The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World by Eric WeinerBook 20 of 100 for the 100+ Reading Challenge
Book 10 of 25 for the Support Your Local Library Challenge
rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really should read more non-fiction. I always enjoy learning something new, or chewing on thoughts, observations, ideas, and perspectives of someone else. The Geography of Bliss is no exception.
Eric Weiner is an NPR correspondent who traveled to 10 different countries asking people if they are happy or not. While not exactly a scientific approach, his adventures provide a look into culture and location as happiness coefficients. He visits Iceland and Switzerland, countries that rank consistently high on the happiness scale. He also visits Moldova, the unhappiest country on the planet. And the end of it all, Weiner realizes that trust, envy (the lack of), culture, family, friends and gratitude have a lot to do with how happy we are. As Americans it seems our focus on ambition, money and greed have a lot to do with why we aren't a particularly happy people.
This book provided me with plenty of food for thought, and many, many laughs.
You can read the introduction here.
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6 comments:
I always have a hard time with non fiction, but maybe I will try this one out....:)
This is one I'd like to read. Thanks for your review.
I'm usually surprised at how much I like the non-fiction books I read. I should make a bigger effort to read them. This one sounds interesting.
I've seen some videos of him promoting this. It sounds like a neat book although I tend to shy away from non-fiction that's not Disney or film related/ biographies.
Oh, I'm so glad I'm not the only one who really liked it (as opposed to only sort of liking it). BTW, I tagged you for a meme.
Oh I love non-fiction books. I am always reading one along with a fiction book. This one looks interesting. I will have to read it once I have some money or once I find it on BookMooch. :) I am glad you enjoyed reading it.
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