Swedish Lagom: Finding Joy in Just Enough

by Kortney Yasenka

144 pages, Hardcover

Published February 25, 2025

Reviews

[Linda Boobers · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a quick and easy read, and it seems like the author had fun writing it with her mother. But it felt like something that should have remained a fun family project. There isn’t much substance to the book; it lacks deep research, and most of the content is purely anecdotal.

The benefits of a “lagom” or balanced lifestyle are only lightly touched on, and there’s no real discussion of the science behind it. One part that stood out to me was a chapter listing random historical achievements by Swedish people, used to suggest that it’s possible to be successful while living a lagom lifestyle. But are they really implying that every Swede lives a perfectly balanced life? It felt like the authors were conflating societal values with individual lifestyles, and in doing so, made some pretty broad generalizations.

Another thing that stood out was how much the author and her mother (who are second- and third-generation Swedish immigrants) attributed parts of their everyday life to being Swedish, sometimes in ways that didn’t quite make sense. For example, the mother likes to keep fresh flowers in the house. Sure, maybe that’s common in Sweden, but it’s also common in many other parts of the world, including the U.S. It felt like they were stretching to tie everything back to their heritage.

Bottom line: I would not recommend this book, and did not learn much from reading it other than that the author comes from a tight-knit family.

[Vik · Rating 5 out of 5]

So utterly disappointed that I’ve finished reading it. Loved it!!!

[Stefania Riva · Rating 2 out of 5]

overall nice. spelling mistakes like dalarna e Alfred Nobel.