I love the prompts in this book, and after trying to navigate them in the digital copy a couple of years ago (when this review was first due), I decided to get a physical copy for myself. And it is worth it. With mind-mapping exercises, thoughtful and playful prompts, association activities, happiness lists of various types, and more, Barbara Ann Kipfer’s The Happiness Diary is bound to make you smile and leave you happier as you complete these pages at your own pace.

Thank you to NetGalley for the digital RC of this book

I loved this book!

A great journal full of happiness, easy to follow tasks and ideas.

I think everyone could use this book in their lives at the moment.

The Happiness Diary is full of cute illustrations and fun content. Reading this was a joy and to be honest having this on my shelves makes me happy. Because whenever I feel down, I can just open a page, read a few sentences and just feast my eyes with the drawings. But, I am too lazy to the exercises and I usually forget about them. Nonetheless, this is a cute book and I recommend this to especially women and everyone who wants to have a "happy" book in their bookshelves.

A great journal about happiness and mindfulness. I think it is ideal for overloaded adults but I would also use it in my teenage English classes where we are trying to exercise mindfulness as students are under a lot of pressure.

I had the chance to read a preview copy of the book thanks to NetGalley and the publishers.

3 out of 5 star

I would like to thank Quarto Publishing Group – Fair Winds Press for providing me with a free – temporary – electronic ARC of this book, via Netgalley. Although I’m auto-approved with them, the decision to read this book is my choice and any reviews given are obligation free.

This is another one of those books that is best not reviewed as a non-interactive electronic copy. :-)

Basically, it is another sort of “mindfulness journal” best read, and interacted with, in paper form. It is filled with some great little snippets of positivity, pictures, and activities for the reader to undertake as part of their ME time.

Now I must apologise, as it’s been some months since actually last read ‘The Happiness Diary’ and so I freely admit my memory is a little sketchy, as are my notes taken at the time. But I do remember it as being very welcoming; with a fun and creative vibe that made me wish – many times – that I had a paper copy to be interacting with.

Books like ‘The Happiness Diary’ are made to help us all slow down a bit, read some positive things for once, focus on our thoughts, feelings, routines, and allow us to be creative. It may not sound like the sort of thing everyone would enjoy, but I find this sort of book as an excellent way to detach from the internet, remember who I am, and relax while being creative and still using my brain. To me, this form of relaxation is far better than sitting in front of a TV, laptop, phone, whatever. Just switch off, open a book, and let it help you find happiness again. Perfection.

Saying all that, the reason I only gave ‘The Happiness Diary’ 3 out of 5 stars is because I reviewed it as an electronic ARC, where the formatting wasn’t quite right, so it was a bit jumbled. And I feel reviewing such books as an electronic copy really does defeat the purpose. I am sure, if I was to buy myself a paper copy, and then do a review, it would receive a far greater rating.

Would I recommend this book to others?

Yes I would, but only as a paper copy. I’d tell them to get a nice pen or pencil and some colouring in pencils, grab this book and allow themselves AT LEAST 10 minutes a day just to read and interact with ‘The Happiness Diary’. Journaling, mindfulness, Me Time… as hippy as these things might sound to some; they are things we all REALLY need to keep in our lives. And books like ‘The Happiness Diary’ are perfect for this.

Would I buy this book for myself?

If I saw it in paper somewhere for a reasonable price, then yes I would. Now, I’m not saying it isn’t reasonably priced… I’m just saying I’m not about to spend a fortune on it as there are many other books like it out there that I would gain just as much relaxation and positivity from.

In summary: ‘The Happiness Diary’ is just what you need if you’re seeking some creative, positive me time in your life. The perfect companion for a peaceful Me Time moment in a café with hot beverage of your choice.

This was a fun journal! Made me happy going through it! I really can't wait to buy this and see what other things there are! Thank you netgalley for the free arc in exchange for a honest review!

This is actually a great little happiness diary. Too many similar diaries ask users unrealistic questions and require a great deal of time dedicated to them. The Happiness Diary is realistic, but looks like a really positive option for people seeking a gratitude/positivity diary.

I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. I am trying to remember the happy moments in my life and this gave me a shove in the right direction. I like making lists or following prompts for my own journal so this was not a new concept to me but it did make me focus on the lighter part of my life. It is something that made feel better and continues to do so.

I didn’t get to actually fill this one out (since it was virtual as an ARC) but I appreciated the concept and the prompts. The art is whimsical and fun. I like the goal of this journal and the encouragement towards reflection. I can see some people passing this one on as a gift to someone else.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love this diary! It has the most amazing pictures and the format of filling in the blanks was very well done. I have been looking for something along these lines for quite a while and this was perfect! I found myself really looking forward to capturing my thoughts in this journal!

The Happiness Diary by Barbara Ann Kipfer is a delightful journal format guide to creating happiness and cultivating gratitude in your own life. With playful prose, and plenty of prompts to prod your mind, this nifty book will help you determine what makes you happy- what your deepest values are, what happiness means to you, what you most want, and how to create a plan for getting it. Kipfer takes you through keeping a gratitude journal, happiness lists, and making mind-maps to focus your thoughts. She presents several different tools, encouraging readers to explore and see what suits them best. I enjoyed reading through it, and plan on getting a hardcopy for both myself and my sisters.

***Many thanks to Netgalley and Quarto Publishing for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I feel happier already! This had some great advice and I really enjoyed reading this. It helped me to reevaluate some thing and make my life "happier", better, and healthier.

If you like journaling and self-reflecting, you will enjoy this book. It is simple, but it can be a good tool for creating a daily habit of journaling, as it can give you new ideas to write about. Plus, the illustrations are cute.

Wunderschön gestaltetes Journal, daß einem zuerst bewusst macht, was das Leben alles umfasst, um dann daran zu arbeiten, was es noch umfassen sollte.
Zum immer wieder in die Hand nehmen, sich erfreuen und an sich arbeiten.
Eignet sich auch hervorragend als Geschenk.

This book will be enjoyed both by those who are committed to journal writing and ones with interest in following mindfulness. As many reviewers agree, the illustration is lovely and makes it a wonderful keepsake book, as well as being informative and encouraging.

The happiness diary is a beautifully illustrated mindfulness diary. I believe this would be a great introduction to recording your thoughts and feelings with respect to mindfulness. With hints and tips a plenty for when, and what kinds of things to think about and record it's suitable for all ages and beginners to diary writing. Having been sent an ebook ARC for review I would recommend the paper copy to annotate.

Although created by the same person who made one of my favourite websited (thingstobehappyabout), I still feel like there wasn't much to learn from this happiness diary. I always want more information from these kind of journals, however all I get is a lot of nice illustrations and pages to make lists and mind maps and all that...

There are some valuable things about mindfulness, but going on the website will be a lot more fun than using this diary.

This is such a wonderful book. The illustrations were so pretty. I could not wait until it was released so I can have my own hard copy to write in and keep. Reading the ebook and following along with the thought provoking questions was nice as well, but this is definitely a keepsake book for me. I love how the positivity stays with me throughout the day after reading.

Great book to have! I like how you can read and use everyday! The activities are fun and great way to reflect our lives. The techniques it gives are every encouraging. it took me a while to finish this book since it takes time and days. Not in one day to finish. Thank you for letting me be a part of this journey.

A beautifully illustrated guide packed with exercises to encourage the practice of mindfulness and gratitude. Excellent tool for visually processing thoughts, aspirations and patterns of behaviour.