Overall, I'm happy I read this and learned about Lagom and the Swedish culture. It boils down to balance. Kind of a Goldilocks mentality, in that people should want the proper amount of something--not too little, not too much, but the "just right" portion. Strive for happiness, but realize you can't have elation 24-7 and learn to appreciate being contented. They work to live instead of living to work, and they take their breaks and leave on time. Value your friends, but also have some time alone. Choose pot luck dinner and a movie with good friends instead of bar hopping or going to a fancy restaurant. Buy good quality items, and then don't spend money on needless excesses; instead, refurbish, reuse, recycle, and make do. They have a very eco-friendly society, and focus on the outdoors and growing their own produce as much as possible. While at work or in the community, democracy rules, meaning everyone involved in a project is in on the planning and they continue planning until they all agree on how to proceed, because then there can be no complaining. One of the best parts is how their philosophy applies to parenting. They feel you should impart your values and lessons, then stand back and let your child succeed or fail on his own, because both those outcomes teach life lessons that all humans should learn to deal with. In many ways, because of their goal of balance in all areas of life, I think they must be much stronger and more well-adjusted than Americans.
But, OMG, I've been reading it for TWO YEARS. It's written in little snippets, making it easy to put down and revisit without really losing continuity, so I figured it would be a quick and easy read. Instead, it's just too long, too repetitive, and it's sometimes contradictory--or maybe I just didn't get it completely, especially in the section on style. The pages are quite colorful, but sometimes the background color is too dark to provide contrast for the print, and that was wearing on the eyes. I read roughly a quarter of the book before it became a bathroom book, after which I just didn't visit it often.