My journey to thank all the people responsible for my morning coffee

An excellent history of coffee and how it impacts everything in our lives — the economy, the environment and intellectual history. Here's one highlight — when Pope Clement gave coffee his official blessing: "Why, this Satan's drink is so delicious ... we shall fool Satan by baptizing it and making it a truly Christian beverage."

The author chronicles her year trying to increase her gratitude using wisdom both modern and ancient. For instance, Epicurus's advice: "Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not."

In my book and TED Talk, I argue that being grateful makes you want to help others. MacAskill, a philosopher professor at Oxford and fellow TED speaker, is a great guide on how to help as smartly and effectively as possible. The heart meets the brain, Moneyball meets charity.

A great book on how being a mensch can actually be good for business. (Note: I’m told by Jewish scholars that "mensch" is actually gender-neutral, so it applies to everyone.) In my book Thanks a Thousand, I talk about Grant's section on the "responsibility bias." This is the cognitive bias that makes us give credit to individuals instead of teams. This is a grave error, in my opinion. It encourages the quest for individual glory, when in reality almost everything good is the result of teamwork.

Psychologist David Desteno examines the science of gratitude. One key point: gratitude is good for your own happiness, but also makes you more pro-social and more generous.

The author — a professor of law and environmental policy at Duke University — examines the history and current politics of clean water. An eye-opening look at how much we take water for granted.