12 Book Recommendations for the Word Happiness

This week I had the complete opposite problem I had last week. This week there were sooooo many books to choose from for the word Happiness! I mean, I found a bunch on my own shelves! I think it’s interesting to look at people’s book shelves, you can get a really good understanding of who they are, what they like, and what they want to learn. How many happiness books are already on your shelf? I’d love to hear… share your number over in the Year of Words Book Challenge Group! 

Well, I’ve whittled the list (if you can call it that) for the week, and here’s my recommendations. You’ll find recommendations for self improvements, memoir, and fiction books this week.

Books for the Word Happiness

Memoirs

The Happiness Project (Revised Edition): Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun by Gretchen Rubin
Published by Harper Paperbacks on December 29th 2015
Genres: Memoir
Pages: 368
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What if you could change your life without really changing your life? On the outside, Gretchen Rubin had it all -- a good marriage, healthy children and a successful career -- but she knew something was missing. Determined to end that nagging feeling, she set out on a year-long quest to learn how to better enjoy the life she already had.
Each month, Gretchen pursued a different set of resolutions -- go to sleep earlier, tackle a nagging task, bring people together, take time to be silly -- along with dozens of other goals. She read everything from classical philosophy to cutting-edge scientific studies, from Winston Churchill to Oprah, developing her own definition of happiness and a plan for how to achieve it. She kept track of which resolutions worked and which didn’t, sharing her stories and collecting those of others through her blog (created to fulfill one of March’s resolutions). Bit by bit, she began to appreciate and amplify the happiness in her life.
The Happiness Project is the engaging, relatable and inspiring result of the author’s twelve-month adventure in becoming a happier person. Written with a wicked sense of humour and sharp insight, Gretchen Rubin’s story will inspire readers to embrace the pleasure in their lives and remind them how to have fun.

I’ve read this book and will be publishing the review this week.

 

10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works – A True Story by Dan Harris
Published by Dey Street Books on December 30th 2014
Genres: Memoir
Pages: 256
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After having a nationally televised panic attack, Dan Harris knew he had to make some changes. A lifelong nonbeliever, he found himself on a bizarre adventure involving a disgraced pastor, a mysterious self-help guru, and a gaggle of brain scientists. Eventually, Harris realized that the source of his problems was the very thing he always thought was his greatest asset: the incessant, insatiable voice in his head, which had propelled him through the ranks of a hypercompetitive business, but had also led him to make the profoundly stupid decisions that provoked his on-air freak-out.
Eventually Harris stumbled upon an effective way to rein in that voice, something he always assumed to be either impossible or useless: meditation, a tool that research suggests can do everything from lower your blood pressure to essentially rewire your brain. 10% Happier takes readers on a ride from the outer reaches of neuroscience to the inner sanctum of network news to the bizarre fringes of America's spiritual scene, and leaves them with a takeaway that could actually change their lives.

I’ve already reviewed this book… you can find the review here.

 

A Field Guide to Happiness: What I Learned in Bhutan about Living, Loving, and Waking Up by Linda Leaming
on October 1st 2014
Genres: Memoir
Pages: 256
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In the West, we have everything we could possibly need or want—except for peace of mind.
So writes Linda Leaming, a harried American who traveled from Nashville, Tennessee, to the rugged Himalayan nation of Bhutan—sometimes called the happiest place on Earth—to teach English and unlearn her politicized and polarized, energetic and impatient way of life.
In Bhutan, if I have three things to do in a week, it’s considered busy. In the U.S., I have at least three things to do between breakfast and lunch.
After losing her luggage immediately upon arrival, Leaming realized that she also had emotional baggage—a tendency toward inaction, a touch of self-absorption, and a hundred other trite, stupid, embarrassing, and inconsequential things—that needed to get lost as well.
Pack up ideas and feelings that tie you down and send you lead-footed down the wrong path. Put them in a metaphorical suitcase and sling it over a metaphorical bridge in your mind. Let the river take them away.
Forced by circumstance and her rustic surroundings to embrace a simplified life, Leaming made room for more useful beliefs. The thin air and hard climbs of her mountainous commute put her deeply in touch with her breath, helping her find focus and appreciation. The archaic, glacially paced bureaucracy of a Bhutanese bank taught her to go with the flow—and take up knitting. The ancient ritual of drinking tea brought tranquility, friendship, and, eventually, a husband. Each day, and each adventure, in her adopted home brought new insights and understandings to take back to frantic America, where she now practices the art of “simulating Bhutan.” This collection of stories, impressions, and suggestions is a little nudge, a push, a leg up into the rarefied air of paradise—of bright sunlight and beautiful views.

