The fun habit How the pursuit of joy and wonder can change your life

"Society has now devalued fun and leisure so much it's significantly harming us," suggests psychologist Rucker in this cheerful debut trumpeting the importance of joy. The author provides strategies for "adding novel, pleasurable activities into your daily life" and equips readers with "scientific evidence for the life-sustaining value and importance of fun." For example, Rucker recommends readers prioritize time over money, citing a study that found doing so made subjects happier, and he discusses the neurology behind emotional contagion to explain why hanging around friends with positive dispositions is likely to be more fun. To cultivate a fun mindset, Rucker advises making time for pleasure; creating a "fun file" of enjoyable activities; joining clubs, communities, and causes; and taking photos to extend "fun's power beyond the moment it occurs." The scientific grounding behind the suggestions impresses, and Rucker's stance that negative emotions are unavoidable and necessary adds nuance and guards against what he calls "toxic positivity." This is a fittingly entertaining guide. (June)

Writing a book about achieving happiness through fun activities during a global pandemic and time of epic social upheaval might not seem to be a good fit for current times, but that view would be mistaken. Organization psychologist Rucker, an influencer in workplace wellness and promoter of positive psychology, used a painful and dark time in his life as a catalyst to explore happiness in earnest, which culminated in this much-needed addition to the self-help genre. Far from being just a feel-good exhortation or collection of fun activities to embark upon, this title brings an in-depth, science-backed exploration of happiness, through the lens of having fun. Readers are encouraged to examine their own lives and habits through the PLAY (pleasing, living, yielding, and agonizing) model and then use a set of tools Rucker calls the SAVOR (story editing, activity bundling, variable hedonics, options, reminiscing) system to help transform their daily lives. This book does not offer a quick fix to current doldrums but encourages hope for a more fulfilling life through incremental changes that anyone can make. VERDICT Recommended for those who are looking for more joy and fun in their lives. A solid addition to any public library.--Holly Hebert