What makes a nation happy? Is one country's sense of happiness the same as another's? In the last two decades, psychologists and economists have learned a lot about who's happy and who isn't. The Dutch are, the Romanians aren't, and Americans are somewhere in between... After years of going to the world's least happy countries, Eric Weiner, a veteran foreign correspondent, decided to travel and evaluate each country's different sense of happiness and discover the nation that seemed happiest of all. ·He discovers the relationship between money and happiness in tiny and extremely wealthy Qatar (and it's not a good one) ·He goes to Thailand, and finds that not thinking is a contented way of life. ·He goes to the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, and discovers they have an official policy of Gross National Happiness! ·He asks himself why the British don't do happiness? In Weiner's quest to find the world's happiest places, he eats rotten Icelandic shark, meditates in Bangalore, visits strip clubs in Bangkok and drinks himself into a stupor in Reykjavik. Full of inspired moments, The Geography of Bliss accomplishes a feat few travel books dare and even fewer achieve: to make you happier.

Tag along on this New York Times bestselling “witty, entertaining romp” (The New York Times Book Review) as Eric Weiner travels the world, from Athens to Silicon Valley—and back through history, too—to show how creative genius flourishes in specific places at specific times. In this “intellectual odyssey, traveler’s diary, and comic novel all rolled into one” (Daniel Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness), acclaimed travel writer Weiner sets out to examine the connection between our surroundings and our most innovative ideas. A “superb travel guide: funny, knowledgeable, and self-deprecating” (The Washington Post), he explores the history of places like Vienna of 1900, Renaissance Florence, ancient Athens, Song Dynasty Hangzhou, and Silicon Valley to show how certain urban settings are conducive to ingenuity. With his trademark insightful humor, this “big-hearted humanist” (The Wall Street Journal) walks the same paths as the geniuses who flourished in these settings to see if the spirit of what inspired figures like Socrates, Michelangelo, and Leonardo remains. In these places, Weiner asks, “What was in the air, and can we bottle it?” “Fun and thought provoking” (The Miami Herald), The Geography of Genius reevaluates the importance of culture in nurturing creativity and “offers a practical map for how we can all become a bit more inventive” (Adam Grant, author of Originals).

“If I had given it much thought, I might have hesitated to marry a man for whom at the age of 45 much of the past was too painful to consider--for either of us. Truthfully, thought had little to do with it. Instinct did--the instinct to seize a sure and ebullient happiness or go down trying.” Falling in love is arguably the greatest risk and leap of faith any of us take. There’s no guarantee for future happiness, no protection from the ugly scars of the past, no shield from tragedy--this powerful memoir reminds us why we bother. At a lakeside café in the summer of 1988, 31-year-old Glenda Burgess is sitting across from 44-year-old Kenneth Grunzweig and falling in love. Then Ken confesses that he has already been widowed twice, under harrowing circumstances. This tragic past, the age difference, Ken’s emotionally scarred teenage daughter--all might be enough to send anyone running, but Glenda believed in her instincts, believed more than anything that this lovely, generous man would shape her life. And Ken, who with his heartbreaking losses had long said that he’d given up on love, came to share a sense of their romantic destiny. The two embark on the sort of love affair that many of us don’t believe exist anymore--a grand romance that buoys them through the birth of two kids and fifteen magical years of marriage until tragedy strikes again in the form of a shadowy spot on Ken’s lung. The journey that follows will test their resilience and strengthen their devotion. The Geography of Love is a book about believing in first instincts and second chances. It is a poignant exploration of the depths of the human heart and our ability to love and to trust no matter the obstacles. It is a reminder that “real” life is always richer, stranger, and more extraordinary than fiction. It is the most moving love story you’ll read this year.

What is it about Finland that makes the country so successful and seemingly such a great place to live? Danny Dorling and Annika Koljonen explore what we might learn from Finnish success and what they might usefully learn from us.

New York Times best-selling author Dan Buettner reveals the surprising secrets of what makes the world's happiest places—and shows you how to apply these lessons to your own life. In this inspiring guide, you’ll find game-changing tools drawn from global research and expert insights for achieving maximum fulfillment. Along the way, you'll: • Discover the three strands of happiness—pleasure, purpose, and pride—that feature prominently in the world's happiest places. • Take the specially designed Blue Zones Happiness Test to pinpoint areas in your life where you could cultivate greater joy, deeper meaning, and increased satisfaction. • Meet the world's Happiness All-Stars: inspiring individuals from Denmark to the United States who reveal dynamic, practical ways to improve day-to-day living. • Discover specific, science-based strategies for setting up a “life radius” of community, work, home, and self to create healthier, happiness-boosting habits for the long-term.

