There are so many happiness books available that you may wonder:
- What is the best happiness book to start with?
- How are all these happiness books different or the same?
- What can I expect to find in each of them?
- How to choose the right happiness book for me?
I have read and enjoyed all of these happiness books and will give you all the details so that you can choose the one that is right for you.
Happiness Books Have a Few Things in Common
- the author’s personal experience and anecdotes related to happiness
- happiness strategies that worked for the author or other people
- research related to happiness
- common wisdom related to happiness
- examples from history, literature, or famous people
- quotes
Each book looks at happiness from a slightly different point of view depending on the author’s experience, education, and expectations.
What is the Best Happiness Book?
The best happiness book for you will depend on a few factors:
- what questions about your own life you are trying to answer
- how interested you are in the examples and anecdotes provided by the author
- what changes do you envision for yourself
- how many self help books you have already read
How Happiness Books Can Make You Happy
Happiness books will share ideas that the author or other people used to increase their feelings of happiness.
Many times they involve:
- appreciating what we already have
- looking at our circumstances from a different or more positive point of view
- discovering possibilities we had not thought about before
- providing encouragement to make changes in your life by sharing examples of how other people overcame difficult or similar circumstances
- getting inspiration to try different strategies that could make you happy
You may also be interested in the Benefits of Reading That Will Change Your Life.
After reading a few happiness books you will notice that some recommendations, strategies, and suggestions get repeated over and over.
Moreover, this repetition could feel like a gentle reminder to use a specific strategy for some readers but it could also feel like there isn’t anything new or different for the more experienced reader.
To help you choose the best happiness book for you I included one paragraph about the author, some key points of the book and what type of reader would mostly enjoy the book.
How to Choose the Best Happiness Book For You
Turn Your Happiness On
I will start with my own book because it is a synthesis of all the happiness strategies and how I used them in my own life and to help my clients.
Norma Nikutowski has a degree in Psychology and works with clients with depression and anxiety.
In Turn Your Happiness On, you will find the most powerful, scientifically proven strategies to increase your feelings of happiness right now.
There are:
- happiness strategies categorized from the easiest to the more complex
- decision making skills that will lead to a happier life
- action steps throughout the chapters to make positive changes in your life immediately
Every chapter ends with a summary for easy reference.
You will enjoy this book if you:
- Would like to be happier in your everyday life but are not sure where to start.
- Are looking for an easy to read and practical guide on your journey toward a happier life.
The How of Happiness
Sonja Lyubomirsky is a a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside.
She has devoted most of her research career to study human happiness.
Lyubomirsky first asks if it is possible to become happier. Her answer is yes. Then, you will find research based, happiness activities related to:
- practicing gratitude and positive thinking
- investing in social connections
- managing stress, hardship, and trauma
- living in the present
- committing to your goals
- taking care of your body and soul
You will enjoy this book if you:
- Like comprehensive descriptions and discussions about articles, statistics, research, and experiences as they relate to a specific aspect of happiness.
- Want to go into more detail and explore how research supports the different happiness strategies.
The Happiness Project
Gretchen Rubin is a writer who explores human nature to understand how we can make our lives better.
The Happiness Project is the description of Gretchen Rubin’s one year experiment to change her life and increase her feelings of happiness.
Every month she focused on one area of her life that she wanted to change such as:
January: Boosting Energy: Vitality
February: Remember Love: Marriage
Her detailed account includes
- why she chose that specific area
- scientific research and literature
- insightful descriptions of how she worked on that specific area and results
You will enjoy this book if you:
- Have been thinking about how to feel happier in your every day life but are not sure where to start.
- Like reading the detailed account of someone else’s experience to include more happiness in her life and get some ideas for your own happiness project.
The Happiness Advantage
Shawn Achor is a Harvard graduate who researches and teaches about positive psychology.
The author shares his experience attending Harvard, counseling Harvard undergraduate students, and his professional insights.
You will find out how happiness leads to success by using specific actionble, and proven patterns such as:
- Capitalize on positivity
- Adjust your mindset to be more fulfilled and successful
- Retrain your brain to spot patterns of possibility
The same principles worked for students and companies.
You will like this book if you:
- Wonder how to be happier to achieve more success in your personal and professional life.
- Want to overcome obstacles, reverse bad habits, or become more efficient and productive.
Big Magic
Even though, this book is more about the author’s experience as a writer than about happiness I included it in this list because considering some insightful refections about the creative process will change your mood to happy.
