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Summary
Summary
Discover the Swedish ethos of balanced living with this little book of Lagom .
The Swedish concept of Lagom (pronounced "lah-gom") roughly translates to "not too little, not too much, just right." This charming book introduces readers to a new way of balanced living that promises happiness and sustainability in work and in life. Lagom provides simple solutions to juggle everyday priorities, reduce stress, eat well, and save money, with lessons on the importance of downtime, being outdoors, and Sweden's coffee break culture. Tips on removing clutter and creating a capsule wardrobe help readers achieve Sweden's famously clean and functional design aesthetic, while advice on going green and growing food gets their hands dirty.
With seemingly endless financial, emotional, and environmental benefits, Lagom presents an accessible and all-encompassing lifestyle that is sure to inspire mindfulness, wellbeing, and contentment.
Author Notes
Linnea Dunne was born and raised in Sweden, where she started her writing career as a columnist at the local newspaper aged fifteen. She left for Ireland a few years later and eventually moved to London, where she studied Creative Writing and Political Communications. She now lives in Dublin with her husband and two half-Swedish kids, trying to achieve that lagom balance against all odds.
Reviews (2)
New York Review of Books Review
RIGHT NOW, I'm a bit embarrassed to be an American. Not usually. But now. If I see a tourist on the street looking lost, it's all I can do not to blurt, "I'm sorry about what our president said today and will say tomorrow," along with directions to the No. 6 train. I must have a lot of company. How else to explain the staggering pile of self-help books where Americans are offered the path to a better life via the rituals and outlook of other countries? Last year there were lessons in happiness and well-being, via hygee from Denmark. And this year? Japan is teaching us to seize the day (humbly). Sweden is showing us how to find balance and simplify our lives. And France is showing us, well, everything else. Naturellement. Just because they invented Camembert and guilt-free sex, they think they're soooo perfect. A FRENCHWOMAN'S GUIDE TO SEX AFTER SIXTY (Greystone, paper, $17.95), by the psychotherapist Marie de Hennezel, immediately catches your attention because the cover shows a woman of a certain age glancing coquettishly over the bedsheets. But that age isn't 40. It's perhaps 75. So this isn't the American version of old; it's the French version, which is to say: old. And that's what makes this volume uniquely French: It's deeply un-American in its realism. Aches and pains, medications that reduce libido, a diminution of hormones that mean friction is tougher on our naughty bits and of course the occasional urge to cover all the mirrors in the house: Aging ain't pretty, Hennezel admits. Yet for many of us, Eros lives, and Eros wants its due. What's called for, then, is a revolution in the way we look at sexuality: a deemphasis on orgasms in favor of kissing and caressing, more solo play to connect with our erotic selves and "making affection" as an alternative to making love. Feeling good through exercise and a healthy diet is paramount; looking younger through plastic surgery is mentioned not at all. Reading the stories of septuagenarians and octogenarians who are finding love or intimacy or sometimes just sex, one is reminded that the very French concept of joie de vivre - a sense of joy that comes from curiosity and playfulness, from looking outward instead of inward - is its own form of Botox. This joie is very much at the heart of Jamie Cat Callan's lively PARISIAN CHARM SCHOOL: French Secrets for Cultivating Love, Joy and That Certain Je Ne Sais Quoi (TarcherPerigee, $19). Maybe "Parisian Charm School" seems so thorough because Callan, who has written several previous books on various aspects of French life, is an American; she approaches her subject with anthropological rigor. Here that subject is French charm, which is some combination of intellectual curiosity, spontaneity, style and a soupçon of reserve. Charm, she points out, can't be Googled; it must be cultivated. Yet, at its heart, it's a tangle of contradictions. As a fashion consultant Callan interviewed put it, "Never be too feminine, too girlie. Never be too complicated. Too obvious. Never look like you're trying. But you must try!" Being French seems kind of exhausting. Still, we clumsy Americans can worship at this shrine and maybe pick up a few tricks. Who, after all, doesn't want to be like the woman in this line Callan quotes from Colette: "When she raises her eyelids, it's as if she were taking offall her clothes." Perhaps Sweden was a little jealous of all the lifestylegiving attention its Danish neighbor received, so this year brings us Linnea Dunne's LAGOM: The Swedish Art of Balanced Living (Running Press, $16). Loosely translated, lagom means "not too little, not too much, but just enough," making Sweden the Goldilocks of nations, one that earned an article on the website of the World Economic Forum called "Why Sweden Beats Other Countries at Just About Everything." The reason, it seems, is that Sweden makes the concept of "the greater good" practically into a religion. You start with free education and universal health care and end with great pastry (and the regular coffee breaks - fika - to enjoy it). Fairness and moderation are basic cultural values: "Lagom is accepting an invitation to spend the weekend at a friend's house, but bringing your own bedsheets because it's fair to share the burden of laundry. . . . It's wearing bright-red lipstick, but leaving the rest of your makeup perfectly understated." There's a reason Gianni Versace founded his luxury fashion empire in Italy and H & M was born in Sweden: "There's this inherent celebrating of frugality in