Making Happy People (UK BOOK RING)

by Paul Martin | Science |
ISBN: 0007127065 Global Overview for this book
Registered by UrbanSpaceman of Strasbourg, Alsace France on 3/24/2005
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10 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by UrbanSpaceman from Strasbourg, Alsace France on Thursday, March 24, 2005
Welcome to the Making Happy People UK Book Ring

This ring is now underway - as of 25 March 2005.

If you would like to join, please PM me.


Paul Martin

Paul Martin was educated at Cambridge University and at Stanford University, California, where he was Harkness Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences. He lectured and researched in behavioural biology at Cambridge University, and was a Fellow of Wolfson College, before leaving academia to pursue other interests including science writing. His previous books include The Sickening Mind and Counting Sheep.

Member/Location

Members are as below. The member in red currently has the book. If you wish to join the ring, please PM me and I will add you - please note that this is a hardback book and so will be more expensive to post than a paperback.

Nyassa, France/Winchester
Anfield, Bagshot
Emilythegoat, Oxford
Drutt, Glasgow
Tutleymutley, Newton Abbot
KittyNic, Hull
akg, Didcot
GlitterLover, Farncombe
Aubriel, Sheffield
MarianFrench, Buxton
CoolboxUK, Chertsey
Skribble, London
Sapphire99, Lyme Regis
Daemonwolf, Leeds
MrsBridgewater, Holybourne
msoma, Exeter
Chelseagirl, Farnborough
PsychJo, Portsmouth

...then back to me.

How it works

- If you wish to be added to the list, please PM me with your details.
- We will kick off once we have 5 members.
- You will be sending the book to the person who appears after you in the list, so you need to PM them to get their address.
- It's not a race, but please read and send the book on as speedily as you can, other people are dying to read it too.
- Please journal the book once you have received it (so we all know where it currently is) and again when you have read it (so we know what you thought of it).
- If you're the last person on the list, then please send it back to me.



Journal Entry 2 by UrbanSpaceman from Strasbourg, Alsace France on Sunday, March 27, 2005
Posted to Nyassa yesterday.

Journal Entry 3 by nyassa from Deal, Kent United Kingdom on Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Arrived safely this morning, many thanks. I finshed a book last night so it is perfect timing.

Journal Entry 4 by nyassa from Deal, Kent United Kingdom on Saturday, April 9, 2005
At first I was afraid it was going to be a manual for parents, but it is relevant to all. It is a very interesting book, full of information but very readable. A lot of it seems like common-sense but it is often worth pointing it out anyway.

It will be on its way to Anfield on Monday.

Journal Entry 5 by Anfield from Bagshot, Surrey United Kingdom on Saturday, April 16, 2005
received in the post, thank you! #3 on Mt. Tbr.

Journal Entry 6 by Anfield from Bagshot, Surrey United Kingdom on Friday, May 27, 2005
This is a wonderful book, I enjoyed every page of it, and re-read the really good bits. It is all commensense stuff really, although a few popular myths are exploded and I *loved* his contempt for the culture of celebrity. I was particularly interested in the chapters concerning children and was relieved to learn that while I am far from the perfect parent, there is a lot I am doing right and the evidence is before my eyes (my children are very affectionate but also very un-clingy, which would imply that they are "securely attached").
Thanks US/C for the opportunity to read this. It was posted to emilythegoat at 11am this morning.

Journal Entry 7 by emilythegoat from Oxford, Oxfordshire United Kingdom on Wednesday, June 1, 2005
I received the book this morning, with a surprise - thanks Anfield! Two bookring books arrived together, one has been travelling from Singapore for 9 weeks, what a coincidence. I'll probably read them concurrently as the other is fiction.

Journal Entry 8 by emilythegoat from Oxford, Oxfordshire United Kingdom on Saturday, June 11, 2005
On its way to Drutt.

Journal Entry 9 by emilythegoat from Oxford, Oxfordshire United Kingdom on Saturday, June 11, 2005
A superb book, very well written and easy to read. Paul Martin makes it clear that what he says is based on the results of published research (unlike many self-help books which he clearly dislikes). He gives good examples to illustrate his points, but not to excess. References are neatly tucked away so they do not disrupt the flow of the text.

I found Chapter 2, "What is happiness", most interesting of all. I'm not a parent but I do run a youth group so the latter chapters dealing with parenting and education were still relevant.

Paul Martin raises many important questions about how government policy and individual's aspirations(for themselves and their children) relate to increasing wealth/growth, which does not improve happiness. If we want to be happy, and have happy children, we need to move our focus away from wealth and celebrity and towards social connectedness and bringing purpose and meaning to our lives.

This is one of those books I've been telling everyone to read - and certainly all parents and politicians should read it. Thanks to UrbanSpaceman for giving me the chance to read it.

Journal Entry 10 by drutt from Glasgow, Scotland United Kingdom on Wednesday, June 15, 2005
This looks like a great book - I'm looking forward to reading it.

Journal Entry 11 by drutt from Glasgow, Scotland United Kingdom on Saturday, August 6, 2005
This is a very readable and seemingly scientifically sound book about the attributes of happiness. I particularly enjoyed the early part of this book, particularly where it discussed how outward thinking is more correlated with happiness than inward thinking and how our western culture's obsession with the self and our pursuit of pleasure (only one aspect of happiness) was making it more difficult for us to be happy with ourselves and our lives.

Some of the key ways of acquiring happiness are well-known and just common sense, but I learned much more from the book. Toward the end, particularly the section on education, I felt that Martin was really driving his point home, and repetitively so. It reminded me of when I had to write 2000-word essays with only 1000 words of substance. The relevant points could still have been made in a more condensed book, but overall it makes for a great read.