 

Fiction

Happiness for Beginners by Katherine Center
Published by St. Martin's Griffin on March 24th 2015
Genres: Fiction
Pages: 320
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A year after getting divorced, Helen Carpenter, thirty-two, lets her annoying, ten years younger brother talk her into signing up for a wilderness survival course. It's supposed to be a chance for her to pull herself together again, but when she discovers that her brother's even-more-annoying best friend is also coming on the trip, she can't imagine how it will be anything other than a disaster. Thus begins the strangest adventure of Helen's well-behaved life: three weeks in the remotest wilderness of a mountain range in Wyoming where she will survive mosquito infestations, a surprise summer blizzard, and a group of sorority girls.
Yet, despite everything, the vast wilderness has a way of making Helen's own little life seem bigger, too. And, somehow the people who annoy her the most start teaching her the very things she needs to learn. Like how to stand up for herself. And how being scared can make you brave. And how sometimes you just have to get really, really lost before you can even have a hope of being found.

I’ve already read this book, and will be reviewing it this week… so stay tuned.

 

The Secret of Happy Ever After by Lucy Dillon
Published by Berkley on March 5th 2013
Genres: Fiction
Pages: 468
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Michelle doesn’t believe in fairy tales. She’s a hard-headed businesswoman, making a fresh start in a new town. And when she decides to take over a neglected book shop, she knows the perfect manager.
For book-loving Anna, it’s a dream come true—and not just because it gives her an escape from her three demanding step-children and their adorable but hyperactive Dalmatian. Although she’s been thinking that her own fairytale ending hasn’t really turned out the way she hoped, Anna’s passion for the classics is transforming the shop. The customers, and even Michelle, are falling under the spell of the magical stories of romance, adventure, and lost dogs.
But when secrets from her past threaten Michelle’s new beginnings, and trouble strikes at the heart of Anna’s household, can the wisdom and courage of the stories in the bookshop help the two friends—and those they love—find their happy ever after?

 

The Garden of Happy Endings by Barbara O'Neal
Published by Bantam on April 17th 2012
Genres: Fiction
Pages: 416
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From Barbara O’Neal, beloved author of How to Bake a Perfect Life and The Lost Recipe for Happiness, comes another magical, heartfelt novel—perfect for fans of Kristin Hannah and Susan Wiggs.  After tragedy shatters her small community in Seattle, the Reverend Elsa Montgomery has a crisis of faith. Returning to her hometown of Pueblo, Colorado, she seeks work in a local soup kitchen. Preparing nourishing meals for folks in need, she keeps her hands busy while her heart searches for understanding.   Meanwhile, her sister, Tamsin, as pretty and colorful as Elsa is unadorned and steadfast, finds her perfect life shattered when she learns that her financier husband is a criminal. Enduring shock and humiliation as her beautiful house and possessions are seized, the woman who had everything now has nothing but the clothes on her back.   But when the going gets tough, the tough get growing. A community garden in the poorest, roughest part of town becomes a lifeline. Creating a place of hope and sustenance opens Elsa and Tamsin to the renewing power of rich earth, sunshine, and the warm cleansing rain of tears. While Elsa finds her heart blooming in the care of a rugged landscaper, Tamsin discovers the joy of losing herself in the act of giving—and both women discover that with time and care, happy endings flourish.

