Before And After: Or How I Mindfully Used The Mindlessness Of Habit To Become Happier, Healthier, And More Productive (2000) Pretty fascinating. I like Gretchen's writing and her truth-telling about herself, flaws or attributes. She and I are very differrent in some ways, similar in others, but she offers an interesting, readable methodology for examining habits and for categorizing different types of personalies and how each might successfully set desired habits. I've read all of her books. She does her research and she makes it fun to read, and lots to ponder. Gretchen Rubin's books are always enjoyable for me. (I subscribe to her emails and this book was one of my first books to pre-order.) 'BTB' felt more like non-fiction to me than her more memoir-esque 'Happiness Projects.' As was her main point in the happiness books, she contends you will have greater success the more you know yourself. She then sets out a framework to help identify your main personality tendency along with a few other preferences. Maybe I like Rubin's books because I am fairly similar to her. (I classify myself as an upholder, abstainer, finisher, marathoner. As well as being prevention focused, I like small steps, simplicity and familiarity. I also think I am more of a 'lark' than an 'owl.' The only difference is that I consider myself an overbuyer, especially when it comes to books.) It did take me a little longer to get through this book that I thought it would. I like her honesty and find her writing accessible. I always like her examples, especially when she talks about her husband Jamie. I found her loophole identification interesting (I have fallen prey to the "tomorrow" and 'finish line' phenomenon.) I also use the pairing strategy.