As an ongoing feature, staff members at the Des Moines Public Library will recommend a business-related book to add to your reading list. Find this and more books like it at any of the Des Moines Public Library’s six locations and online at dmpl.org. And find information on how to get a FREE library card and all its benefits at dmpl.org/get-carded.

Des Moines Public Library business book pick: “The Bright Side: How Optimists Change the World, and How You Can Be One” by Sumit Paul-Choudhury

Why you should read it: This new 2025 release is a fascinating — and reassuring — look at the philosophy and the practice of optimism, and aims to explain why being optimistic is so necessary, even in the face of extreme challenges. In a time when our televisions, websites and social media feeds project a steady scroll of bad news and pessimism, how do we stay optimistic, and why should we? Paul-Choudhury argues that optimism is not only essential for overcoming obstacles but fundamental to our well-being as humans.