The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World

By Eric Weiner
Twelve
Many authors have attempted to describe what happiness is: fewer have shown us where it is, what we can learn from the inhabitants of different cultures, and how changing your location can change your mood. Now in this enlightening book, Eric Weiner, a self-described mope and long-time foreign correspondent for National Public Radio, travels to some of the world’s most contented places. Full of inspired moments and earned epiphanies, this riveting book will make you happier as you visit: India, where happiness and misery live side-by-side; Bhutan, where the king has made Gross National Happiness a national priority; Switzerland, where residents believe envy is the great enemy of happiness; Iceland, which, despite being cold, remote, and full of failure, is among the world’s happiest places — and for good reason, the author finds.