Happiness for Two by Alexandra Stoddard

In Happiness for Two, Alexandra Stoddard offers 75 helpful hints to improve your relationship with your significant other and to find happiness together. However, it’s not only for couples. She also provides information on bettering yourself. The chapters are short, but the subject matter and points she makes are important. Each one starts and ends with an inspirational quote from various sources. Some of these are real gems.

I really liked this book. The information is great for couples, but it would also benefit those in between relationships and those “looking for love”. One of my favourite chapters is “Set aside Times to Sit and Read Together”. My husband and I started doing this about 2 years ago and it’s one of our favourite relaxing pastimes now.

Most of the hints are straightforward and expected. These include points like remembering important dates, not correcting each other in public and using eye contact when talking to your partner. However, some of the hints surprised me. These include points like writing each other’s New Year’s resolutions (you write them together) and being careful with surprises. Not only has this book given me lots of stuff to think about and act upon, but also it’s sure to provide interesting topics for our dinner table discussions. [Yes, that’s another hint Stoddard gives – eat as many meals together as possible.]

I’m going to save this book and reread it. However, I’ll probably read one or two points a day rather than try to read the whole thing within a week or two. Perhaps I’ll even get my husband to read it. Well, maybe just parts of it (like the chapter on bringing home flowers or the one on treating your wife like a queen…well, ok, there’s a chapter on flowers, but not one on queens, but there should be.) Maybe I’ll just tell him what it says. ;) This really isn’t the kind of thing he likes to read, but I’ll try. I think it’ll be beneficial to us both.

Recommended. I’m looking forward to reading more works by Stoddard.