martha Wells (sci-fi, funny, and lovable AI protagonist)
• Happy All the Time by Laurie Colwin (light-hearted romance; “delightful book if you want something to make you smile”)
• Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor (haunting Southern Gothic classic)
• Half His Age by Jeanette McCurdy (quick, controversial read about complicated relationships)
• The Summer Book by Tove Jansson (gentle, Nordic, intergenerational story)
• Elizabeth and Her German Garden and The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim (whimsical, emotional, and brief)
• Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout (literary, spare, set in New York)
• Different Seasons by Stephen King (long short stories, inspiration for several movies)
• The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger (popular, juicy, and film-adapted)
• A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr (lucid and restorative; recommended for rediscovering the pleasure of reading itself)
• Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (short, twisty, and best entered with little foreknowledge)

Short Children’s & YA Books Rec’d:

• Charlotte’s Web, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Tuck Everlasting, Walk Two Moons, Graceling, The Hunger Games, Golden Compass

• “Children’s literature is a great way to do same-day books. Towering classics of world literature—so good, and yet you can whip through them.” – Gretchen (28:25)

Notable Listener Wisdom:

• Categorize recommendations for same-day books in stores or libraries (beach read, high literature, mystery, etc.) for easy browsing.
• “It might be fun on your reading retreat to say: I want one that’s a beach read, one that’s high literature, and one that’s a mystery…” (29:35)

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Demerits and Gold Stars

Gretchen’s Demerit

[33:27]

• Not dressing warmly enough during an intense New York cold snap—despite owning all the proper gear! She resolves to dress “for the weather I have, not the weather I wish I had,” planning to layer up daily going forward.

Elizabeth’s Gold Star

[35:19]

• Awarded to herself and their mother for their epic errand-running bonanza in Kansas City, accomplished despite extreme cold and cleverly interspersed with fun activities and lunches.
• “It just evolved naturally… It is really helpful if you intersperse something you want to do with things that are just chores.” (36:17)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On reframing rejection:
  “The more trial, the more error, and the more accomplishment…You succeed by failing.” – Gretchen (06:22)
• On recognizing habits:
  “If I could magically change one habit in my life, what would I choose?” – Gretchen (39:55)
• On the surprise of same-day books:
  “You’d be surprised by how much you can read if you just sat down and read a book.” – Gretchen (18:06)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 05:27 – “Try This at Home”: Go for the No
• 07:16 – Research and practical examples of reframing failure
• 14:02 – Happiness Hack: Email folders for organization
• 16:05 – Listener question: What’s a same-day book? Reading retreat strategies
• 20:08 – Same-day book recommendations begin
• 33:27 – Demerits and Gold Stars

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Wrap-Up & Listener Engagement

Listeners are encouraged to:

• Try “going for the no” in any aspect of life (reading, acting, personal challenges)
• Share their own same-day book recommendations, ideally with genre classification
• Consider mixing chores with enjoyable activities for better balance

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End-of-Episode Reminder: Go for the No, and if you love the show, leave a review!
Newsletter: “Five Things Making Me Happy”
Next Reads: Elizabeth is catching up on Wolf Hall, Gretchen is reading Random Harvest.

Signature sign-off:
“Onward and upward!”

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

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[A]

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[B]

Gretch, you and I both love Whole Foods Market and Whole Foods Market is a perfect place to plan an indulgent and romantic evening at home. From gorgeous flowers to no antibiotics ever, steaks and special gifts like bath bombs, you will find everything you need for an unforgettable night at Whole Foods Market. You don't have to make a reservation at a restaurant, you can just create a beautiful night at home. Plus, they've got a great wine selection so you can add a bottle of wine to your romantic evening. Of course, you have to be 21 years or older for that and you must drink responsibly, right?

[A]

And they also have flowers. The Whole Foods Market floral department has tons of gorgeous quality flowers with large blooms, vibrant colors and strong stems. Just the thing for a romantic night. You don't need to make a special trip to the flower shop. Taste the love all month at Whole Foods Market. Lemonade. Hello and welcome to Happier, a podcast where we talk about how to make our lives happier. This week we'll talk about why it can be helpful to go for the no and we talk about the delight of a same day book and give some of our recommendations. I'm Gretchen Rubin, Writer Studies Happiness, Good Habits, Human nature. I'm in my little home office in New York City and joining me today from Los Angeles is my sister Elizabeth Craft. And Elizabeth, this is reminding me that we need to figure out when we are going on our next reading retreat.

