Because nothing boosts happiness more than a great book, each month, I suggest:

– one outstanding book about happiness
– one outstanding work of children’s or young-adult literature–I have a crazy passion for kidlit
– one eccentric pick–a widely admired and excellent book that I love, yes, but one that may not appeal to everyone

Shop at Amazon (I’m an affiliate), or your favorite local bookstore. Or visit the library! Drumroll…

An outstanding book about happiness:

Til Roenneberg, Internal Time: Chronotypes, Social Jet Lag, and Why You’re So Tired

Buy from Amazon.

An outstanding young-adult book:

Irene Hunt, Up a Road Slowly (wow, I really dislike the new cover; ignore that)

Buy from Amazon.

An eccentric pick:

Donna Tartt, The Secret History

Buy from Amazon.

I’ve noticed that many times, when someone describes a book to me, I want to read it less. And often, weirdly, the better a book is, the worse it sounds. So I won’t describe these books, but I love all the books I recommend; I’ve read them at least twice if not many times; and they’re widely loved.

If you read last month’s recommendations…what did you think? La Rochefoucauld’s Collected Maxims; Julie Andrews’s Mandy; and Graham Greene’s The End of the Affair.

So, so, so good.