Happier at Home: Kiss More, Jump More, Abandon a Project, Read Samuel Johnson, and My Other Experiments in the Practice of Everyday Life

In her sophomore effort, Rubin (The Happiness Project) narrows in on a single element of happiness: the home. Whether it's decluttering her apartment, falling in love with fragrance, or trying to better manage her time, she wants to discover what it is that makes her happiest in her favorite place. In this audio production, veteran narrator K%C3%A4the Mazur's performance is competent but uninspired. Mazur's narration is soft and elegant, which does justice to the many historic quotations and the scientific research that Rubin did for this book. However, it is also slow and almost wholly lacking the indomitable cheer that characterizes Rubin's writing. Mazur does come to life in the more humorous parts of the book, which helps to break up the plodding nature of her performance. The narrator also does a marvelous job with various French names and phrases, and offers strong vocal interpretations of some of the memoir's supporting characters, such as Rubin's two young daughters. Overall, however, the listener may wonder why Rubin%E2%80%94who briefly introduces and wraps up the audiobook in her own voice%E2%80%94didn't perform the whole thing. A Crown Archetype hardcover. (Sept.)