I can tell you now that reading the book Stumbling on Happiness won’t cheer you up. In fact I reckon my mood took a tumble the more I read this book. But at the same time the ideas it talks about are so fascinating, and important, and obvious – once they are pointed out – that you just can’t stop reading.

I thought this book would help me in my research for a new career, but so far all it has done is explain why it is impossible to make future plans that will increase my happiness. Still, I would rather know these things than not. It is so much better to know that these mistakes are common, and part of the human condition, and it isn’t just dumb old me. I’m not alone.

File this under one of those books you want to buy for everyone you know.