The Little Book of Hygge (Happiness Institute)

by Meik Wiking

[MurderByDeath]

This book was so much better than I'd hoped it would be!!   I have a best friend who is Danish and my previous job was with a company based in Denmark so I've been lucky enough to visit; naturally both of these things peaked my interest in learning more, so for several months I've been eyeing a few books due for publication.  I thought I'd ordered this months ago - I even wrote in down in my 'books ordered' notebook - but when I went to check on the order status, there was no order.     Luckily, my local had it in stock, along with a few other books on Hygge.  I was in a hurry, so I just flipped through what was there and was disappointed at how many of them were just a book of decorating tips and recipes, so I stuck with this one because, frankly, the cover was the prettiest.   Let's hear it for judging a book by its cover, because this is exactly the book I was looking for.  Meik Wiking (which is pronounced Viking and gave me no end of happiness in and of itself) is a researcher at The Happiness Research Institute at Copenhagen and he comes at the whole concept of Hygge from a social and anthropological point of view, backing up his speculations with current research.  Yes!  And, the cherry sauce on this risalamande (a rice dessert with, you guessed it, cherries) is that Wiking is funny.  His humour sneaks on you as he has no trouble at laughing at himself or his culture in an honest but good natured way.   This is a highly readable book; I finished it easily this afternoon, but it includes all the elements of what makes hygge, hygge.  He includes a few really incredible sounding recipes, a craft project for woven hearts, suggestions for making an emergency hygge kit and simple, everyday ways that anyone, anywhere can bring more hygge into their lives for not much more than the cost of a candle.   This truly is a little book of hygge.