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Are you happy?  What makes you that way?  What keeps you that way?  According to Hank Smith, a popular writer and speaker, humans are hard-wired for happiness.  In the introduction to his new book, Be Happy, he writes: "The desire to be happy is ingrained in you.  The Lord put it there.  You might think of it as His fingerprint on your brain" (2).  If that is so (and it is—it's in the scriptures), then why are so many people so unhappy?  What makes them that way?  What keeps them that way?

Smith proposes that, in most cases, we are what is making us unhappy.  By banishing behaviors that lead to unpleasant results, we can create more joyful lives for ourselves.  Smith is quick to note that cases of clinical depression are a different ballgame, but for those with garden-variety unhappiness, small lifestyle changes can have a big impact on one's general outlook.  Being happier is not about our circumstances, insists the author, but in how we deal with those circumstances.  Using examples from scripture as well as counsel from notable leaders, thinkers, scientists, etc. the author offers practical advice on paving a happier path.  Everything from meditating to identifying stimuli in order to better control our reactions to it to keeping a gratitude journal to eating better to laughing more to serving other people can help us be happier on a daily basis.

If you've heard Hank Smith speak, you are familiar with his positive, upbeat style.  This engaging voice infuses Be Happy, making it a quick, funny read that will keep you smiling.  The advice he gives is solid, though, and definitely worth putting into practice.  Even people who would describe themselves as naturally happy can find tips to make their existence even more joyful.  Overall, this small book is a gem.  It's an easy, helpful read that should bring light to anyone who's feeling down.  I enjoyed this fun pick-me-up and would recommend it to anyone who needs a little happy in their life.

(Readalikes:  Um, I can't think of anything.  You?)

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To the FTC, with love:  I received a finished copy of Be Happy from the generous folks at Covenant Communications.  Thank you!

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Two years ago, Petula de Wilde killed her little sister.  Intellectually, the 16-year-old knows Maxine's death wasn't her fault—not entirely—but she can't quite convince her aching heart.  Nothing's been the same since Max died.  Not Petula's parents, who can barely stand each other.  Not her friendship with Rachel; the two no longer speak.  Not Petula's fragile psyche, which can't stop seeing death in every pothole, germ, and hamburger patty.  Petula used to be normal.  Now, she's a freak with such limited social skills that she's stuck doing preschool projects in art therapy class with the all other weirdos at her high school.

Then, Petula meets the Bionic Man.  Jacob Cohen, a 17-year-old amputee, has just moved to Vancouver from Toronto.  For reasons the budding filmmaker refuses to divulge, he has also been placed in "crafting for crazies."  For reasons just as mysterious, Jacob seems to find Petula oozing with friend potential.  She can't understand why a nice, normal guy like him would think her appealing, but he's slowly pushing through the defenses she throws up against everyone else.  Before she knows it, Petula and Jacob have become closer than she could have ever imagined.  Petula's told him all her deep, dark secrets, so why is Jacob so reticent with his?  What is he hiding?  When the truth finally comes to light, everything will change.  Including a tenuous relationship between two very broken teenagers ...

Yesterday when I was reading Optimists Die First, a YA tragicomedy by Susin Nielsen, my 15-year-old daughter asked what the book was about.  Without really thinking, I replied, "A quirky girl meets a quirky boy and they fall in quirky love."  And you know what?  That's a pretty apt description, if I do say so myself.  Petula, a craft and cat fiend with myriad neuroses, defines quirky.  Her oddities keep her interesting, while her voice—which is strong and real—makes her relatable.  She's a sympathetic character, one readers want to see succeed.  Gentle Jacob appeals in much the same way.  In fact, this could be said of all Nielsen's story people.  They're a likable lot.  Which makes Optimists Die First fun to read.  It's a sad book, yes, but it's more hopeful than not.  Although there were parts I wasn't so keen on (hello, bizarrely lax parenting!), overall, I enjoyed this novel about friendship, forgiveness, and finding hope in even the darkest of crafting disasters.

(Readalikes:  Hm, I can't think of anything.  Can you?)

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If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for language (no F-bombs), sexual content, and references to drugs and underage drinking (references are non-graphic and used mostly in a cautionary way)

To the FTC, with love:  I received an ARC of Optimists Die First from the generous folks at Random House Children's Books.  Thank you!

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To the FTC, with love:  I received an ARC of At the Pulpit: 185 Years of Discourses by Latter-Day Saint Women from the generous folks at the LDS Church History Department.  Thank you!

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"Maybe Hell wasn't anything to do with places.  Hell was all to do with people.  Maybe Hell was people" (44).

The very last thing Ellie and her friends expect when they emerge from the bush is to find their world irrevocably changed.  After a week of camping in the wilderness outside their hometown, all they're really thinking about is hot showers and home-cooked meals.  But, while they've been gone, an unknown enemy has taken over their small town.  Wirawee—and maybe all of Australia—is overrun with armed, foreign soldiers.  All of the kids' friends, neighbors, and family members have been imprisoned.  Homes sit empty.  Farm animals are dead in their corrals.  Stores have been ransacked.  The sound of gunfire echoes through the still air.  This, the teens are shocked to discover, is a war zone.

Ellie and her six best mates soon realize they may be Wirawee's only hope for rescue.  They've been joking all week about "going bush" and "going feral."  It's no longer a laughing matter; hiding seems like the best—the only—way to avoid capture.  From the safety of the bush's natural camouflage, they can figure out what to do next.  The terrified teens can't imagine how to do it, but they know it's up to them to save the world—or at least their little corner of it.

Tomorrow, When the War Began is the first installment in John Marsden's addictive Tomorrow series.  The Australian author published the initial volume in 1993; it, and all the subsequent books, have been popular ever since.  It's easy to see why.  Narrated by strong, sympathetic Ellie, the novel tells an exciting story full of action and adrenaline-fueled adventure.  While it's sometimes difficult to distinguish one member of Ellie's posse from another, the characters are still intriguing.  They get more fleshed out in later books; Tomorrow, When the War Began focuses more on plot.  Still, the tale offers an engaging cast of story people, all of them interesting and root-worthy.  That, coupled with lots of heart-pumping action, makes for a fast, engrossing read.  The tale's not without its quiet, contemplative moments, which gives it more depth and authenticity.  This balance creates a round, layered story that's not just a good yarn, but a poignant one as well.  Tomorrow, When the War Began hooked me right away—since the books weren't readily available at my library, I bought the whole set from Amazon through a U.K. seller.  That's how invested I already am in this promising series!

(Readalikes:  Other books in the series, including The Dead of The Night; A Killing Frost; Darkness, Be My Friend; Burning for Revenge; The Night is For Hunting; and The Other Side of Dawn)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for language (no F-bombs), violence, scenes of peril, and sexual innuendo

(Note: The 2010 Tomorrow, When the War Began film [viewable right now on Netflix] is rated either PG-13 or R, depending on where you're looking.  Netflix says R.  Amazon has two different listings for the DVDs, one with a PG-13 rating, one with an R rating.  I won't watch the film until after I finish the books; if you have, enlighten me about the content, won't you?  The 2015/16 t.v. mini-series version [available for purchase on Amazon through Australian retailers] is NR for not rated)   

To the FTC, with love:  I bought a copy of Tomorrow, When the War Began from Amazon with a portion of the millions I make from my lucrative career as a book blogger.  Ha ha.