A wonderful book that has a witty, gentle style whilst still remaining steadfast in it's views. A great book to read if you feel you want to get out of a slump you may have found yourself in.

This book is a combination of self-help and popular neuroscience, it is easily read and accessible. The author's description of the emptiness of a "successful" and "glamorous" lifestyle rang true and was profoundly sad. It read easily, taking me just a few hours. Im not the target audience, and found it strangely unsatisfying;; as an Anglican priest and consultant psychiatrist it told me nothing I didn't already know,

I really enjoy all of Gray's books and this one proved to be highly enjoyable as well. I really liked the way the book was formatting into easy to digest chapters.

I found this book to be inspirational, for me , in articulating what I kind of knew, that most happiness is derived in the ordinary aspects of living. I
enjoyed the way the author provided firm and convincing scientific principles to add weight to her argument. Her writing style is lively and funny, but it doesn't trivialise her subject. Catherine Gray alludes to her earlier difficulties with alcohol being both the cause and the consequence of her deep unhappiness, and I have since reading bought ( but not read ) the accompanying book on sobriety.

This text was not exactly what I imagined it to be - however I did appreciate Catherine's writing style and the snips of hmour which further lightened the book.

I do not know what I was expecting when I chose to read Catherine’s Gray’s The Unexpected Joy of the Ordinary. Perhaps something uplifting? I did not need a book to tell me I am a happy and content person, that I get pleasure in the ordinary and life is what you make it. At times I felt I was reading a thesis statement. Neuroscience and psychology data back her theory that an ordinary life is extraordinary.

Gray’s book is a reminder that we should embrace more of the ordinary in our lives from where we live, our careers, our bodies, our relationships to tech. It is a reminder to focus on what you have rather than what you don’t have.

Thank you #netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The book included some interesting points throughout, however the layout of the books made it for me like a scientific article to me than anything else