[B]

That's me, Elizabeth Craft, a TV writer and Producer living in la. And yes, Gretch, I'll be making a note of books I haven't read that are same day books for the reading retreat.

[A]

Absolutely. But before we jump in, we got a few updates. This comes from Anna. Okay. And I'm going to mispronounce this word again. I cannot get it right. It's the stung tisch. Stum tisch. Anyway, here it is. I am a listener of the POD from Hamburg, Germany. I loved hearing you guys talk about stumptisch. This really is a common social meeting in Germany. My husband has a stumptisch that has been going on for 15 years. It started when he was in his master's program amongst friends and has carried on through all phases of everyone's life. I started one a few years ago amongst my girlfriends and it really does make me happier. We now have three little kids, so our life looks very different from when we started our stumptisch. But we both try and make our respective stumptisch every month whenever possible. No matter what phase of life we are in, it's always great to have a low effort meeting with friends. I also have to add that my jaw dropped hearing about Sarah's new substack. I absolutely love roasting chicken and eating roasted chicken, so I'm excited to read about her journey with roasting chicken. Okay, so stum tisch. I just can't say it, but it's a great idea. And yes, Reid, chickening out. Sarah's very delightful. I have to say, Elizabeth, I'm kind of amazed at how interesting she can make it because there are a few things that I'm less interested in than comparing various recipes and approaches to roasted chicken. And yet I'm like very excited for her to get her. What is it? Her shears to do her spatchcocking or whatever.

[B]

Yes, yes. Her chickening out substack. It's free to subscribe. Go over to substack.

[A]

Yeah plus if you are joining us for move 26 and 26. But maybe you're feeling bored or disappointed with your movement of choice. I've partnered with All Healthy to create a winter bingo card that helps you think beyond traditional exercise. The prompts offer new ideas to get you moving, like a walk and talk. That's something I love to do. Taking a new route. Do your usual route in reverse, which is surprisingly strange to see your normal neighborhood going in reverse or parking farther away from your destination. Just these little things that make it easier to get to the 26 minutes a day that we are going for. You can get the bingo [e-mail] winterbingo Elizabeth, how's it going for you?

[B]

It's going well, Gretchen. I'm getting many days my 26 on the treadmill desk as I said I would, so that feels good. But I love a bingo card. I love to gamify.

[A]

Love to gamify. So this week, our try this at home suggestion is to go for the no.

[B]

So that's intriguing. I love a good phrase. What does it mean?

[A]

Okay, so, you know, it's very easy to get very focused on success and accomplishment and to really try to avoid rejection and failure. But one of my secrets of adulthood is the more trial, the more error and. And the more accomplishment. And the idea of going for a no is that you don't see error, rejection, and failure as bad. You see them. Oh, this is part of success. This is part of what I'm doing to get to where I want to go, which it is. And originally when I was thinking about this, I thought, oh, well, this is to set a failure goal. So, like, you make a goal of the failures. But Elizabeth, you and I love a rhyme. And so go for the no just seemed more fun.

[B]

And it's a reframing. A no is a success.

[A]

A no is a success. Yeah, you can succeed by failing. That's another one of my secrets of adulthood. And there's actually really interesting research behind the suggestion. Dr. Joel Le Bon is a marketing and sales professor at Johns Hopkins Business School, and he talks about this in the context of a sales strategy where you focus on targets for rejection, not solely on success. Because the theory is this helps people to stay resilient, keep up their motivation, increase their overall performance. Because you remove the stigma of failure. You don't feel conservative. You don't hold back if you're worried about failing because you're like, well, I succeed by failing too. And there is a lot of research showing that encouraging somebody to go for a no to overcome the fear of rejection really does help people to be in a frame of mind where they're more open to trying. And the more you try, the more you succeed.

