26 Apr Book Review – Road Testing Happiness
As many of you would well be aware, there are many, many books on happiness and more being published almost on a daily basis. What many of you possibly don’t know is that quite a few of these books are sent to me and I’m regularly asked to review them for this eNewsletter. Due to time constraints I simply can’t read and/or review all of them and I also like to save this space for the really good ones (not wanting to waste your time with the not so great ones). And today I have a very, very good one for you all…
Sophie Scott is an award winning journalist and national medical reporter for the ABC. Accordingly, she’s a very accomplished writer and her latest book, “Road Testing Happiness – how to be happier (no matter what)” is fantastically readable. She summarises pretty much every piece of recent and relevant positive psychology and happiness research in a way that’s totally palatable and understandable. Sophie is a wonderful communicator and she sums up the science of happiness quite superbly.
But even more than this, and this is where Road Testing Happiness differs from many others out there on the market, Sophie integrates her research into a very personal story; a story that covers her journey through grief, after the death of her beloved mother, towards finding more happiness. She also weaves in the stories of, and lessons learned by other “real people” by integrating great stories, at regular intervals, which bring the research to life and invite the reader to really relate to what’s being written. In addition, she includes practical tips and resources, such as monitoring forms and exercises, so those readers who want to can get actively involved in the process and “road test” the findings as the author did herself.
In summary, Road Testing Happiness is one of the best books in this genre I’ve read over the last few years and I have no qualms at all in recommending it to you (and this is not just because I, and my books, get a few mentions throughout!)