A year after getting divorced, Helen Carpenter, thirty-two, lets her annoying, ten years younger brother talk her into signing up for a wilderness survival course. It’s supposed to be a chance for her to pull herself together again, but when she discovers that her brother’s even-more-annoying best friend is also coming on the trip, she can’t imagine how it will be anything other than a disaster. … disaster. Thus begins the strangest adventure of Helen’s well-behaved life: three weeks in the remotest wilderness of a mountain range in Wyoming where she will survive mosquito infestations, a surprise summer blizzard, and a group of sorority girls.
Yet, despite everything, the vast wilderness has a way of making Helen’s own little life seem bigger, too. And, somehow the people who annoy her the most start teaching her the very things she needs to learn. Like how to stand up for herself. And how being scared can make you brave. And how sometimes you just have to get really, really lost before you can even have a hope of being found.
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I just discovered Katherine Center recently and I’m on a roll now. This is my 3rd book of hers, read within a month. What You Wish For is next on the list.
Happiness for Beginners is a really sweet and adventurous story about Helen. She’s divorced and looking for a change to shake up her life, so she signs up for a hiking trip. Along the way, she faces her struggles and discovers her bravery. As with all Center’s books, there are some wonderful side characters that keep the story light and funny even though some serious topics are covered. I listened to the audio version and really enjoyed it. Happiness for Beginners simply made me smile.
I really don’t know if I can help it. I love Katherine Center’s books. I know, I know. I’ve only read a few. But what I started with was great and they just keep getting better so I don’t see my opinion changing any time soon.
Of the books I’ve read, I think this might be my favorite Katherine Center novel. I found the characters engaging and likable (even if Helen was a little more like her dog, Pickle, than she would have liked to admit) and the plot line was well thought-out and developed beautifully.
Something I like about the Center books I’ve read is that, while there is generally a happily ever after, everything doesn’t work out for the characters exactly as we sometimes wish for it to when we’re reading fiction. I like that because it’s a little more like real life. Bad things still happen to ultimately good people, but they also get some really good things, too. This book was no different on that front.
Despite the fact that we only learn about Jake through Helen’s skewed perspective, I couldn’t help but like him right away. And of course he just gets better and better. I loved all of Helen’s little ah-ha moments and the many (many) things that made her go, “wait, really?!” Helen’s character development was really fantastic and I just loved how she started as one person and ended as a person who actively and willingly wants to be better. Again, it just felt real.
I loved watching Helen’s relationship with Duncan, particularly how her thoughts and perceptions changed. Gigi was hilarious! The entire hiking/camping group was so diverse and eclectic and they definitely became a group that learned to have each other’s back, which was cool.
Note: There are some steamy, passionate kisses, in this book, one in particular. It was almost getting a little to hot for me and then it stops. Talk about sex though nothing on page. Mention of peeing in a bottle on a road trip. Some swearing, including a couple of f-words. Disability. Grandma attends “an X-rated book club,” but that’s all we hear about it. Some wilderness accidents, some worse than others.
Quotes I loved:
Only Jake could make something like falling out of a tree awesome.
It’s sadness that gives happiness it’s meaning.
Happiness for Beginners is my first book by Katherine Center and it will not be my last. Her way of storytelling just works for me. I immediately connected with Helen and was invested in her journey towards a new life and a new and improved Helen after her divorce.
I loved the overall theme of the story. Self discovery. Besides Helen I adored grandma Gigi, Helen’s baby brother Duncan and his best friend Jake.
The romance takes a backseat. This is Helen’s journey and I liked that. Her relationship with her brother and Jake was wonderfully explored. I’ll will be reading more from this author and Duncan’s book is the next in line. Such a feel good book with strong characters.
4 Believe in Yourself Stars
I listened to the audio version of this book. I really, really loved this book. I loved it from the first sentence to the last sentence in the Epilogue. Ms. Center takes the reader on journeys of discovery–one for the main character and one for the reader. I’m not the type of person that is ever going to be able to go on a freaking hiking trip in the wilderness for days on end, but I got to do that right along with Helen. I lived every disaster and every triumph right along with her. I shared her feelings for Jake and her feelings for all the other hikers and what she felt for herself as she grew personally along the trail. Such an awesome story of awakening!
The narrator, Marguerite Gavin, did an incredible job. As a side not–best Epilogue I’ve ever read!
This was our May book club selection. While I enjoyed it, I don’t think that it is “book club material”. Great love story and slightly unpredictable, but not debate/discussion -worthy.
A few thoughts I had:
Interesting about what Windy had to say about Pickles: although from the description, I’d have added the suggestion of screening for hypothyroidism. Also, I thought Pickles hated “everyone” . Apparently not Duncan.
I understood why the campers voted for Jake, not why they voted for Windy. I guess just another popularity contest?
Enjoyable distraction, and I plan to read others by this author.
