Happiness: Seven Books To Make You Happier

Happiness is probably the biggest trend on the planet. And, that’s because it impacts all seven billion of us every single day. In the Western World it’s become a hot thing over the past 10 years as brain science and a psychological flip has us focussing on positive mental health and not just illness. Here’s seven books on happiness that I recommend:

1 Happier

Tal Ben-Shahar
Ben-Shahar lead the most popular course ever run at Harvard University. And, this is the book that came out of that experience. As a university professor you’d expect it to be grounded in solid research and it is. Best of all it’s an easy read, filled with neat models for easy understanding and plenty of actions to take today.
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2 The Happiness Advantage

Shawn Achor
Shawn was mentored by Tal Ben-Shahar and assisted with his happiness classes. He also has a PhD. This book nailed it for me by pointing out that being happy is the key to being successful in life and work. Well written with interesting stories and actions to take. We also talked about this book here.
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3 The Science of Happiness

Stefan Klein
This is the science version of happiness. Stefan has a PhD and works as a journalist. It’s more technical than some of the books on this page. And, if you want a purely science approach this is the one.
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4 Authentic Happiness

Martin Seligman
Martin Seligman was one of the inspirations behind the push toward positive psychology and the pursuit of happiness. This book takes a broad psychology perspective on happiness presenting the case of why it’s important and general themes. It’s also linked to a strengths finder profiling tool.
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5 The Happiness Trap

Russ Harris
This book takes a different perspective again… It picks up on the recent study area called ACT: Acceptance, Commitment Therapy or Training. It focusses on your personal language and visualisation exercises. It’s an easy read with plenty of simply activities to practice and explore.
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6 Happiness

Matthieu Ricard
Given the author is a Buddhist monk, you could say this is the Buddhist version of happiness. And that’s only half the story… He also has a PhD in genetics so it has a good blend of science too. If you want a blend of spiritual and happiness science then this is the book for you.
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7 Back from the Brink

Graeme Cowan
Whilst this book is written from the perspective of overcoming depression and bipolar disorder, the principles and the objectives are the same: be happier. Filled with interviews with inspiring people. We reviewed this book here.
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Any other books you’d like to add to this list? Add your recommendation below.