Rubin is a writer on subjects of habits, happiness, and human nature. She is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Better Than Before, Happier at Home, and The Happiness Project. Rubin's books have sold more than two million print and online copies worldwide in over thirty languages. On her daily blog, GretchenRubin.com, she reports on her adventures in pursuit of habits and happiness. On her weekly podcast, Happier with Gretchen Rubin, she discusses good habits and happiness with her sister Elizabeth Craft, a Los Angeles-based television writer. On August 10, 2003, Brian Lamb interviewed Rubin on the television show, Booknotes. She is author of The Happiness Project: Or Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun. On September 4, 2012, Rubin published the follow-up book Happier at Home: Kiss More, Jump More, Abandon a Project, Read Samuel Johnson, and My Other Experiments in the Practice of Everyday Life. Her third book, Power Money Fame Sex: A User’s Guide, parodied self-help books by analyzing and exposing the techniques used to exploit those who strive for those worldly ambitions. Her book Better Than Before: What I Learned About Making and Breaking Habits--to Sleep More, Quit Sugar, Procrastinate Less, and Generally Build a Happier Life recommends setting manageable goals, and breaking up tasks into small steps. Her two biographies, Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill and Forty Ways to Look at JFK uses the "forty ways" structure to explore the complexities of these two great figures and to demonstrate the limits of biography. Her book, The Four Tendencies: The Indispensable Personality Profiles That Reveal How to Make Your Life Better , was published on September 12, 2017. In 2017, Rubin helped create the "Joy Index," a list of the ten "most joyous" places to visit, based on several "happiness factors". In March 2019, she published a new book, Outer Order: Inner Calm, in which she continues to trace the connection between happiness and personal habits.
Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill: A Brief Account of a Long Life. New York: Ballantine Books, 2003.
Forty Ways to Look at JFK. New York: Ballantine Books, 2005.
Power Money Fame Sex: A User's Guide. Atria, 2005.
Profane Waste. Gregory R. Miller & Company, 2006.
The Happiness Project: Or Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun. New York, NY: Harper, 2009.
Happier at Home: Kiss More, Jump More, Abandon a Project, Read Samuel Johnson, and My Other Experiments in the Practice of Everyday Life. New York, NY: Harper, 2012.
Better Than Before: What I Learned About Making and Breaking Habits--to Sleep More, Quit Sugar, Procrastinate Less, and Generally Build a Happier Life. New York, NY: Crown, 2015.
The Four Tendencies: The Indispensable Personality Profiles That Reveal How to Make Your Life Better. New York, NY: Crown, 2017.
Outer Order, Inner Calm. New York, NY: Harmony, 2019.