[B]

This makes me think of a couple things. I remember once, Adam and I were at a school in LA and their motto was the freedom to fail, which I thought was a cool motto.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But it also reminds me of Jenna Fisher's book. So remember Jenna Fisher played Pam in your favorite show, the Office, and she wrote a book on, you know, moving to LA and what to do to be an actor. And she had this thing that was 49 nos to a yes. So she just told herself, you have to get 49 no's, so you might as well start stacking up the no's.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Because the sooner you're stacking up your nos, the sooner you're gonna to the yes.

[A]

Right? Exactly. Well, this way you give credit for the no. So you get that feeling of sort of gain and positive action that is so satisfying and really helps you keep up the energy to keep going. You feel like, oh, defeated. You're like, oh, I'm not defeated. I'm just closer to my 49 yes.

[B]

And, Gretch, you're keeping track of your unfinished books on this theory.

[A]

Right. And this is what I realized. So every month I post a photo of all the books that I have finished in that month. I just get a lot of pleasure out of doing this. And, you know, I've been really trying to work on not finishing books that I don't enjoy. And so I was thinking, like, well, why is it that I do finish books that I don't enjoy? And I realized that part of it is that I wanted credit for them. I'm like, well, I'm halfway through this book. If I finish it, I can put it in my stack, and I sort of get credit for reading it, but if I don't finish it, it doesn't go in the stack. And I think that was pushing me to finish because I wanted that gold star, that check mark. And so now I'm thinking I should also keep track of the books that I don't fin give myself credit for the books that I don't finish, because this really is an aim of mine. My aim is to stop reading more books so that I have more time to read the books I want. I need to give myself sort of a credit for it to be the counterbalance to the credit that I get for the books that I do finish.

[B]

Yes. And I know we heard from a listener who does that, and that helped her stop reading books.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

My question is, would you take a photo. Photo of unfinished books to give yourself a credit?

[A]

I might take a picture of it, but I wouldn't post a picture of it, because I post the picture and tell people what books that I read. Because I love to shine a spotlight on books, and I know a lot of people get ideas from reading from me and from other people. And just as a writer myself, it's bad karma to shine a spotlight in a book and say, like, oh, I didn't like it and I didn't finish. It because a lot of books I don't like other people love. Like that's why I'm reading it. It's because somebody's recommended it to me. So I wouldn't do that because of karma. But but it's maybe a good just in order to feel like both of these things are of equivalent weight, whether I finish them or whether I don't finish them, I still get that feeling of okay, you did what you set out to do one way or the other.

[B]

Yeah, I hear you on that.

[A]

Well, let us know if you do try this at home and how deciding to go for the no works for you. Let us know on Instagram threads, TikTok, Facebook. Drop us an [e-mail] as always, you can go to the show notes this is happiercast.com573 for everything related to this episode. I will be so curious to hear how people incorporate this into different contexts like reading and acting. They seem very different, but it's actually the same strategy. So let us know.

[B]

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[A]

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[B]

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[A]

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[B]

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[A]

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[B]

Gretch It's a new year and we're all focused on well being and improving ourselves and our wellness journeys. And what better way to improve our lives than to listen to an audiobook? You know, I am absolutely in love with Audible and with audiobooks. You'll be happy to know that the audiobook I am listening to right now was written by you, Gretchen. Her book Get It Done about how to get a big project done. Not surprisingly, I need help in that arena of my life and I I love just listening to you reading your audiobook.

[A]

Yeah, and you can level up your parenting, career, finances, sleep, relationships or mindset. The Audible Wellbeing Collection has everything to inspire and support you every step of the way. Elizabeth I love the idea that you're listening to my audiobook. Kickstart your wellbeing journey with your first audiobook free when you sign up for a free 30 day trial at audible.com Happier membership is $14.95 a month. After 30 days. Cancel anytime. Listening to the top voices and wellbeing sounds like self care to us. Audible. There's more to imagine when you listen.

[B]

All right, Gretch, we're back with this week's Happiness Hack. And this comes from our mom.

