Resolved: Be Happier — A Book List
To celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas from now through Epiphany and to advocate for the idea of reading books to support New Year projects, resolutions, and goals, I’m writing a series of posts with themed book lists for various popular resolutions. So far…
Day 1: Be More Fit
For Day 2, let’s look at books on happiness. Recently, psychologists, who used to study only the afflicted, have turned attention to studying healthy and well-adjusted people to see what we can learn to improve all of our lives. This field is often called Positive Psychology. That work has been translated for the general public by a variety of authors so we now have books with evidence-based advice on how to be happier.
I read a few books on this topic a few years ago, before I started my blog, so I don’t have reviews. I found these helpful:
- What Happy People Know: How the New Science of Happiness Can Change Your Life for the Better by Dan Baker and Cameron Stauth
- What Happy Women Know: How New Findings in Positive Psychology Can Change Women’s Lives for the Better by Dan Baker and Ina Yalof
- Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert
- A Short Guide to a Happy Life by Anna Quindlen
Some other possibilities I’m considering are these:
- Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment by Martin E.P. Seligman
- The Art of Happiness by Dalai Lama XIV
- The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom by Jonathan Haidt
Have you read any of these books? Which did you like? Do you have other books on the topic to recommend?
The Read Along book for the New Year’s Resolution Reading Challenge fits this topic. Join us to read The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin with questions, discussions, and ideas for enriching our lives from this book. If you register for the Read Along, you’ll also be entered in a drawing to win another book that can have a profound effect on happiness: The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg.
If you’re reading books about happiness for the new year (or for other goals, projects, and resolutions), join us at The New Year’s Resolution Reading Challenge!
I think doing these themed posts are a great idea. The Art of Happiness by the Dalai Lama is a fantastic book. Just thinking about it makes me want to reread it. Have you ever read anything by the Italian psychologist Pierro Ferruci? I recommend The Power of Kindness. It kind of goes with this goal. :-0
A book I just devoured, and will be re-reading, is “Zen in the Martial Arts” by Joe Hyams, it’s structured in many small chapters almost like daily meditations, and the overriding message was slow down, be present, relax. I think it’s a good one to read going in to a new year.
Also just started Introvert Power by Laurie Helgoe.
Should have read these books in preparation for my magazine article for Jan. — Intention of thinking positive thoughts with ideas for things to do support the resolution. I have Art of Happiness and have only read at it. Want to check out the others — especially — What Happy People Know. Thanks, Joy. With a name like Joy, you have been blessed. We all need to create more Joy in our lives.
Be Fit and Be Happy, great goals for the new year. I’ve read a few of the ‘Happy’ books, The Art, the Project and the Habit and really enjoyed them all. A great challenge!
Pingback:Resolved: Be smarter about money — A Book List | Joy's Book Blog
Pingback:Resolved: Be a Better Reader — A Book List | Joy's Book Blog