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LET there be no mistake: nothing that you remember, think or feel is as it seems. Your memories are mere figments of your imagination and your decisions are swayed by irrational biases. Your emotions reflect the feelings of those around you as much as your own circumstances.

In What Makes Your Brain Happy, David DiSalvo takes us on a whistle-stop tour of our mind鈥檚 delusions. No aspect of daily life is left untouched: whether he is exploring job interviews, first dates or the perils of eBay, DiSalvo will change the way you think about thinking.

鈥淣o aspect of your life is left untouched鈥� this book will change the way you think about thinking鈥�

DiSalvo鈥檚 talk in his title of 鈥渉appy brains鈥� has little to do with joy and well-being, though. Instead, it is shorthand for our grey matter鈥檚 tendency to choose the path of least resistance. When explaining confirmation bias, for instance, DiSalvo cites brain scans showing that we treat conflicting information as if it is a physical threat. As a result, we choose the 鈥渉appier鈥� option of ignoring details that don鈥檛 fit our views.

DiSalvo admits in his introduction that the happy brain metaphor is 鈥渋ntentionally oversimplified鈥�. Indeed, by the end of the book it has been stretched dangerously thin. In a chapter on imitation, for example, he tells us that 鈥渁 happy brain is happy to copy鈥�. But an 鈥渦nhappy鈥� brain is just as big a copycat 鈥� that is how our mirror neurons work, whatever our mood.

If you can ignore these glitches, What Makes Your Brain Happy is an enjoyable manual to your psyche that may change your life. As DiSalvo says: 鈥淭he brain is a superb miracle of errors, and no one, except the brainless, is exempt.鈥