[A]

Yes. Okay, so this was something that I knew how to do, but I forgot about using it as a tool. And this is so basic that so many people's their eyeballs will just be rolling out of their head because they're like this is so basic. But I just didn't do it. Which is in Outlook in my emails to make folders for things related to like oh, you're taking a trip or you've got some household issue that's requiring a lot of back and forth. You can just put all those emails in a folder so they're easy to access. And I am somebody who really uses email and I use it as my to do list. I will email myself things to remind myself to do it. I'll leave emails in my inbox as prompts to remind me that something has to happen. So my email can get really junked up, but it's not junked up. It's all valuable stuff. But it can get jumbled. It can get jumbled and overwhelming. And it can be hard to find what I'm looking for, especially if there's been. You're planning something and so like there's five different people involved. And anyway, this is just really, really helpful. And I've used it three times already and I, I'm, I'm sort of like, why have I not been doing this for 20 years? Because I knew how to do it. I just forgot that it was a useful tool. Well, it reminds me.

[B]

Recently on Happier in Hollywood, Sarah and I had a hack to schedule a text.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Which we didn't know you could do. Which again, great tool, Elizabeth.

[A]

We talked about it on Happier, I think.

[B]

Did we?

[A]

Because I discovered that I think so. It's one of those things, if you hear about it but you don't do it a couple of times yourself.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

You just forget that it's a possibility. That's what happened with me with the folders. If you had said, is this possible? I would have been like, oh, yeah, I think there is an easy way to do that. But you just don't reach for it as a tool.

[B]

Yes. I had no memory of that. Usually I remember things we talk about. Well, you do.

[A]

So the fact is maybe I put it in my 5 things newsletter or something because you do have a very. You have a steel trap memory for what we've talked about. So maybe we didn't. But anyway, it is super useful. I use it all the time.

[B]

Okay, Gretch, it is time for a listener question.

[A]

Now. This is such a happy question. So Jackie writes, inspired by your recent reading retreat. My friend and I are planning one in summer 2026. I'd love to see suggestions from both of you and listeners as to the same day books to bring with us. Thank you. Okay, Elizabeth, for people who don't know what a same day book is, even though it's kind of obvious. What is a same day book?

[B]

Yes. That is a book that you can start and finish in the same day. Now, I kind of categorize these two ways, Gretch.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

There's some books that are just shorter and therefore easier to finish in one day. And then there are books that you just can't put down. And so they become same day books because you are just devouring them. Or you stay up till 2am to finish them.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Or they could be both not mutually exclusive.

[A]

Yes, there is something special about reading a book in one day. It's just. There is a special delight in that. So I love the idea of sort of really leaning into this for a reading retreat. They're also good, like if you have a long flight. I love when I start and finish a book. Like on a flight.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Here is the thing that is bonkers to me, Elizabeth. Okay. This is a fact that truly astonished me and I consider myself like a super enthusiastic reader. This is what astonished me. Turns out the average reader can read 50,000 words in about three and a half hours. And that means you can get up, have breakfast, go for a walk, read for an hour and 45 minutes, take a short nap, have lunch, read for an hour and 45 minutes and you are done with a 50,000 word novel. Now that is a short novel, but it's not even a novella, which is technically like, I think goes to like 40,000 words. So I just thought it took a lot longer to read a book. I think if you just sit down and read a book, you're surprised by how much you can get read.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Because a lot of times we're reading in like 20 minute, 30 minute things and maybe it stretches out over days so you feel like, oh, it takes weeks to finish a book, but it's like, not if you sat down. So there might be a lot more same day books than you think if you just sat down and read them in one day.

[B]

Yes. If you were on a reading retreat where your whole point of being is to read.

[A]

Yeah. So make sure you bring enough books. Yes.

[B]

But this is something you and I considered with the reading retreat. I mean, I think we both wanted to make sure we finished a book ideally in a day, but at least, like I didn't want to bring a huge 1500 page book and only get through part of it during our reading retreat. I wanted that satisfaction.

[A]

Yeah. But I also brought a very demanding book that I thought because I love Iris Murdoch, but her novels are pretty demanding in terms of like, you really have to pay attention and they're long. So I did bring one Iris Murdoch because I thought, well, this will be good because I can really concentrate and really read it. So you could have different philosophies about the kind of book that you wanted to bring. But yeah, we did take special pleasure in bringing those same day books. You weren't necessarily sure you would read it in one day and you did.

