Gross National Happiness - Why Happiness Matters for America and How to Get More of It by Arthur C. Brooks

This book is written at the intersection of economics, culture and public policy. It looks at the research and statistics from the United States about who is happy and why they are happy (don't worry, it doesn't name names!).

It's the second book I've read from Brooks -; the first, Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism, takes a similar approach to understanding charitable giving and volunteerism in the United States using statistics, research and objective questioning to learn more about these issues.
In Gross National Happiness, Brooks explores the connection of happiness to family, religion, wealth and much more.

I found the book fascinating and well written, but hard to read in long sittings. Why? Because there are so many interesting statistics that I found I wanted to take time to absorb them!; As with Who Really Cares, Brooks does an amazing job of answering the questions any particular piece of research raises - (usually in the next sentence) with more relevant data.

Another thing I love about all of Brook's writing is that it isn't biased by his viewpoint - in both books he expresses surprise and even discomfort with some of his findings.

Here is a top-flite researcher asking interesting and useful questions, and going where the data leads him - rather than using the data to prove his own theories.

This approach is refreshing, and the book is very readable. I highly recommend it book to broaden your thinking and provide some variety from your normal reading diet.

Learn more and purchase at Amazon.com.

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