Newspaper Not Happy About Happiness Books

The Times of London looks at the burgeoning number of books about happiness, but says "they do not necessarily make happy reading." If that doesn't discourage you, read on -- we've got links to the ones they looked at.

Why the surge of titles in this area? The Times' take is that with relative prosperity, people feel that they should be happier. And if they have to read a book to find out how, they will. A more positive approach comes from Harvard professor Daniel Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness, who take is paraphrased by reporters John Elliott and Claire Newell:

... we can now choose to a greater extent than ever how we live our lives — with a wider range of potential jobs, places to live and even sexual partners. So we are more in need of advice — and of happiness guidance — than at any previous point in history.

Following are the titles the Times looked at. Judging by the commentary at Amazon, they aren't as turgid as the Times would have you believe.

For more on this topic, see the LifeTwo articles we've tagged "happiness" for more.

The Pursuit of Happiness: A History from the Greeks to the Present - Darrin McMahon (in the US it's "Happiness: A History")

The Secrets of Happiness: Three Thousand Years of Searching for the Good Life -- Richard Schoch
"For the more traditionally minded ... scornful of the 'so-called new science of happiness.'"

Stumbling on Happiness - Daniel Gilbert
The Times article says it's a "mind-boggling effort to reach a definition" of happiness.

The Happiness Hypothesis - Jonathan Haidt
This got a starred review in book trade mag Publisher's Weekly.

Positively Happy: Cosmic Ways to Change Your Life - Noel Edmonds

The Architecture of Happiness - Alain de Botton

The Challenge of Affluence - Avner Offer

Here is an up-to-date list of some of Amazon's bestselling books that that involve "happiness":

(... but we're seeing some weird results in this Amazon list, which makes us ... unhappy!)