Stumbling on happiness

Stumbling on happiness - That's the tile of the book I'm on next. I don't know what the pages will reveal but I'm curious. Authored by American social psychologist and writer Daniel Gilbert, the book is a gift from a dear friend, someone thoughtful and sensitive. And for starters, the cover has a nice appeal. 

Books as gifts are rich and here's why. First, it's heartening to think someone has taken the time and trouble to scan through titles to settle on something, especially for you. Second, it's the kind of gift that can happily change hands and spread the unalloyed joy of reading. Third, with every book you read, you evolve in some way, there is bound to be a perspective shift. A book then becomes much more than just a gift.

I'm the kind of reader who pulls over at many stations while journeying with a book. It's like a slow burn, a book growing on you and you growing with it. But I mostly desist from reading reviews. Why approach it with a clouded perspective? I'd much rather prefer a clean canvas for new vistas to open up. There are times I'm stunned to meet my deepest thoughts seamlessly coursing through words weaved by a total stranger. Thoughts, which until then, craved for expression. It's beyond amazing.  

Books have this uncanny power of revealing a mélange of feelings, sometimes even playing them up against each other. That's why there are pages that make us squirm and then there are those that make us believe in the mysteries of the universe, after all. I imagine no two reader can feel exactly the same about a book. For, as readers, we too bring our baggage along.

Coming back to Stumbling on happiness, I'm eager and excited to the turn the pages. Reading is a consuming process, but something every reader willingly succumbs to. I'm no different. Happy reading y'all!  

(How do you approach books? Would love to know.)