After a bit of a slow start, “Happiness” developed into a nice read. Helen’s transformation from a fearful, somewhat bitter, and closed off woman to a person open to possibilities and to love is a journey worth following. Studded with insights, but not preachy.
I’d enjoy a sequel, a look at how Helen and Jake are coping with challenges that lay ahead, and maybe more about Helen’s brother.
4.5 stars
I absolutely devoured this book. I started with the intention of reading a few chapters before bed and ended up almost finishing the book in one sitting. I was sucked right into Helen and Jake’s story and couldn’t get enough. All of the longing and emotion did a number on me and my heart clenched and ached so many times while reading this book. I wouldn’t consider Happiness for Beginners purely a romance though. For me, it was more women’s fiction with romance. Helen’s healing and journey was the true heart of the story.
What really worked for me:
– I really appreciated that Helen was older than Jake. He’s 10 years younger, but was definitely an old soul.
– Jake. *swoon* He was so tender and sweet to Helen. Sure, I could have done without all that Truth or Dare business and a little less Windy, but it was understandable considering Helen’s words and behavior towards him initially.
– Though infuriating and stubborn at times, Helen was beautifully human and relatable. Every time I was afraid she was turning into a lovesick puppy, she would change her perspective or refocus. I loved that even when she felt overcome with emotion, her personal growth took center stage.
– Katherine Center’s writing. The banter was fantastic and there were wonderful moments of comic relief mixed in with the serious. I loved all the Chuck Norris jokes! LOL She truly has a gift for pulling readers into a story and getting them completely invested in the characters.
What didn’t quite work for me:
– I wanted more from the ending. Readers waited the entire book for these characters to finally come clean and only got to experience a few pages with them truly being open and honest with each other. Yes, a happily ever after is implied (with its own set of hardships and sadness), but I would have loved to get a better look into their future.
– Helen’s family history (and her relationship with/perception of Duncan) was a large part of her journey, but I felt like that storyline wrapped up so quickly. There was a bit of an info dump courtesy of Grandma GiGi, a very odd and alarming scene with a cooler, dancing at a bar mitzvah, and then it was pretty much done.
– There was a lot of wilderness/hiking information. Of course, I knew there would be, but I didn’t anticipate the degree of detail on things like elk rutting, rock formations, or hiking trails.
I’m excited to read Katherine Center’s upcoming book, What You Wish For, especially now that I know it will feature Duncan. Overall, this was a fantastic read that I definitely recommend.
Can’t get enough of the two characters
This was the first book I ever read by Katherine Center, and it still remains my favourite! I loved the gutsy heroine and the super cute/sweet hero. I also love survivalist adventure stories and this one was just intense. I love strong female characters and decent heroes who know how to treat a woman right. There were so many sweet, hilarious and steamy passages in this novel that I started putting slivers of paper in to mark them for a later reread. Just a fantastic story that everyone should read!
5+ STARS!
I’ve kind of read Center’s books all backwards and haphazardly, but amazingly it’s been the perfect approach to cementing her as an all-time favorite author. That’s a big deal for me, because I really only have a few of those. I keep expecting one of her books to miss the mark, but it just hasn’t happened yet.
As with every prior KC book, Happiness for Beginners was a battle for me to put down. This was a bildungsroman type of story centered around a protagonist who decides to attend a 3-week wilderness survival course in order to reset her life, post-divorce. During these three weeks, Helen addresses her relationships, past hurts, and resentments, all while unintentionally and honestly falling in love. While Helen could come across as judgmental and snappish at times, I loved her in spite of those flaws. This author has the incredible ability to create a character that if left to someone else, you might not really care for them. I find that the secondary cast in this story are what really helped to enhance Helen’s character and her journey. I absolutely adored Jake as a love-interest, as well as the rest of the sometimes crazy survival group. Besides her and Jake’s interactions, what touched me the most was Helen’s relationship with her brother (Duncan) after her trip. It was very sweet and often funny to see how it evolved as Helen learned more about herself and the effects of her past. With wit, sensitivity, some adventure, and light angst, this story was joy-filled perfection.
Uplifting and entertaining
5 glowing, laughing,crying, wonderful, all-time-favourite stars
I loved, LOVED, loved this book so much! I had to create a new Goodreads shelf for it: all-time-favourite!
I laughed A LOT…then I cryed a bit and then I laughed while I was crying. I learned to look at things a different, better way. And while I did I had the greatest time ever.
In the beginning I thought, this book is kinda funny, then I thought it is really good, then I thought it is amazing and when I thought it can’t get any better it did.
Did I mention that I don’t like books that make me cry because I want books to make me happy and not sad. This was different. I enjoyed every minute of it and I know I will come back at some point and read it again (which I normally don’t do).
I don’t know why there is not much talk about this book – it so deserves it. Please, go get yourself a copy and read it!