I'm a firm believer in reading books and am amazed at how many people don't read them daily. I carry my Kindle with me and if I have to wait, I use the time to read.

(I read a quote somewhere and can't find it now, but it said something like …'one who can read books but doesn't is on a par with one who can't read'. I think it was Oscar Wilde but like I said, I can't find it now. Let me know if it rings a bell for you.)

I am thrilled to find a site called MindTram by Colin Ude-Lewis. Colin does what I do: reads and marks up books with yellow highlighter and makes notes. But he goes a step further. He makes his notes available to you. I've just signed up for his service, Wisdom Notes.

For a small subscription fee, you can get his notes and quotes on a huge library of self-development, philosophy and business books. This is a true treasure trove for anyone who loves books, and loves expanding their thinking and knowledge. It's also a great source of content ideas for blogs and newsletters.

Colin is an executive coach in Europe at Lewis Fields.

Here's a question for you to think about …Does it help you to write when you're happy…or angry? I think about this a lot.

For example, I'm reading a couple of books on happiness right now. Did you know that the US isn't even in the top ten countries based on a measure of people's happiness?

This is from an article in Forbes, World's Happiest Places by Lauren Sherman:

Where in the world do people feel most content with their lives?

According to a new report released by the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), a Paris-based group of 30 countries with democratic governments that provides economic and social statistics and data, happiness levels are highest in northern European countries.

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