Rethink Happy by Doug Kisgen

Genre: Non-Fiction/Self-Help
Number of Pages: 214
Publication Date: March 17, 2016

Rating: out of 5
OBC Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
To Learn More About the Book, Click: Rethink Happy on OBC Bookshelves

Cleve has forgotten what it means to be a husband and a father. He immerses himself in his work and the things that help him ‘decompress’ (i.e. drinks and a baseball game). Living the dream life, a beautiful wife, two great children, a steady job, and a wonderful house, Cleve has never questioned if there are ways to improve himself or his livelihood.

That is, until he meets the random, yet sweet Camino. Inadvertently, Cleve accepts Camino as a life mentor. Within the matter of weeks, Cleve has a complete different look on his life and learns to appreciate his family more than ever. Come journey with these two likable characters and learn how Cleve does a complete change-over!

This self-help book is one that I really enjoyed. Though Cleve begins as a pretty unlikable character, he slowly changes into one that you would like to be friends with. With logical and steady thinking, Camino gives Cleve the strength and encouragement to begin a change in the lost man’s life.

Being written in a story-like fashion, the writing style flows nicely from one idea to the next, which made the read quick and easy to follow. For me, the steps to feel complete happiness/joy were logical and easy enough for any to replicate.

One of the points I would like to point out is that Camino does eventually tie in religion in order for a person to feel true happiness. Not be spoil anything, but what is emphasized here is praying and reading the Bible. Therefore, one who may not feel comfortable with this, may want rethink in reading this book. However, if the idea intrigues you or makes you curious, then give this book a read!

As a final comment, there were two aspects of this book that I still question now. Why did Camino target Cleve to mentor? Also, what happened to Cleve? I felt the ending was a bit abrupt and it kind of left me wanting more, which in a self-help book, I’m not sure if this is a good goal or not.

Overall, I really enjoyed this read and want to use Camino’s method of praying in my own daily practices.