[B]

On our reading retreat. I read James by Percival Everett in one day and that was a Case where it was just super entertaining. Once I started reading it, I just kind of whipped through it and it was very satisfying. And it's a great book. I mean, it's won all sorts of awards. So it both was entertaining and great literature.

[A]

Right, okay, so Jackie asked for some suggestions, so let's throw out some suggestions. But listeners, we want to hear from you. Because I think this is such a great category, I will go first with the book that I am absolutely recommending to every single person. It's barely a novella. It's like a short story. But you will feel like you read a whole novel because it is so good and so dense and so surprising. And that is the English Understand Wool by Helen DeWitt. I don't want to say a thing about this book because part of what's fun is navigating the book itself. And if I described it, it wouldn't sound as good as it is. Just take my word for it. Everybody I've recommended it to has loved it.

[B]

Yeah. And then there's Claire Keegan's Foster, which our mom was absolutely obsessed with. It's a beautiful story set in Ireland about a girl. And it is a novella, I believe.

[A]

Yes. And again, it's like great literature and also a page turner and a same day book. Okay. A book that I will say not everybody loves. Elizabeth, you do not love this book. But I have to mention it because I've read it like 15 times and I love it. It is the prime of Ms. Jean Brody by Muriel. And I would say if you're a fan of Muriel Spark or if you love sort of character development, if that's what really draws you to a novelist, like an interesting character and seeing, like characters change over time. And it's about a charismatic teacher and her set, the Brody set of her pupils. I love it. But it's not for everyone, Gretch.

[B]

This book is perfect for a reading or treat. Heartburn by Nora Ephron.

[A]

So good.

[B]

Yeah, it's based on Nora Ephron's true story. In the movie, it's Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep and it is just an entertaining, gripping tale of marriage.

[A]

Well, yeah, it's a hilarious divorce book which you don't think you could pull off, but she does. If you are into science fiction and I am talking. It's science fiction where they're talking spaceships and there are AI powered androids and, you know, it's deep science fiction, but it's also hilarious and heartwarming. I cannot recommend highly enough Martha Wells These are the Murderbot books. The first one is called All Systems Red. I just whipped through them. They're so good. I haven't watched the TV show, but love All Systems.

[B]

Read Gretch. I'm gonna also recommend Happy all the Time by Lori Colwyn, which is a book you love. I know you, I think, sent it to me once, is how I got to know it. But Lori Colwyn is a delightful writer and Happy all the Time is a delightful book if you want something to make you smile.

[A]

Yeah, it's like young romance. But all of Lori Colwyn's books are. And probably all of them are same day books. She's that kind of writer. In another category of books that are deep and compelling and haunting and fantastic that I've read a million times that you could easily read in a day, but is not for everyone. I would say Wiseblood by Flannery o'.

[B]

Connor.

[A]

And it's funny, Elizabeth, I was talking to mom, asking for her ideas, and I mentioned this one. And she goes, what's. I don't know that I've read Wiseblood. I'm like, it's Flannery Conner. She goes, oh, that's all you have to say. Because people hear Flannery o' Connor and they're like, you either want to be reading a Flannery o' Connor book or it's not to your taste. So I love Flannery o'. Connor, and this is my favorite of all her books.

[B]

I think I read it but decades ago. I don't remember anything about it.

[A]

Oh my gosh. That gives me chills just thinking about it. I want to go reread it right this second. It's so good.

[B]

And then Gretch, here's a book that's just out very recently, Half his age by Jeanette McCurdy. It's an extremely quick read. It's not for everyone because it's about a student having a relationship with her teacher, but it is very good.

[A]

I read her memoir so that I saw she had a novel. Excellent. There's a really beautiful sort of odd book called the Summer Book by Tove Jansen. That's the person who wrote the Moomin books. If you're a fan of Moomin. But this is like, it's a beautiful story. There's a grandmother. It feels very northern. It's a quiet book. It's a very interesting book. It would be really good for a summer retreat. And sort of along the same lines is a book that I absolutely love by Elizabeth Von Arnim, Elizabeth and her German Garden. I love all of Elizabeth von Arnim. I would say the Enchanted April is maybe the more perfectly crafted novel. You could also read that in a day. There's something kind of oddball about Elizabeth in her German Garden, but that just makes me like it even more. But they're like beautiful, wonderful page turner books.

