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

• one outstanding book about happiness or habits
• 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

An outstanding book about happiness or habits:

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion.

An outstanding children’s book:

Heidi by Johanna Spyri

An eccentric pick:

Open by Andre Agassi

Some readers have said that they wished that I’d describe and make the case for my book choices, instead of just providing links.

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.

In any event, I assure you that, for all the books I choose, I love them; I’ve read them at least twice if not many times; and they’re widely admired.