The Little Book of Lagom

Hot on the heels of hygge comes lagom, a Swedish way of living that promotes balance, restraint and frugality. All in all it sounds as much fun as visiting the dentist, but have no fear! Jackson presents ideas to live in the moment, while saving money and being judicious about how you live. While maybe not as indulgent as hygge, Jackson makes lagom sound like fun and within the reach of even the most slovenly and lazy amongst us.

This book is about living sustainably with what you have, using your resources wisely instead of wasting them, living healthy, and balancing work and private life. I like that the authors touch many aspects of living with their tips. It is cold outside where I live right now and I will go ahead put some of the energy saving ideas in this book into practice. I also would like to grow some herbs indoors and make a bug hotel for my garden. Although I also knew many of the practical tips in this book, I am glad to find them summarized here. After all, from time to time we all need to be reminded of following through will all our good intentions. And that is what reading this book does for me. There are only two things I would like to mention: Making furniture from wooden shipping pallets is only safe if you know that the wood has not been treated with chemicals. I also would not use the vinegar cleaner undiluted on all kinds of surfaces, especially not on my wood floors because it may dull the finish.

The Swedish lifestyle is all the rage at the moment; firstly we had 'hygge', and now we have 'lagom'. I'm a great fan of both concepts, as both are about living life more comfortably and pleasingly - savouring the little moments and making the most of what you've got. Both are terms which mean, by and large 'just the right amount', and this book will give you plenty of tips to do just that.

There is great photography throughout this book, balanced with clear and easy-to-read text. The book in itself is a masterpiece of beauty, but the content is where it really comes into its own. There are so many useful tips (some more just common sense) across many different parts. You'll find chapters about the home, such as decluttering and saving energy, a chapter about work and home and balancing the demands, and about eating a healthy diet.

I can't complain about this book - it is a lovely read and so packed full of great advice.

This book is full of good ideas to create a 'not too much, just enough' home and life. I thought it was well written and enjoyable to read.

The Little Book of Lagom caught my eye, just as last year, The Little Book of Hygge, did. While Hygge is all about comfort, Lagom is all about balance, or just the right amount. This is definitely something I could benefit from because I tend to over-do in many aspects of my life, and balance is something I’m always striving to find.

There are several sections to this book. Some ideas included are saving energy around the home, re-purposing packing crates and pallets, homemade citrus cleaner, decluttering ideas, storage solutions, reducing food waste, how to extend the life of produce, what to do with leftovers, yummy recipes, and much more. The photographs and images included are visually appealing and would make this a great gift book. Overall, I enjoyed this and found many practical tips I could use to achieve better balance in my life and home.

Thank you to Jonny Jackson, Elias Larsen, Andrews McMeel Publishing, and Netgalley for the copy to read and review.

This book was a good introduction to Lagom. It has some useful tips in decluttering and making use of things you already have.

This is a great book to learn more about the Swedish concept of Lagom. This book is filled with recipes, friendly tips to live a better balanced life and DIY projects. And the best thing is, it's done in a great manner. It's nicely written, and filled with beautiful imagery and drawings. I highly recommend this book if you want to learn more about Lagom.

It's a new year, and that means it's time to look back over the last year and see what worked for us and what didn't. I know that something I struggled with last year was balance. My work/life balance was not at all, and I'm determined in 2018 to bring more life and less work to the balance. So while I'm still all over last year's obsession with Danish hygge (I love comfort!), this year I'm adding lagom. 

Lagom is the Swedish idea of trying to find balance in life. It's about living simply and with intention, while leaving behind overshopping, overspending, overcrowding, and over-everything else. And the best quick introduction to lagom I've found so far is The Little Book of Lagom by Jonny Jackson and Elias Larsen. It is small, like the title says, only about seven inches square (or whatever size your tablet is, if you're an ereader like me), and under 150 pages. And if that sounds like a lot of pages to you, realize that there are many pages with only photos or illustrations, so it's very fast to zip through and get introduced to the concept of lagom. 

Divided into four sections, The Little Book of Lagom give advice on creating a balanced home, a balanced sense of health, that work/life balance that eluded me last year, and balance in your legacy in the world. There are lots of quick tips, a few recipes, and numerous ideas for reducing stress, decluttering, eliminating waste, and living a life that makes you happy. None of the advice is overly deep or difficult; mostly, it's quick tips and ideas to help you get focused again and make smarter choices. It's not about fixing everything that's wrong in your life or living so piously that your friends no longer want to know you. It's about finding what's right for you, what works for you, what makes you happy and gets you closer to your goals. Lagom is that simple. And The Little Book of Lagom keeps things that simple. It makes a fantastic gift, for yourself or for anyone you know who is struggling to find balance in their life. 

And now that you know all that, you still have one questions. I know what it is. It's pronounced lah-gom. 

You're welcome. 



Galleys for The Little Book of Lagom were provided by Andrews McMeel Publishing through NetGalley.com, with many thanks.