Unfortunately I was unable to get in to this story and had to put it down, however, I'm sure it is a highly loved book and appreciated by the right readers.

Another fab read fro Annie Lyons. A talented author who always knows what she is doing. Thanks to the author and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

A wonderfully uplifting tale and a true feel-good read. Perfect for a lazy day of curling up with a good book. Looking forward to reading more by this author.

I am a big fan of Annie Lyons books and this one didn’t disappoint. I loved this women’s fiction novel about people at all different stages in their life trying to find happiness. A lovely warm read that I would recommend. It took me a while to get around to reading g this and I am not sure why exactly - I wish I had read it sooner!

I really enjoyed this modern fictional story.It's about three unhappy women who join a "Happines Course". They become friends and set out to change their lives.

A fantastic read, wonderful characters at different stages of their lives all trying to find happiness. Everyone deserves happiness in life! A lovely book to read, very enjoyable.

Fantastic, uplifting, rewarding, and a winner of a book to read. Three women in different stages of their lives to learn how to find happiness. Everyone deserves to find happiness for themselves.

A wonderfully uplifting story with three rather distinct characters and their stories but with a common theme.

Each chapter alternates between focusing on Fran, Heather and Pam who all for different reasons find themselves at the Hope Street Community Centre on a course to discover "happiness".

Heather is sure she is happy as she is engaged and is working on wedding plans, but found herself at a loose end when Luke was working late again. Fran on the other hand is realising she may need to start moving on, she was widowed two years ago and has two wonderful children to look after, and Charlie is a star. Then there is Pam who is a bit older than the others, is regarded as a gossip on Hope Street but really does have a heart of gold, but needs to re-discover who she really is as her children are all adults now.

I loved getting to know all three of these ladies and their friends, circumstances, and just how this Happiness course is going to work for them all.

As the story progresses new friendships are made, there are journeys of self discovery and new hobbies, and lessons that the readers can take from it about their own happiness.

This is a feel good summer read, that is a pleasure to read, and is another gem of a book from Annie Lyons. I just feel bad I didn't read it the second it arrived on my kindle many months ago as I was missing out!

Thank you to HQ Digital and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

Pamela, Fran and Heather don't really have anything in common but when they all decide to go on a happiness course at their local community centre they are joined together and a friendship forms. They all have different reasons for joining the course, Pamela has been married for 40 years and is fed up with being taken for granted by her husband and family.... she could certainly do with some spark in her marriage! Fran is widowed and struggling on her own with her two children and dog, whereas Heather has only just moved back to Hope Street with her elusive fiance and plans for their wedding.

A lovely story with great characters and unexpected friendships forming amid showing that community spirit is still very much alive

I have read Annie Lyon's previous books and loved them and I was not disappointed with this. Well written with lovely warm characters, I loved this book from the start.

A story of friendship, new beginnings and loyalty - both funny and heartwarming in equal measure. I loved all of the characters and their stories. Three very different women, I liked all of them and found their stories quite moving. I enjoyed the concept of a course in happiness and mindfulness. I liked how the characters developed and became empowered.

Heartwarming and uplifting I highly recommend this book.

Although this is written as a sequel to The Choir on Hope Street, this could be read as a standalone novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Heather, Fran and Pamela couldn’t be more different, and they don’t imagine themselves growing closer to each other, whilst on a happiness course of all things. Although the course is supposed to help them focus on the positive and help them to manage and set themselves achievable goals, they start supporting each other instead.

Each of the women have their own burdens to bear. Fran is still trying to deal with the loss of her husband, Pamela is caught between her son and her husband, and Heather is planning a wedding. Heather is still coping with her own losses, which make her insecure, vulnerable and perhaps a little naive about the people closest to her.

Mindfulness is very en vogue at the moment. It’s all about focusing one’s awareness on the present, as opposed to dwelling on the past or being anxious about the future. Accepting one’s own thoughts, feelings and physical sensations and acknowledging them calmly. In this case Heather, Fran and Pamela are asked to create lists of things or goals, which make them or will make them happy.

It’s interesting to note how each list changes and evolves as the women grow and learn to focus on themselves and their happiness. How some seemingly important goals become less so to the women, as they learn to let things go and to assert themselves and their needs.

Lyons always delivers an emotional, solid and yet at times amusing read. Although it’s infused with a subtle layer of humour, this story is about empowerment and taking control of your emotions and your life. It’s about friendship, loyalty and bonds that grow between people. It’s about enjoying the small things in life, focusing on the positive rather than the negative, and above all it is about knowing there is always a way forward.

This book is about 3 women from different generations who are all dealing with grief, betrayal, dissatisfaction or the feelings of being taken for granted. The story starts with the backgrounds of the women who all have an element of unhappiness in their life although it is written with compassion and humour.

