Thanks a thousand : a gratitude journey

I really wanted to like this because it's such a great idea but I feel like something was missing. Maybe it was the lack of any sort of stakes for the author. To me it read like an expanded to-do list, ticking off people to thank.

But I love the idea and I'm glad it's done - I just feel like something got lost in the translation because I just couldn't get invested in it. I suspect he had some trouble at times as well - especially toward the end where he didn't even know how many people he had thanked. 957? 1015? Oh I don't know, I'll call it 1000. Good enough. That feels like a metaphor for what I saw as the biggest shortcoming of the book.

I love A.J. Jacobs and I was very happy to see that he has written a new book. In the past, Jacobs has written what I call challenge books; Jacobs sets a challenge for himself and has tried to accomplish his goal. In the past, Jacobs has tried to be as healthy as possible; improve himself by following others' advice; become the smartest person in the world; follow the Bible literally. In Thanks a Thousand, Jacobs sets out to thank anyone who had anything to do with his morning cup of coffee. This turns out to be a herculean task; Jacobs ends up finding that he needs to thank virtually everyone in the world.

It's a fun and (somewhat) inspiring book about the power of gratitude on one's happiness. I think Jacobs is actually a slightly less snarky person after this experiment.

Shorter book than I had imagined, but a great read.

A.J. Jacobs thanks everyone who contributes to his morning cup of coffee and goes all the way to the people who filter the water or who design the logo on the cup. Super interesting to see the fastness of the supply chain and love Jacobs' enthusiastic writing style.