Elizabeth Gilbert is an American author best known for her 2006 memoir: Eat, Pray, Love.
In Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert explores and insightfully answers many questions that aspiring artists, particularly writers obsessively ponder such as:
- self-doubts and fears
- what to expect about making a living out of writing
- for how long you should persevere in your art before giving up
- inspiration and every day work
You will like this book if you:
- Have questions about the creative process and how it works for the author
- Frequently wonder if it’s worth to make room for more creativity in your life
Happiness Is a Choice You Make
John Leland is an award winning journalist for the New York Times.
He spent one year interacting with 6 elders who were 85 and up.
The elders share how they deal with their declining health, social relationships, and happiness.
Some of the ways that elders stay happy is through:
- enjoying the present moment
- looking for the positive in their lives
- adapting to changes in their health
- keeping social relationships
You will enjoy this book if you:
- Wonder how 80 and 90 year-old people live and find happiness
- Are looking for what you can do today to feel happier now and at an old age
The Happiness Equation
Neil Pasricha is a Canadian author, entrepreneur, and public speaker.
There are 9 secrets to living a happy life that the author wrote as a textbook for his son.
Each secret is followed by stories that illustrate the secret. Most stories are open ended so that you come to your own conclusion.
He begins by stating that first we need to be happy to be successful and not the other way around.
If we attach our happiness to a goal, we will never be happy because once we achieve a goal we set a new one.
In addition, our brains are trained to look for problems and that is what most people do.
You will enjoy this book if you:
- Enjoy reading stories, anecdotes, and research that will help you consider and rethink your beliefs about happiness
- Are looking for an easy to read guide with simple principles that you can apply in your life right now to be happier today
I hope you have found this list useful and have a better idea of what to expect when reading any of these books.
Which happiness book would you read or recommend to a friend? Let me know in the comments below.
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Today on my blog I talked about the 8 simple steps to be happy, needless to say that even a book helps!
These sound like some great books! I love to read, so I’ll check some of these out.
Books sound like what I need when I am feeling down. I need to look into these books
Big magic is first on my list. Thank you for your perfect summarys. I can’t wait to order it.
This is such a cool post. Thanks for putting this compilation together. And let’s pursue and build happiness for ourselves and our loved ones.
These sound like some incredible books! I love to peruse, so I’ll look at a portion of these. This is such a cool post. A debt of gratitude is in order for assembling this gathering. Furthermore, how about we seek after and construct joy for ourselves and our friends and family.
These tips and ideas are really very helpful and much informative blog..reading book gives much pleasure and happiness especially when a book is about happiness then that would be so amazing…these suggested books looks nice but Big Magic sounds much interesting for me…
GREAT list! I haven’t been reading novels but have picked up a few new favorite books over the past few months. I’ll add these to my list.
I really enjoyed The Happiness Advantage. It helped me to reframe a lot of my perspectives when it came to my life as a whole. If you enjoy these, you should check out The Magic of Thinking Big. That’s another personal favourite!
I prefer the How of Happiness because the book is all about research-based happiness.
This is so timely given the anxiety of quarantine! Thank you for breaking down all the options. I never know which one might be the right fit.
I have The Happiness Project. It’s an easy read and I love that it comes with a workbook as well.
All of these books sound perfect. We really need to be focusing more on happiness right now as the whole world feels like it is falling apart with negative energy.
I am going to check these out right away. Thanks for sharing
Awesome list of books, would check out the ‘happiness project’ looks like something I would really like.
This is a great list of books on happiness, I love Elizabeth Gilbert’s book.
I just enjoy reading. Either it is my book discovery or someone recommends a book to read, I happily read my book choices.
Reading makes me happy.
These look like great recommendations! Thanks for sharing!
You’re so right in saying that what happiness books are best for you depend on yourself. I’ve certainly read some books about being happy that didn’t help me at all. Thanks for the recommendations!
oh wow! these books look interesting! i will definitely check them out! thank you for sharing your knowledge of books!
All of these books sound so amazing! I will put these down on my to read list.
Ooooh, what good book recommendations for books about Happiness! Thanks for them! I am going to check them out!
I love reading books too and this is really a perfect book to read when I felt sad. Will have to check those happiness books.
This is a great list of books on happiness, I love Happiness Is a Choice You Make book.
Thanks for the tips! So many great books to read!
xoxo
Lovely