This book's now on its way to tutleymutley - sorry about the delay.

Journal Entry 12 by tutleymutley from Newton Abbot, Devon United Kingdom on Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Arrived yesterday - thanks, Drutt. Only got one other urgent TBR so should get round to checking this out very soon.

Journal Entry 13 by tutleymutley from Newton Abbot, Devon United Kingdom on Thursday, December 1, 2005
I know, I've had this a looong time - but this sort of book requires a little bit of reading and then a mulling over! After a bit of geeing up from Urban Spaceman I finished it by my deadline (My dogs were looking over my shoulder with big oogly eyes saying "walk me, walk me", whilst I rushed thru the 'end notes'). I was fascinated by this - I'd love to live in a country where Paul Martin's advice was heeded by the government - less emphasis on academic achievement and economic success aren't the be all and end all, and more emphasis is placed on full employment and reducing the inequalities between the classes. I was also interested to read about the 'flow' (which I experience most often and vividly when I'm indulging in artistic pursuits), so much so, I might look up the work of the psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (not just because his name is so fab).
If you get this book and don't want to read all of it, chapter nine summarises it well. And if you're a parent, I'd recommend Jay Belsky's work on the 'Transition to Parenthood', an equally readable book (which backs up everything Martin has to say about raising happy children and achieving a happy marriage).
I'm emailing chelseagirl now, and grovelling to urbanspaceman for keeping it so long and being so slow. Thankyou, tugs forelock, backs out of room...

Released 18 yrs ago (12/2/2005 UTC) at Posted to the next participant in Royal Mail, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

Bye bye book.

Journal Entry 15 by chelseagirl from Faringdon, Oxfordshire United Kingdom on Monday, December 5, 2005
This arrived today, along with a packet of Cadbury's buttons which must surely play an important role in the search for happioness - thank you :0) I'm blessed with having had a happy childhood and I hope I'm giving my children the same .... this sounds fascinating, can't wait to get to read it, but alaas there's a backlog of ring books in the way first ...

Journal Entry 16 by chelseagirl from Faringdon, Oxfordshire United Kingdom on Monday, March 6, 2006
I have to admit that after getting going on this I've been so busy with work and my wedding that I put it to one side and forgot about it :0( However, I really do want to read it so if nobody minds me hanging on to it for a bit longer I'll give it a go after my current read - let me know if that's a problem though!

Journal Entry 17 by chelseagirl from Faringdon, Oxfordshire United Kingdom on Saturday, May 6, 2006
I'm really sorry but I'm going to ahve to pass on this one - sorry for having it for so long. The ring books are piling up and although I really want to read it I've just not been in a non-fiction mood. maybe I could be added on to the end of the list?

I'll PM Psychjo now for her address and get this moving on asap.

Journal Entry 18 by chelseagirl from Faringdon, Oxfordshire United Kingdom on Tuesday, August 29, 2006
I'm really embarrassed that I've still got this book .... PsychJo asked to be skipped for now and I've tried and failed to get in touch with KittyNic, so I think she's going to have to go to the bottom as well and I'll email akg and see if I can get this moving at last! Really sorry .....

UPDATE: And it's still with me .... despite several emails and PMs to akg I've had no response but i ahve just come across an address for her so I'm going to email once more to confirm and will hopefully get it in the psot in the next few days. Really really sorry .... I've been utterly useless here :0(

Journal Entry 19 by akg from Didcot, Oxfordshire United Kingdom on Sunday, October 29, 2006
Chelseagirl passed this to me today at the Steventon mini meet. I haven't been elosive, I just haven't got the emails or PMs. I've almost finished my current book so I'll hopefully start this next week.


Journal Entry 20 by akg from Didcot, Oxfordshire United Kingdom on Wednesday, March 14, 2007
oh dear, oh dear. I started this book soon after Chelseagirl passing it on to me. However I just couldn't read more than a couple of pages at a time. I decieded to give up on at and asked for Glitterlovers address, but it sparked my interest again and there we go I finished it. I am sorry for holding on to the book so long, but it is already weighed and the correct postage bought so it will be on its way tomorrow.

The book starts at the logical place trying to define happiness; not an easy thing. The author suggests happiness consists of three components; pleasure, the absence of displeasure and satisfaction and provides a convincing argument that satisfaction is the significant one “pleasure and displeasure reflect how you feel, whereas satisfaction reflects how you think about your life”. The book also discusses why happiness matters, the characteristics of happy people and developing happiness in children.

The author lists seventeen common characteristics of happy people, and thankfully most of them are not genetic suggesting that happiness levels can be improved. I certainly identified some areas to work on; the relationships I have with people, engaging in meaningful activity, developing a sense of purpose, embracing change and new things, avoiding materialism and working on tasks that I can lose myself in.

I found the book easy to read and understand. I also picked up several tips on how to improve my own happines (and my children’s if I ever have any) and would recommend it to people if they wanted to find a real fix to their happiness, rather than a media encouraged quick fix.

I've added this review to my blogs as well, so if you fancy commenting you can at either
my 'real' one or my livejournal one

Journal Entry 21 by GlitterLover from Leyland, Lancashire United Kingdom on Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Received. Initially I was going to send straight on as I thought it was for parents but actually havign read all your reviews I am indeed going to read it.
Thanks all.

Journal Entry 22 by aubriel from Sheffield, South Yorkshire United Kingdom on Sunday, July 15, 2007
Safely arrived - finally! Looking at the journal entries I've no idea where it has been for the past few months, but it is here now. I have a few books to get to first, but hopefully it shouldn't be long.


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