 

The Lost Recipe for Happiness by Barbara O'Neal
Published by Bantam Discovery on December 30th 2008
Genres: Fiction
Pages: 452
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In this sumptuous new novel, Barbara O’Neal offers readers a celebration of food, family, and love as a woman searches for the elusive ingredient we’re all hoping to find….
It’s the opportunity Elena Alvarez has been waiting for–the challenge of running her own kitchen in a world-class restaurant. Haunted by an accident of which she was the lone survivor, Elena knows better than anyone how to survive the odds. With her faithful dog, Alvin, and her grandmother’s recipes, Elena arrives in Colorado to find a restaurant in as desperate need of a fresh start as she is–and a man whose passionate approach to food and life rivals her own. Owner Julian Liswood is a name many people know but a man few do. He’s come to Aspen with a troubled teenage daughter and a dream of the kind of stability and love only a family can provide. But for Elena, old ghosts don’t die quietly, yet a chance to find happiness at last is worth the risk.

 

Self Improvement

Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation by Sharon Salzberg
Published by Workman Publishing Company on December 29th 2010
Genres: Self Improvement
Pages: 208
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Thousands of years prove it, and Western science backs it: Meditation sharpens focus. Meditation lowers blood pressure, relieves chronic pain, reduces stress. Meditation helps us experience greater calm. Meditation connects us to our inner-most feelings and challenges our habits of self-judgment. Meditation helps protect  the brain against aging and improves our capacity for learning new things. Meditation opens the door to real and accessible happiness.
There is no better person to show a beginner how to harness the power of meditation than Sharon Salzberg, one of the world’s foremost meditation teachers and spiritual authors. Cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society, author of Lovingkindness, Faith, and other books, Ms. Salzberg distills 30 years of teaching meditation into a 28-day program that will change lives. It is not about Buddhism, it’s not esoteric—it is closer to an exercise, like running or riding a bike. From the basics of posture, breathing, and the daily schedule to the finer points of calming the mind, distraction, dealing with specific problem areas (pain in the legs? falling asleep?) to the larger issues of compassion and awareness, Real Happiness is a complete guide. It explains how meditation works; why a daily meditation practice results in more resiliency, creativity, peace, clarity, and balance; and gives twelve meditation practices, including mindfulness meditation and walking meditation. An extensive selection of her students’ FAQs cover the most frequent concerns of beginners who meditate—“Is meditation selfish?” “How do I know if I’m doing it right?” “Can I use meditation to manage weight?”

I’ve read this book and will be reviewing it later this week.

 

Before Happiness: Five Actionable Strategies to Create a Positive Path to Success by Shawn Achor
Published by Virgin Books on September 12th 2013
Genres: Self Improvement
Pages: 272
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Do you want to achieve success in your personal and professional endeavours? The first step is to see a reality where success is possible. Only when we choose to believe we live in a world in which challenges can be overcome, in which our behaviour matters, and in which change is possible can we summon all our drive, energy, and emotional and intellectual resources to make that change possible.
In Positive Intelligence, Shawn Achor, former Harvard professor, and bestselling author of The Happiness Advantage introduces a groundbreaking new theory about success and human potential.
Achor shows how a positive mindset is the best predictor of motivation, engagement and performance in the workplace and in your personal life and offers five practical, actionable strategies for creating this mindset that will make us more successful at work and at home:
1)Add vantage points - how to select the most valuable reality
2)Map to success - mapping success greatly increases the chance you will get there
3)Finding the X Spot - proven techniques for harnessing your cognitive abilities
4)Boost the signal by cancelling the noise - how to cancel negative noise
5)Positive Inception - how to spread positive reality to others
Backed by science, great stories, and research-based strategies, by the time you finish this book, you will have a complete understanding of exactly how to create a better reality and magnify the volume of happiness and success in your life, and equally important, transfer that positive reality to others.

Another book off my shelf I will be reviewing this week.

 

