Flow: The classic work on how to achieve happiness by Mihaly Csikszentmihaly.

The subtitle of this newest edition is misleading: this is no "how to" or self-help book, but a readable summary of psychological research. A more accurate subtitle would be "how people achieve happiness."

I think anybody who has ever done anything well and is proud of it will recognize the descriptions of flow. What this book does is to attempt to show that flow can be achieved, and need not be an accidental occurrence. It is written in flowing prose, and progresses smoothly and swiftly from a theory of consciousness to the meaning of life. All of this is solid intellectual stuff, and not nearly as simple as it seems in this abstraction, which is what disqualifies it as a self-help book.

After I finished reading Flow I was filled with joy about the possibilities of life and an appreciation for its beauty. I hope it lasts.