[B]

Elizabeth Strout's oh William, Gretchen, I think is definitely a same day book. We've talked to her on the podcast.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

She's such a great writer, very spare, so you really can quickly read. But it's high literature for sure.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

And oh William is a great story set in New York and very compelling.

[A]

Yes, yes, absolutely. If you want to go more the novella route, there is a book called Different Seasons by the master of the page turner, Stephen King. It's four stories, all of which are fantastic. Some of them have different titles, but they were the inspirations for the movies Stand By Me and the Shawshank Redemption. They're like very, very long short stories. They're published in the collection Different Seasons and they're sort of more literary than the horror. So if you're not like that into the horror, this is that aspect of Stephen King's writing.

[B]

Now, Gretch, I'm going to go back a ways here and recommend the Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger. I remember going to Hawaii with Sarah and I think like 2000 and taking the Devil Wears Prada. And I did nothing the entire day but read the Devil Wears Prada. I think maybe we even got room service. And I mention it especially now, Gretchen, because they're coming out with a sequel to the movie Devil Wears Prada.

[A]

Right.

[B]

So everyone's excited about that.

[A]

Yeah. So go back and read the original. There is a book called A Month in the country by J.L. carr. And I found this book because they talked about it on one of my very favorite podcasts, Backlisted, which is a podcast where they talk about backlist books or books that have sort of were written a long time ago, but that are really worth our attention. And when they started, I mean, there are hundreds of episodes into it now. I think I've listened to everyone. But the very first book they chose was A Month in the Country. And what they said at the time was because both of these hosts work in book publishing in one way or another. And they said, whenever somebody says, you know what, I've really fallen out of the habit of reading, I really want to re engage with reading. Do you have a book Recommendation for me. They always say a month in the country because they're like, it's a short book, but it's such a good book. And it gets you back into that feeling of it's such a pleasure to read. And they're like, everybody likes it. And it's about a man. It's after World War I, and he goes back and spends a month out in the countryside as he's restoring a fresco or doing research on a fresco that's in a local church. And it's just how he sort of embeds himself in the community there. And it's just a really wonderful book.

[B]

And then Gretch Piranesi is one of your. Your favorites.

[A]

I love, love, love Piranesi. Now, Piranesi is interesting because it is short. You could read it in a day. This is a book that you really need to read every word because it's like. It's full of twists and surprises. This is kind of a fantasy book. I don't want to say too much because part of the pleasure of this book is getting oriented in what is happening. And I feel like anything that I say could take away some of the surprise for people. It is that thing, though, if you're like, oh, I never like a fantasy, then you might not like this. It's not like there's drag. There is a fantastical element to it, which just made me love it more. It's by Susanna Clark, who wrote Mr. Strange and Dr. Norell or Dr. Strange and Mr. Norell. I can Never Get It Right, which I read years ago and have been meaning to reread. That's extremely long. This one is very short. It's delightful. Good. Our mother loves to read. She loves a same day book. And she had two suggestions of books that I have not read. One was Trained Dreams by Dennis Johnson and Elizabeth. I want to buy it, but I can't. So I'm gonna check it out in the library. It looks really good.

[B]

Yeah, Mom. And I watched the movie when I was home. I was nominated.

[A]

Oh, I didn't know it was a movie.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Oh, okay. And then kind of. This is sort of an odd choice for a summer reading retreat, but she suggested A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas, which I really want to read. Read. I think I read it so long ago, but I looked it up and there's an anniversary edition with illustrations by one of my very favorite illustrators, Trina Shard Hyman. So that will be a little retreat for me to get at the end of February, because I feel like, oh, my gosh, I really want to have that because I love her illustration so much.

[B]

Well, and Gretch, we should mention that children's literature is a great way to do same day books, young adult books, or children's books, because these can be.