Broadcasting Happiness: The Science of Igniting and Sustaining Positive Change by Michelle Gielan
Published by BenBella Books on September 27th 2016
Genres: Self Improvement
Pages: 224
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Broadcasting Happiness will "inspire you and change your life."—Parade Magazine
We are all broadcasters. And the messages we choose to broadcast predict our success.
All of us constantly broadcast information to others, even when we don’t say a word. Sales professionals broadcast to potential clients in a way that wins new business. Managers broadcast to their teams about projects. Colleagues broadcast to one another about available resources. As professionals, parents, and friends, the messages we choose to broadcast shape others’ belief in the potential for success and their ability to create positive change.
In Broadcasting Happiness, Michelle Gielan, bestselling author and featured professor in Oprah’s happiness course, will show you how changing your broadcast changes your power.
Working as a CBS news anchor, Gielan saw how nonstop coverage of the 2009 recession left many viewers feeling paralyzed. She had an idea: a new interview series focused on positive psychology and creating happiness in the face of tragedy. “Happy Week” generated the greatest viewer response of the year.
In Broadcasting Happiness, Gielan shows us how our words can move people from fearbased mindsets, where they see obstacles as insurmountable, to positive mindsets, where they see that change is possible and take action. Using scientifically proven communication strategies, we have the ability to increase others’ happiness and success at work, as well as our own, instantly making us more effective leaders.
New research from the fields of positive psychology and neuroscience shows that small shifts in the way we communicate can create big ripple effects on business and educational outcomes, including 31 percent higher productivity, 25 percent better performance ratings, 37 percent higher sales, and 23 percent lower levels of stress.
In Broadcasting Happiness, learn the seven keys of communicating more effectively to influence others and drive measurable results. Gielan, a happiness researcher and expert on positive communication, will teach you how to:
Inoculate your brain against stress and negativity by fact-checking challengesDrive success by leading a conversation or communication with positivityRewrite debilitating thought patterns and turn them into fuel for resilience and growthDeal with negative people in a way that lessens their powerShare bad news more effectively to increase future social capitalCreate and sustain a positive culture at work by creating contagious optimism
In the midst of challenges such as restructuring, low retention, and some of the lowest levels of engagement in history, creating a positive mindset is only the first step. Broadcasting Happiness showcases how real individuals and organizations have used these techniques to achieve results that include tripling revenues to more than a billion dollars, raising the graduation rate by 45 percent, and shifting the work culture from toxic to thriving.
Changing your broadcast can change your life, your success, and the lives of others around you. Broadcasting Happiness will show you how!

Yet another book from my shelf I will be reviewing this week.

Can you tell I love this topic?!

 

Hardwiring Happiness: The New Brain Science of Contentment, Calm, and Confidence by Rick Hanson
Published by Harmony on October 8th 2013
Genres: Self Improvement
Pages: 304
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Hardwiring Happiness lays out a simple method that uses the hidden power of everyday experiences to build new neural structures full of happiness, love, confidence, and peace. Dr. Hanson’s four steps build strengths into your brain— balancing its ancient negativity bias—making contentment and a powerful sense of resilience the new normal. In mere minutes each day, we can transform our brains into refuges and power centers of calm and happiness.

 

What I’m Reading this Week: 

I’ve had my eye on this book since it came out, and I decided to wait until this week to read it. I will be sharing my review on Friday. 🙂

Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things by Jenny Lawson
Published by Flatiron Books on September 20th 2016
Pages: 384
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In LET'S PRETEND THIS NEVER HAPPENED, Jenny Lawson baffled readers with stories about growing up the daughter of a taxidermist. In her new book, FURIOUSLY HAPPY, Jenny explores her lifelong battle with mental illness. A hysterical, ridiculous book about crippling depression and anxiety? That sounds like a terrible idea. And terrible ideas are what Jenny does best.
According to Jenny: "Some people might think that being 'furiously happy' is just an excuse to be stupid and irresponsible and invite a herd of kangaroos over to your house without telling your husband first because you suspect he would say no since he's never particularly liked kangaroos. And that would be ridiculous because no one would invite a herd of kangaroos into their house. Two is the limit. I speak from personal experience. My husband says that none is the new limit. I say he should have been clearer about that before I rented all those kangaroos."
"Most of my favorite people are dangerously fucked-up but you'd never guess because we've learned to bare it so honestly that it becomes the new normal. Like John Hughes wrote in The Breakfast Club, 'We're all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it.' Except go back and cross out the word 'hiding.'"
Jenny's first book, LET'S PRETEND THIS NEVER HAPPENED, was ostensibly about family, but deep down it was about celebrating your own weirdness. FURIOUSLY HAPPY is a book about mental illness, but under the surface it's about embracing joy in fantastic and outrageous ways-and who doesn't need a bit more of that?

 

Phew! That’s some list, and I could have added another 20! I can’t wait to hear what you’ve chosen to read for the word Happiness. Make sure you come over to the Year of Words group and tell us what it is!