Sometimes you just need a small, easy to digest book that delivers a wonderfully simple path to feeling better. That's what A Guide to Happiness delivers: simple meditations that make it easier and less pressured for the beginning meditator to explore the world of mindfulness. There will always be more complex books, more in-depth explorations of building confidence via meditation, but there are situations in life like a life disruption, pain, change and illness where the reader comes to the book with a swirling mind, just needing to take the first steps of self care. I liked this book for those moments and especially as a great book to hand to the hurting so they may use its meditations. This is the type of book you read, put on your shelf, and take out again in the future multiple times for re-reading when you just need a boost.

Thank you to the publishers and to NetGalley for the review copy.

Was there ever a time when people wanted more to feel better?  This book is about some ways to improve one's life, by becoming more internally at peace, through the use of mindfulness and meditation.  I think that it is worth a look.


The author offers a number of activities to explore on the way to feeling better.  There is also a "happiness plan" for readers to complete.  This offers something concrete to look at when reflecting on happiness in one's life. 


Right in the first chapter, there is a mini meditation.  This sets the tone for what will follow and provides readers with a sense of what to expect.  In this chapter, as in all of the others, the author also gives an example from her personal experience.  If you are a person who can sit mindfully this book could be for you.  It could also be for you if you would like to add a few minutes of calm reflection to your day.


Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title in exchange for an honest review.

I have read and tried many books similar to this one, and this is honestly my favourite by far.
It's not a book you can just read and then put back on the shelf, it's one that you need to keep on your coffee table and refer to it when you need a reminder.

There are many helpful hints in your pursuit of happiness, and together with 'mini meditation', I really feel that this book could help many people who struggle with happiness in their lives.

There is also a link for a listening meditation, which I haven't listened to yet. But I'm confident that it will be very useful.

This is a great guide for anyone who is looking to add more mindfulness and meditation to their life. This book is broken up into sections, and each of the sections builds upon each other to ultimately give the reader the tools they need to begin to practice more mindfulness and happiness in their every day life. It is a fairly short workbook, so it is very manageable and was a quick read. I think ideally this would be a great resource to incorporate into morning quiet time or prayer time. I think the book would best be read over the span of a few weeks. I definitely walked away with some interesting insights and takeaways I can apply to my own life.

This is a short book on meditations and mindfulness to be happy.

There is a step by step guide that has a meditation and instructions included. Once you master one step you can move on to the next.

Overall I think the meditations and suggestions are thoughtful! I appreciate that the steps are summarized at the end of the book to move you toward happiness.

Such a beautiful cover and I am very thankful to be able to review this. This book really goes step by step on different ways to identify factors that may help you achieve happiness. It also provides mini-mediation and mindfulness moments. I like that there is a place where the reader can answer questions to make you think. It is a nice book to review before going to be or when waking up in my opinion. I am so glad I had this opportunity. Thank you

A light introduction to mindfulness and how it can help you increase happiness in the long run.
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As I am quite familiar with mindfulness techniques and have been applying them for a long time, I didn’t find any new concepts in this book.
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However, I appreciate how much important information this little book holds and would definitely recommend this for anyone who might be new to this.
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I think it’s great that the author added personal examples at the end of each chapter/concept. That’s definitely something I found missing in quite few self help books; this just makes it so much more personal and relatable.
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p.s. switching hands was a challenge! Loved it!

Author has actual life experience of feeling grief first hand when she loses her husband to disease.
But she decides to stay happy from next day of her trauma.
Author has written simple conversation with reader to help him develop a happy outlook to life.
Her meditations and practice described in the book are very good.
You could actually use those exercises from day one as they are described in very simple prose.
There are no mystic or magical claims, just power of mindfulness and practice to control brain are described.
Book is short and a happy read. At points you tend to think that author is overconfident in her methods and there efficacy.
A very good guide about things that you can actually do in you pursuit of happiness

I fell in love with the cover and I requested this book. It's well written and well researched, full of interesting ideas and things to do to learn to be happy.
I liked it and I recommend it.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

I paired Tara Ward’s A Guide to Happiness with her other book, Build Your Confidence and I loved them both. A Guide to Happiness was the perfect book to remind oneself to just be happy. This lovely little book of tips provides helpful insights and affirmations that everyone deserves to hear. Sometimes we can get stuck in a bad mood, but this is a great book to read if you ever need a pick-me-up. With helpful reminders to be positive, this is a great read for everyone! The cover art is so cute and would be lovely on a shelf or coffee-table (especially paired with her other lovely titles!)

I chose to request this book because, during the current state of the world, I think we can all use some happiness tools.
Tara Ward delves a little into the science of happiness...but the real joy of this read for me was "Installing Happiness Into Your Genes." I connected with this part because Ward invites the reader to create a plan of action towards happiness. Meditation is a little more appealing after this read.
If you're feeling stuck in a rut, especially during quarantine, this is a great quick read and pick-me-up.
Thank you Netgalley!