[A]

Towering classics of world literature. So good. And yet often they are shorter and you can whip through them. So a book like the lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, or Charlotte's Web or Tuck Everlasting or Walk Two Moons or Graceling, these are books that are so, so good. And if you haven't read them as an adult or if you've never read them, you should run, not walk.

[B]

You could also go for something like the Hunger Games.

[A]

So good. Golden Compass. These are amazing, amazing books. And if you haven't read them or you haven't read them as an adult, you can experience them in a whole new way. So hit us up with your suggestions because this is a lovely category. I didn't really think of this as like a category of book. It's an excellent. But it'd be great to go into a bookstore and just see same day books. Memoirs, nonfiction.

[B]

Novels would be a great category, like a great table for a bookstore. It also might be nice if people think of it to sort of say what kind of book it is. Like, is it a beach read? Is it high literature? Is it a mystery? Might be helpful to categorize.

[A]

Yes. Because it might be fun, like on your reading retreat to say, like, okay, I want one that's like a beach read. I want one that's sort of high literature. And then I want one that's a mystery or something like that. Which reminds me, I just read A Murder Is Announced by Agatha Christie, which I got as a recommendation from another one of my favorite favorite podcast, the Secret Life of Books. That's definitely the same day books.

[B]

All right, Gretch, coming up, you have a winter demerit. But first, this break. This episode of Happier with Gretchen Rubin is brought to you by Graza. Graza is extra virgin olive oil that's super fresh, clean, and vibrant, and it's one of those pantry upgrades that you really notice. Lotus. It's single origin and single varietal, and they pick, press, and bottle the olives all in the same season. You can even see the harvest date right on the bottle.

[A]

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[B]

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[A]

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[B]

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[A]

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[B]

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[A]

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[B]

Back with demerits and gold stars and Gretchen this Demerit surprises me.

[A]

From you, it kind of surprises me, too, I have to say. So. We have been going through an extremely cold period here in New York City, like historic lows. And for a really long time, I haven't been dressing for the cold. And I have everything I need. I have long underwear. I have snow pants. I have wind pants. I have fleece pants. I have long underwear tops. I have warm sweaters. I know about the value of layering. So, of course, like, I wear my scarf and my heaviest coat and a hat, but every day it's kind of like, huh, wow, it's just so incredibly cold. Instead of saying, okay, yeah, deal with it. Like, really wear the clothes that you need. So that when I'm out there walking a dog or walking somewhere, because, you know, you walk so much in New York City, you really notice it if it's bitterly cold. By giving myself this demerit, I'm gonna just say I'm gonna pull out the stuff that I need and really commit to putting it on, and I'll be so much more comfortable. Yeah.

[B]

Cause, Gretchen, I think of you as a long underwear person. You're one of the few people I know who regularly wears long underwear as part of your wardrobe.

[A]

But see, I kind of forgot that about myself. I should just wear it every single day. Why wouldn't I?

[B]

Right? Cause rarely are you too warm.

[A]

No, I'm rarely too warm. Or like, wearing cotton socks. I was just wearing cotton socks. Wearing cotton socks. And finally I'm like, you know, I was in. When I was in Iceland, I was wearing wool socks every day. It's colder here than it was in Iceland, so why am I not wearing the wool socks? So it was just sort of some lagging mental framework, I think. I just kind of hadn't said to myself, okay, this is deep. We are at the height of winter. Yeah, it is very cold and it will be very cold. Just put on the long underwear every single day. Put on the wool socks, pull on the wind pants if I'm gonna go out for the evening walk with a dog. But, Elizabeth, you know how it is with demerits. You give yourself a demerit and then you do a better job. So this is a good demerit for me. I'll be much better going forward. And how about a gold star? What is your gold star?

[B]

Well, Gretch, I'm giving a gold star to mom and me because I went to Kansas City for a few days and we did so many errands. We were, like, on a mission to do as many errands as we could.

[A]

You did so many errands. I have to say I was. Was astounded by how much you got done in one day. Three days in a row. Yeah.

