I had a great time on my book tour for Life in Five Senses—I love getting the chance to talk to readers and listeners about a subject that still absolutely fascinates me.
Some highlights:
- On the Happier podcast, I talked about why “Wave” is my one-word theme for the year. One reason I chose “Wave” was because I was looking forward to being able to “wave” to people in public as I traveled around—and in fact, it was terrific to be able to say hello to so many readers and listeners.
- I got many excellent reading recommendations from readers, booksellers, and librarians, so my giant list is now even more giant. A few times, I couldn’t resist buying a book on the spot, which meant that my bulging carry-on bag was even more packed.
- I felt renewed appreciation for my beloved Uniqlo vest. It’s light, it’s warm, it has great pockets that hold a lot of stuff—I wore it every minute I wasn’t on stage.
- Many people had already taken the “What’s Your Neglected Sense?” quiz, so I had many interesting conversations about their results and responses.
- For this tour, to suit my subject, I chose very brightly colored outfits. Plus with just about every outfit, I was able to wear my new, favorite, gold shoes. Gold shoes feel very happy.
- Many people mentioned how much they like the endpapers of Life in Five Senses, which display some of my favorite five-senses-related quotations. I spent far too much time agonizing about what quotations to include, so I was pleased to hear that people appreciate this small touch.
- Hundreds of people signed up for my “Five Things Making Me Happier” newsletter, which made me very happy.
- People were also intrigued to hear about the hidden icon on the dust jacket! One of these icons is hidden in plain sight somewhere on the Life in Five Senses dust jacket—can you spot it?
- A few event organizers greeted me with a bottle of Diet Peach Snapple, a flavor I write about with great enthusiasm in Life in Five Senses. So fun.
- In a recent episode of the Happier podcast, I mention my new hack: While waiting for a flight, get some exercise by walking around the airport. Several times on this tour, I clocked more than 5,000 steps (true, I do like to arrive early at an airport.)
I love to hear from readers and listeners, so if you have any experiences, observations, questions, and resources related to the five senses that you’d like to share, email me at info@gretchenrubin.com.
