Authentic Happiness was a fairly good book. I've used italics there because, given how much useful material was in it, I'm kind of surprised I didn't enjoy this book more than I actually did.

I liked Seligman's emphasis on focussing on your "signature strengths" - the things you're naturally good at and derive pleasure and satisfaction from using in the workplace and in your general life (mine appear to be - very strongly - curiousity, love of learning, and love of beauty, which I can totally go with); rather than constantly trying to play catchup with the things you're not good at in an attempt to be a totally rounded person.

I found his take on the nature/nurture argument and the discussions around the historical changes in popularity of studying character interesting, although not 100% convincing; and I also very much enjoyed the scientific, methodical deconstruction of what, exactly, optimism is and how it can be cultivated... all without an affirmation or guided visualisation in sight (not that I have anything against affirmations or visualisations - they're great techniques if you're someone they work for - but I know all too many people who are left cold by them, and this is another, far more pragmatic path to the same destination).

I found some of the questions in the Signature Strengths questionnaire dubious - they're all a/ or b/ questions where you have to pick the answer that's most like your reaction, and for a large number of them, my response is "neither even a little bit". For example, there's one where you "prepared a special meal for a friend and s/he barely touched the food", and you have a choice of whether your reaction is "I'm not a good cook" or "I made the meal in a rush". My immediate reaction would be "My friend is unwell, feeling down or just not hungry". Similarly there's another one where "You lose a sporting event for which you have been training for a long time" and your options are "I'm not very athletic" or "I'm not good at that sport". How about "I didn't train often enough" or "I didn't do the right kind of training" or "My opponents were better than I thought they'd be"?

That said, there *was* good material in this book, and I think it's definitely worth reading if positive psychology is your thing. I think I'll be picking up a copy of Learned Optimism from the library at some point. I've given the book a 7.5/10, but I'm kind of ambivalent about the rating... meh - it'll have to do.