[B]

And the nice thing is we also had fun things we did. Like we went out to eat, we met friends, we went to a couple of stores that I really wanted to go to. So it was like we had a mix of chores and fun stuff and it was really cold there. It was like 6 degrees, 15 degrees. But we just kept going. We got a ton done and we enjoyed ourselves. So I'm giving us a gold standard.

[A]

Well, so let me ask you this. Did you deliberately say, let's keep this fun by mixing in fun lunch dates and like, oh, we'll go to this place you've been wanting to go to try, or did that just sort of evolve naturally?

[B]

It just evolved naturally. At least not consciously. I don't think we were trying to do that, but it just did work out that way, which maybe that's a hack because it is really helpful if you intersperse doing something you really want to do with things that are more, you know, just boring or chores like going to a fun new stationery shop or a lunch that at a place you know you love things like that.

[A]

Right. So you don't just look at the schedule and just sort of your heart sinks deeper and deeper with every item on it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Oh well, gold star to both of you. Yes. You were telling me what you're doing every day and I was texting the gold stars to you and the text was chain. Yeah. The resource for this week. If you like this episode, if you like this podcast, you might enjoy my weekly newsletter called five Things Making me Happy. It's free and every Friday I share a short roundup of five things that are making me happier. Last year I added a new reader favorite newsletter which is called five Things to Try. And so this is a monthly newsletter that features practical ideas for, you know, happier, healthier, more productive and more creative lives. It's sort of the most distilled thinking in one place. You can subscribe to the Five Things [e-mail] newsletter and Elizabeth, what are we reading? You are reading a book that is, I dare say, not a same day book.

[B]

Yes, I am catching up on Wolf hall by Hilary Mantel and I'm reading.

[A]

Random Harvest by James Hilton. And that's it for this episode of Happier. Remember to try this at home. Go for the. No. Let us know if you tried it and if it worked for you.

[B]

Thank you to our executive producer Chuck Reed and everyone at Lemonada. If you haven't subscribed to Lemonada Premium yet, now is the perfect time. You can listen ad free. Just tap that subscribe button on Apple Podcasts or go to lemonadapremium.com and here's your rhyming reminder.

[A]

Go for the no and and love the show. Leave a review to let us know until next week.

[B]

I'm Elizabeth Craft.

[A]

And I'm Gretchen Rubin. Thanks for joining us. Onward and upward, Elizabeth. You know, here's a drive by hack that I should have mentioned which is, you know, related to how long it takes to read a 50,000 word book.

[B]

Book.

[A]

I think if there's something that you need to do, actually time how long it takes you to do it. Because I used to think it took me like 45 minutes to take a shower and dry my hair. And so I would just think, oh my gosh, it's going to be like an hour doing that. And then when I actually timed it, it was so much less time. It's just a good thing to do.

[B]

Yes. And also for the opposite. Sometimes things take longer than you think they take. And so it's good to know that too.

[A]

Yeah, like how long does it take to drive to the airport or something. You want to have an accurate sense.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

From the Onward project.

[B]

Hi Gretchen, Craig Robinson and my little sister Michelle here, we host a new podcast called IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson.

[A]

We know you're the queen of giving.

[B]

Advice, so we wanted to get a few tips from you. You know, Gretchen, a lot of our listeners are going through some major life changes. What advice do you have for folks who are trying to stay grounded in the midst of major life transitions?

[A]

Craig and Michelle, I am so happy to be talking to you. Here are a few questions that might help us gain perspective. So consider questions like this. What activities take up my time but are not particularly useful or stimulating for me? Do I spend a lot of time on something that's important to someone else but is not very important to me? If I could magically change one habit in my life, what would I choose? And here's a question. Would I like to have more time in solitude, restorative solitude, or would I like to have more time with friends? You know, just thinking about questions like this can help us start to figure out how we might make our lives happier. With greater self knowledge, we're better able to make hard decisions that reflect ourselves, our own nature, our own interests, our own values. In my own case, I have found that the more my life reflects my nature, the happier I get and the more grounded I feel when I'm going through a period of major change or transition. For more great advice, search for IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson. Wherever you get podcasts, you can listen to Issa Rae on letting go of certain friendships Keke Palmer on why disappointment is actually the key to career success Seth and Lauren Rogan on caring for aging parents and so many more.