Reviewing "Happiness is All We Want" by Ashutosh Mishra

A few years ago I attended a seminar that constantly referenced a book The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt (a great read by the way). Haidt's book tried to get to the root of what makes people happy and touches on philosophy, psychology, economics, evolution, and cognitive science. What Haidt does is explain what makes people happy, but it's not a self-help book. It's a book that says that what we want and need is happiness. Since then I've read several self-help books about happiness. One of which, thanks to Booktasters Nonfiction, was Happiness is All We Want by Ashutosh Mishra. Find out what I thought about this book below.


Happiness Is All We Want by Ashutosh Mishra
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"Happiness Is All We Want" is a practical approach to seeking happiness and improving your life. The book is written in a conversational tone and is divided into three sections: mind, body and soul. Each section discusses every day type problems/obstacles a person may face and how to overcome them to achieve happiness.

I found the book to be engaging, well articulated and not pedantic like some self-help books can be. I highly recommend this book.

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Reviewing Waiter to the Rich and Shameless by Paul Hartford

                I am extremely behind on my book reviews since surgery, but I'm back at it. I will begin posting about one a day until I'm all caught up. To start, I would like to share my thoughts about "Waiter to the Rich and Shameless: Confessions of a Five-Star Beverly Hills Server" by Paul Hartford.

Waiter to the Rich and Shameless: Confessions of a Five-Star Beverly Hills Server by Paul Hartford
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Booktasters Nonfiction (@TasteNonfiction on Twitter) connected me with author Paul Hartford who provided me a copy of "Waiter to the Rich and Shameless: Confessions of a Five-Star Beverly Hills Server," and I'm thankful that they did. This was a raw, unfiltered, interesting read!

Paul writes about how he, a down and out musician, cuts his hair and becomes a waiter in a very posh restaurant in Beverly Hills, the "Cricket Room," which many suspect is the Polo Lounge. He writes in detail his encounters with celebrities such as Rod Stewart, Ozzy Osbourne, Johnny Depp and even Donald Trump, including details about their clothing choices and even menu items and ingredients.

Beyond just the stories of his encounters is how the author grew up through his experiences. In the beginning he is a know-it-all and a bit of a pretentious, judgmental, cocaine loving, sexist jerk. Later, he is a married man that doesn't entirely sexualize women (I only say not entirely, because he still makes some word choices that most women would rather he didn't). He becomes frustrated by the overly corporate feeling of the restaurant he works at and how decisions being made from afar about the operations. I think his criticisms of the corporate decisions demonstrate how serious he takes his job and what the "Cricket Room" has come to mean to him and mirror his growing maturity.

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