The three sign up for a local “Happiness Course” and find unlikely friendship and support in each other as they complete the weekly tasks to build their own Happiness Lists. As the story progresses they learn a lot about themselves, and each other, as they find new strengths and interests.

In the first few chapters there are a lot of characters which does take a bit of concentration, but then the story flows easily. All three women are extremely likeable, the sort of women you’d like to become friends with. I loved the characters of Charlie, a 10 year old girl wise beyond her years but with an innocent vulnerability, and of Alan who was perfectly portrayed.

It is an extremely moving story that left me misty eyed on more than one occasion. Some of it is predictable but in that nice “lose yourself in a book” way, with a few twists along the way. It has been the perfect easy read for a hot Summer Sunday that left me feeling all warm and gooey.

Annie Lyons is a new author to me and she has 4 more books out which will now be added to my ever growing TBR pile.

Aside from the story itself there was a wonderful upcycling idea at the end which got my mind ticking and a link to take your own free personality survey.


Released 11th July 2018
I’d like to thank Annie Lyons, HQ Digital and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my independent opinion. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I'm happy to share it with you as part of my Recommended Reads.

Firstly, any book with the title Happiness or List in it is going to get my vote. I am a self-confessed Happiness addict and I am always reading about it or boring people to death with all the latest theories and research. Ditto lists- I write a to-do list every morning before I start my day. I write down all the things that I want to do – including the fun things. Yes. I schedule fun and spontaneity – or it just doesn’t happen. When my big kids were little they knew that the way to get me to do what they wanted was to write it on a post-it note and stick on the kitchen cupboard next to the kettle. (Tea addict too!) So, imagine the grin on my face when I spotted this lovely book.
We meet our trio of multi-generational heroines Pamela, Fran and Heather just as their curiosity gets the better of them and they make their way (reluctantly in some cases) to a Happiness Course at their local community centre. This took me straight back to my 8-week Mindfulness course. (I told you I was a happiness nerd). I really did relate to the women’s experiences. I was doing such a range of all-consuming jobs at the time, and the second we lay down to do our ‘body scans’ I fell asleep. No word of a lie. I did. I had to beg my colleagues to let me know if I had snored or not. They swore that I hadn’t. Then we had to do some funny moves with our arms whilst breathing carefully, we were winding up cotton and smoothing out metaphorical silk and my friend and I could NOT look each other in the eye. But, I really did bond with the people in the group and I learnt some techniques that help me feel centred even to this day. I love a mindful walk for example. At the end of our course we all wrote a letter to ourselves and our teacher posted it to us about 6 months later. I wrote in mine that I really mattered and when I received that note from myself it moved me deeply.
This story is moving too, we follow the narrative threads of the three women’s lives and a tapestry of tears and tests, love and laughter weaves itself together in the pages of the book. The women are real and realistic yet happy dreamers and hopers at the same time. I loved the throwback to a Jane Austen quote set with a modern twist, out of the mouth of Fran– “It is a truth universally acknowledged that when your world is rosy, life will usually find a way to shit on you from a great height.” Isn’t’ that how we feel sometimes. I for one have been holding my breath lately. Not daring to dream that good can come my way as well as the bad. The women are all inspiring in their honesty and are anchors to the truth for one another and for us readers. The author encourages another re-imagining of words, this time of the loveable old Winnie-the-Pooh that the women are ‘braver than they know, stronger than they seem and smarter than they think’ and so are we.
The author does not hold back, some of the waves that hit these women are wild and wilful and potentially life withering. There are tender spots that touch on and tweak our own troubles too, but the antidote is supplied by the love, empathy and gentle nudging that each woman shows the other. That and the advice that the secret to survival is tea, cake and gin! For the characters pain becomes accepted and viewed as a part of life, and some pain a constant part of life, but we as they are encouraged to find the wonder in each moment, and to be present in the now. The breath of life wafts in and out of the pages of the book and inspires us to look for the many moments of happiness available to us, to view them and treasure them and to pass them on, to trap them in our dream catchers and enjoy them holding them up to the light especially in our darkest hours or when an unexpected storm arises.
In true spice girls style this lovely story helps us to recall that friendship never ends, and we should go after what we want – what we really, really want, with all our hearts.

