The last year was a tough one. Some days, it was all you could do to get through it and so this year, you've promised yourself that things will be better. The thing is, you aren't exactly sure where to start. But these four books are a great first step...

Sometimes, you find someone who's an especially sunny person and you wonder how they do it. In Make Your Own Sunshine by Janice Dean (Harper, $25.99), you'll read 21 tales of kindness, respect, fun, gratitude, and happiness. There are birthdays in this book, family time, and surprises, teachers and love, parents, kids, and happy memories. It's about taking care of one another during a pandemic and in normal times. If you long for the spirit of giving all year long, this is a book you'll cherish.

OK, so you want to be happy this new year, but you don't have all year to do it. Then you really need to have Todd Doughty's Little Pieces of Hope (Penguin Life, $16.00) tucked away where it's handy at all times. Pick up this book, open it at random, and read for 30 seconds. Open it later in another spot. Leave it where you think you might need a reminder of all you have, and all you have to give. Browse a minute, because this book is made of short paragraphs and sentences that can all stand alone, and a minute is all you need to be comforted, inspired, and reminded that things aren't all bad.

In I Want to Thank You by Gina Hamadey (TarcherPerigee, $22.00), you'll read about a year of appreciation. One day, when Hamadey was simply done, she realized that she needed to do something to get herself out of the sadness she was feeling. She decided to take a year and write thank-you letters to one person per day — neighbors, friends, family, strangers, the famous and not-so-famous — to tell them how they affected her life for the better. It's a wonderful, heartfelt story that may very well inspire you to go buy some stamps and get to work...

Don't know who to write to? Well, then, you need Letter to a Stranger: Essays to the Ones Who Haunt Us, edited by Colleen Kinder (Algonquin, $19.95). This book is quite different from the ones above; it's more along the lines of essays by authors and others, written to people they met or saw once or many times, someone who stuck in their minds and can never be forgotten. Grouped in several relatable categories, each entry will take a few minutes to read, but they may collectively spur you to savor and share with someone the story of that one individual whose presence will always linger.

Want more? Then be sure to ask your favorite bookseller or librarian; they have all kinds of happy finds.