happy

Gooey Swedish meatballs. Spicy peppermint bark. Rum-drenched fruit cake. Over the past few months, these might have been some of the foods that, well, made you feel good.

Despite my lifelong love affair with books, when I get busy one of the first things to get squeezed out of my schedule is recreational reading. (Although I do always seem to find time to screw around on the Internet for hours a day. Oh, Lindsay Lohan. When will you learn?)

Despite widespread poverty and political strife, Nigerians are some of the happiest people in the world. Why?

Oliver Burkeman writes weekly for the Guardian about social psychology, self-help culture, productivity and the science of happiness.

Last year, I was trying to say yes to everything: parties, dinners, favours, assignments, dates, travel plans and after parties. (It was a very, very busy year and I am still very, very tired. But it was also very, very fun.)