What exactly is happiness? Can we measure it? Why are some people happy and others not? And is there a drug that could eliminate all unhappiness? People all over the world, and throughout the ages, have thought about happiness, argued about its nature, and, most of all, desired it. But why do we have such a strong instinct to pursue happiness? And if happiness is good in itself, why haven't we simply evolved to be happier? Daniel Nettle uses the results of the latest psychological studies to ask what makes people happy and unhappy, what happiness really is, and to examine our urge to achieve it. Along the way we look at brain systems, at mind-altering drugs, and how happiness is now marketed to us as a commodity. Nettle concludes that while it may be unrealistic to expect lasting happiness, our evolved tendency to seek happiness drives us to achieve much that is worthwhile in itself. What is more, it seems to be not your particular circumstances that define whether you are happy so much as your attitude towards life. Happiness gives us the latest scientific insights into the nature of our feelings of well-being, and what these imply for how we might live our lives.

This book is about places - cities, suburbs and towns - and happiness of people living there. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, Okulicz-Kozaryn examines the relations between human happiness and the infrastructure of the places they live. This thought-provoking book argues for the overlooked idea that we are happiest in smaller areas.

Advances in global development have helped lift hundreds of millions of people from poverty in recent decades, but major challenges in fighting poverty remain. Billions of people continue to have little or no access to the basic necessities of life: clean water, food, shelter, education, and medical care. The random location of their birthplace limited much of what is possible in many of their lives. Yet legions of dedicated people today are proving that with the right approaches and resources, disciplined efforts to fight poverty can succeed—and with greater scale and impact than ever. In An Accident of Geography, author Richard C. Blum profiles many of them while narrating his inspiring personal story—accomplished private-equity investor especially in Asia, humanitarian, public policy advocate, and creator of an unprecedented, multidisciplinary curriculum in poverty and development studies that has attracted thousands of students on the ten campuses of the University of California and beyond. Blum offers practical guidance on what works best: giving poor people a greater voice in the field and applying key principles of 21st-century management, engineering, and development philanthropy. Put your accident of geography to work in helping others, and yourself Be the change maker you see in the mirror. ​All author proceeds from the sale of An Accident of Geography will be donated to projects advancing global development.

Bestselling author of Geography of Bliss returns with this funny, illuminating chronicle of a globe-spanning spiritual quest to find a faith that fits. When a health scare puts him in the hospital, Eric Weiner-an agnostic by default-finds himself tangling with an unexpected question, posed to him by a well-meaning nurse. "Have you found your God yet?" The thought of it nags him, and prods him-and ultimately launches him on a far-flung journey to do just that. Weiner, a longtime "spiritual voyeur" and inveterate traveler, realizes that while he has been privy to a wide range of religious practices, he's never seriously considered these concepts in his own life. Face to face with his own mortality, and spurred on by the question of what spiritual principles to impart to his young daughter, he decides to correct this omission, undertaking a worldwide exploration of religions and hoping to come, if he can, to a personal understanding of the divine. The journey that results is rich in insight, humor, and heart. Willing to do anything to better understand faith, and to find the god or gods that speak to him, he travels to Nepal, where he meditates with Tibetan lamas and a guy named Wayne. He sojourns to Turkey, where he whirls (not so well, as it turns out) with Sufi dervishes. He heads to China, where he attempts to unblock his chi; to Israel, where he studies Kabbalah, sans Madonna; and to Las Vegas, where he has a close encounter with Raelians (followers of the world's largest UFO-based religion). At each stop along the way, Weiner tackles our most pressing spiritual questions: Where do we come from? What happens when we die? How should we live our lives? Where do all the missing socks go? With his trademark wit and warmth, he leaves no stone unturned. At a time when more Americans than ever are choosing a new faith, and when spiritual questions loom large in the modern age, Man Seeks God presents a perspective on religion that is sure to delight, inspire, and entertain.

Drawn from His Holiness the Dalai Lama's bestselling THE ART OF HAPPINESS, with Dr Howard C. Cutler, this little book contains simple advice on how to achieve lasting happiness in our everyday lives. Going straight to the heart of the matter, each page offers a gem of spiritual wisdom to enable us to defeat depression, anxiety, anger, jealousy - and the many and varied emotions that form a barrier to our happiness. Melding the knowledge of 2500 years of Buddhist meditations with modern Western psychology, THE ESSENCE OF HAPPINESS offers great spiritual balance and joy, and a source of profound wisdom that can be called upon anywhere, anytime.