Sweden. We like affordable clothes because it's a bit vulgar to splash out." If anything sums up the gestalt of this book - and Sweden - it's this: Swedes are rated among the world's top 10 happiest people, but not the happiest. That would be excessive. The aim isn't ecstasy but "sustainable happiness," the sort of equilibrium that's achieved through small moments of calm and bliss in your everyday routine. So, to live the lagomway, invite your friends round for fika, spend time in nature, give away items that don't add to your pleasure in life - and, most important, help a neighbor. The primacy of the common good extends to everything in Sweden, including shuffling offthis mortal coil. Reading THE GENTLE ART OF SWEDISH DEATH CLEANING: How to Free Yourself and Your Family From a Lifetime of Clutter (Scribner, $18.99), I couldn't help thinking of my own parents, who were mild hoarders. When they were in their 80s and I meekly suggested that maybe they should get their home in order, my father's response was: "Why? Soon it'll be your problem." Margareta Magnusson is writing for people with families like mine - and maybe yours. Americans are just too much, she gently suggests. Swedes embrace consideration and minimalism, and the practice of "death cleaning" (which can start in your 30s - why wait?) embodies those values. "Let me help make your loved ones' memories of you nice - instead of awful," she says, and proceeds to do just that in this short, practical guide to getting rid of stuff. You categorize, normally going from large objects to small; you give things away or sell them, particularly if you have a family you know is going to bicker. And you never, ever start with photos or other items of great sentiment because you're likely to get stuck. And oh, how right Magnusson is. After my parents passed away, my own death cleaning consisted of looking at old photos, then immediately giving up - taking everything they owned and putting it into a massive storage unit that has sucked up money for seven years. I may have to reread her book. In Japanese, iki means "to live" and gai means "reason" - in other words, the reason to live and how you define it. Ken Mogi begins AWAKENING YOUR IKIGAI: How the Japanese Wake Up to Joy and Purpose Every Day (The Experiment, $16.95) with a story meant to illustrate the importance of this concept to the Japanese. He describes a famed sushi chef whose Tokyo restaurant is visited by President Barack Obama during a state visit and who is told by the president that his sushi was the best he had ever eaten. No big deal. "Ikigai resides in the realm of small things," Mogi explains. "The morning air, the cup of coffee, the ray of sunshine, the massaging of octopus meat and the American president's praise are on equal footing." Not really! Can I skip No. 4? Mogi, a celebrity neuroscientist and broadcaster who has written more than 100 books, describes the five pillars of the ikigai way of life: "starting small," "releasing yourself," "harmony and sustainability," "the joy of small things" and "being in the here and now" (what we might call "mindfulness"). And he demonstrates how some of the rituals most important to Japanese culture, from the tea ceremony to sumo wrestling, are based on these tenets. I admit that certain principles he espouses utterly baffled this Westerner, particularly the notion that in Japan finding purpose and joy in work, even work that requires great individuality and creativity, comes from a sublimation of the ego. He cites the example of the great anime artist Hayao Miyazaki, whose work is so repetitive and painstaking. Wait, if we all know who he is, how is he subsuming his ego? In work, Mochi explains, you have to be like a child, because "a child has no definite idea of the past or the future." Seriously? Tell that to a 5-year-old screaming, "When will we get there?" in the back seat of a car because "there" involves ice cream. I'm not sure if I could live in Japan for more than a week, what with all the appreciating of teeny porcelain objects and self-abnegation, but "Awakening Your Ikigai" is really quite a delightful look at sometimes mystifying Japanese traditions. (Spoiler alert: There's a lot more to sumo wrestling than chubby dudes with man buns and diapers.) I can't resist noting that in 2009, Mogi was charged with violation of Japanese tax laws for failing to report several million dollars in income. See? I guess America does have something to teach the citizens of other nations. JUDITH NEWMAN'S "To Siri With Love: A Mother, Her Autistic Son and the Kindness of Machines" was published in August. Her column appears every eight weeks.
Library Journal Review
When Wiking's The Little Book of Hygge took off last spring, there was no doubt that sequels would be forthcoming. Now the CEO of the Happiness Research Institute explores the Danish concept of lykke (LOO-ka)-pursuing and finding the good that exists in the world every day. Here, -Wiking investigates the cognitive dimensions of happiness and compares the life satisfaction scores of the Danes with those of other nations, concluding that helping others, working together, and lowering one's expectations can lead to more contentment. Similarly, former newspaper columnist Dunne proposes that lagom (lah-gom), the Swedish concept of "not too little, not too much, just right" can help people improve their work-life balance and savor both relationships and delicious food. Dunne's guidebook is full of tips, color photographs, and recipes that demonstrate how readers can simplify their wants and enjoy what they already have. She covers everything from eating and styling lagom to feeling and socializing lagom in a clear upbeat tone, which encourages readers to participate. -VERDICT While both books are delightful and would be popular in public libraries or for personal purchase, Lagom is more aesthetically appealing. © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.