Coffee Cup Conversations and Teapot Talking Points:
If you and I dear reader were sitting down together today, having both read the book, here are a few of the points we could mull over together with one of Georg’s delicious coffees and one of Pamela’s gorgeous bakes of course!
Have you written your own happiness list?
I loved the way that each chapter was set out, each starting with the ever-growing happiness list being created by each character. I found myself drawn to writing my own happiness list – little things that I know mean a lot and that help me to create margins and transitions around my day. Prompts to my soul to remind me reconnect to being Zoe. Some examples included: A gym session, listening to my favourite podcasts (I combine these), a slice of fresh lemon in water with some ice cubes, writing in a coffee shop with my noise cancelling headphones on and new stationery.
Have you ever done any volunteering?
I love how the characters in the story use their skills and talents to bless others in the community. I particularly loved how this drew together the different generations and people from so many different experiences and backgrounds. This year I have volunteered with different heritage groups. I have cleared graves and graveyards, tidies public gardens, sifted archaeological finds from Jane Austen’s garden and welcomed people to her brother’s country house and estate. I really enjoyed all the different conversations that I had with people that I would not have met otherwise. It was really great to feel the value of my time and to give to something bigger than myself. I really enjoyed working alongside such a range of other people and to hear of how many years many of them had served their community in this way.
Who are your band of merry men or women?
Just like Robin Hood, everyone needs a band of people to help them along. I love being that person whenever I can be – and I have a small but perfectly formed group of people ready to support me. I could not have enjoyed this sabbatical year of being me so much if it hadn’t been for the encouragement, practical help and words of wit and wisdom that I received from these special people. It has made me much more aware of how we are relational beings. I try to show up and do my part in my own way.

I had a feeling that, based on the title, Annie Lyons' latest novel was going to open my eyes and keep them open. What I never expected, however, was for 'The Happiness List' to not only keep my eyes open, but it also made me think about my life in a completely different way.

Heather, Fran and Pamela may be three completely different women, yet they're all bound together by one coming thing; heartbreak. However, with all three women going through different types of heartbreak at different points in their life, their outlook on how they cope with it is incredibly different, with some of their family members being confused by how they seem to be dealing with the aftermath. The thing is, everyone copes with things differently, and just because someone else will do things one way whilst another person will do things in another way, it doesn't make it wrong at all, so they shouldn't be made to feel as though they're not coping or get told that they should be 'fine by now'. Is there a timeline for when heartbreak should be dealt with? No. And that's where 'The Happiness List' comes in. When all three ladies have the chance to create a personal list to enhance their own happiness, it makes them realise that to truly be happy, they need to forgive themselves. I know, it sounds easier said than done, but once you've read this book, it will become clear that it is in fact an incredibly difficult thing and that you need to have a supportive group of people around you for when the going gets tough. Not people who are only there when they want something or who dip in and out of your life quicker than Justin Bieber's relationships. True friends. The ones who turn up at your door in their pyjama's to sit on your sofa, or the ones who answer your phone call any time of day, even if it is just to listen to you cry because you're on your monthly/football team didn't win.

Sorry, I have ranted a little bit, but this is such an important book to read and digest, I wouldn't be doing it justice if I didn't write my thoughts honestly.

What really hit home with #TheHappinessList was the way Annie Lyons made it clear how heartbreak is individual, and how nobody should invalidate how you feel all because they would do things differently. I found Heather, Pamela and Fran's friendship incredibly heart-warming and made me wish that I had friends like that because to be honest, I never have. It made me quite emotional to read how the author made one of character's happy on their own, proving that happiness doesn't always mean being in a couple.

I loved the humour in this book as it made the storyline balanced when it came to reading the emotional scenes. Reading 'The Happiness List' is a journey in itself, one which is life affirming, powerful, and has the chance to put a spring in your step for the smallest things. To look at, you may think that this book is full of joy as the cover is incredibly colourful and, whilst I will agree to a point, there is a lot to this book than the cover divulges. A bit like a trifle (hear me out) - to look at you see cream/topping and sprinkles, but underneath that colourful and silky topping are multiple layers which will feel you with different kinds of joy. Is the jelly raspberry, blackcurrant or strawberries? Are there lady fingers at the bottom or fruit? So yes, Annie Lyons, for me, has written a book that resembles a trifle as, the more of the book I read, the more beautiful things I discovered and the larger my smile became.

I adore Annie Lyons' story telling as she writes with such soul and magnetism, bringing joy to the reader's heart like our good friend Winnie the Pooh. I will never get tired of Lyons' tales and as far as I am concerned, this author and her books have their own bookshelf in my heart AND its under lock and key.

After really enjoying The Choir on Hope Street I couldn't wait to pick up The Happiness List. Even though we return to Hope Street as a setting this book easily reads as a standalone story. In this book we follow Heather, Fran and Pamela who all meet and become friends when they attend a happiness course. This trio are down to earth and so very easy to relate to due to their situations. They were constantly making me smile, especially Fran I loved her no nonsense and straight talking approach but also her softer more vulnerable side. Annie Lyons has managed to create a snapshot of life from three different perspectives. With an emphasis on supporting one another through life, both the good parts and the bad.

