Happiness Books

The Pursuit of Happiness: Who is Happy, and Why – David G. Myers

An excellent review of scientific research of happiness, easy to read and written with wit and humor. Explores many common questions, such as how can happiness be defined and measured, who is happy, who is not, and why, are men happier than women, does well-being come with being well-off etc. and offers some surprising answers.

Authentic Happiness - Martin E. Seligman

Following his national best-seller Learned Optimism, Martin Seligman, a former president of The American Psychological Association and a founder of Positive Psychology, incites us to a new way of thinking about our individual potential. Unlike traditional approaches to self-development which asks us to fix our weaknesses, Seligman describes how to strengthen our character by building on the six universal human virtues: wisdom and learning, courage, love and humanity, justice, temperance, spirituality and transcendence.

You Can Be Happy No Matter What - Richard Carlson

Richard Carlson guides us on how to be happy now by observing the following principles: 1) Thought (thoughts are voluntary, not involuntary); 2) Mood (thinking that varies from moment to moment); 3) Separate Realities (everyone thinks in a unique way and lives in separate psychological realities); 4) Feelings (serve as a barometer for when one is “off-track” and headed for unhappiness); and 5) The Present Moment.

Tapping Your Inner Strengths: How to Find the Resilience to Deal with Anything – Edith Grotberg

Edith Grotberg’s work on resilience is based on her findings of how certain children growing up in high-risk, high-poverty areas succeeded in life despite their unfavorable circumstances. Grotberg, who is the leading researcher on resilience, offers us a step by step approach to how to get in touch with this innate ability to overcome anything and transform it into a constant source of inner strengths.