In this book there is a wonderful balance of lighter funnier moments against the more emotional side. The Happiness List is a story that takes us on quite a journey one where each character grows in confidence. I really enjoyed the idea of sitting back and reflecting on the smaller things that will make you just as a happy but that we sometimes overlook. This story created an emotional but overall uplifting feeling that I thought was perfect. I have to admit there were a few tears but this just shows how much of a connection I felt to both the characters and story. I didn't want to put this book down but I also felt sad that I had to leave the characters behind! While I was reading this book it made me feel as if I was wrapped up in a bubble of warmth, love and contentment.

The Happiness List is emotional, funny and amazingly heartfelt. A truly beautiful story!

Five stars from me!

With thanks to HQ Digital for my copy.

Pammy, Fran and Heather are all living in the neighborhood of Hope Street, that of the famous choir, and while ‘friendly’ in that ‘nod and perhaps chat a moment way, they aren’t visiting and sharing tea. But when a course on Happiness is offered, the three women decide (not necessarily commit) to go to the first session, led by a Danish man, Nik. Of course, the three are ‘grouped’ together at the course, an odd pairing from the outset, but one that is surprisingly the best for all. See, Pammy is in her mid-60’s, married nearly 40 years and finding that she and her husband Barry have lost that luster and camaraderie.. Fran is recently widowed unexpectedly, with her two children and her dog Alan, she’s just retreated from everyone and everything, spending hours on the sofa she hates talking with her dead husband. Heather has just moved back to Hope Street with her fiancé Luke, although he’s constantly off working, or home ignoring her because of work. She’s wanting to plan the wedding and make inroads into the life they will share, and nothing seems to be falling into place as she hoped.

What emerges is a story that EVERYONE needs to read for the twists, turns and journeys that these three travel together and separately, showing how, despite being at different ages and stages in life, these three women find ways to support, uplift, advise and nudge one another forward. You wish, no matter where you are currently, that you had friends like this: those who push you when you need it, rant and rail when that is what’s required, and always allow you to be yourself, no matter what form that may take at any time.

Annie Lyons is a genius at making readers care for, and empathize with, her characters. Perhaps it is because we can see ourselves in situations, with feelings, and perhaps even mistakes, in her characters, and they seem to find a way through it all, no matter how dire situations may look at first. Make the effort to pick up and read this book, a bit slow to start – soon you will be reading (and rereading) passages because you just don’t want it to end. A favorite for all of the emotions, the characters and the sheer joy of being back to visit Hope Street.

I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

Review first appeared at <a href=” https://wp.me/p3OmRo-9T4 /” > <a> I am, Indeed </a>

I really enjoyed this book.
I loved the 3 main characters and their different POV.
They’re all different but compliment each other wonderfully.
It would be a perfect holiday read and made me smile!

The Happiness List by Annie Lyons is a really fun contemporary novel that focuses on good friends, carpe diem and dealing with grief.
Loss consumes. "After two years, people sort of expected you to have moved on." There is no time limit on grief. It is "my grief, my way." We have to find a way to move into a new normal. "Grief is ongoing. It never leaves you. You're finding a way to live around that."
With grief, comes guilt. "Guilt... my oldest and most reliable friend... I get to live, to carry on." Guilt can weigh us down. We need to let it go and live again. We must not be afraid to laugh and to live and to love again. It does not mean we forget our loved one, but we have to learn to live with our memories and not our guilt.
The novel is about good friends who stand by us and support us. The sort of friends who will drop everything to be by your side in a crisis.
At different stages in life, we play different roles. As we get older, we fear losing our purpose. Do people see a wrinkled old woman? Or the girl she once was?
Life should be about carpe diem. We need to seize today because tomorrow is not guaranteed.
New hobbies, new interests, focusing on others are all good choices that we can make. We can choose what makes us happy.
The Happiness List was really fun and amusing. It did also have serious underlying themes. Life was shown from three different points of view - each one struggling to survive in today's world. I loved all the women.
A perfect book for a summer holiday read.
I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.

Annie Lyons' new novel does exactly what it says in the blurb .. it delights and uplifts!

Pamela, Fran and Heather each have their own crosses to bear; life is not perfect for any of them but they all try to keep their chins up and meet the challenges thrown in their paths each day. When a new course is set to run in the hall in Hope Street, they decide to support each other and find out what it's all about. After all, a happiness course may be fun!

This is a truly lovely, bright read. The uncertainties of life faced by these three women aren't in the least unusual - in fact, they're fairly common. It's easy to identify with the characters - many and varied, they are such a joy to meet! As with any good story, there are ups and downs and this author's writing bubbles along with something new always happening and various intertwining threads keeping the reader's attention. I'm happy to report that all the ends are neatly tied off by the final page, and I closed my kindle with a little sigh of satisfaction as well as a smile on my face. Definitely a feel-good read, and one I'm happy to recommend.

My thanks to publishers HQ Digital for approving my copy via NetGalley. This is my honest, original and unbiased review.