Welcome to Litsy!

I thought this book was an absolute delight, witty and entertaining and insightful. I read it in preparation for an upcoming trip to Scandinavia and since I haven't been there yet, I can't really speak to the accuracy of any of his observations. But I found it a very enjoyable overview of the Scandinavian countries.

A Finnish acquaintance told me this story, which he said perfectly sums up the Finns‘ attitude toward the normal conventions of human interaction. He and his brother-in-law were driving in a blizzard in the countryside when their car broke down. They waited for half an hour before another car finally passed. It stopped and the driver got out to help them. He peered under the hood and managed to get their car started for them, all in silence. . .

This is how it is in Iceland: one minute you are amid heather-covered mountains kissed by heavenly shafts of chiaroscuro, the next you are crossing the Gobi. Turn a corner and you pass through the gentle, grassy undulations of the Shire, before they give way to the granite mountains of Mordor, complete with twenty-story waterfalls. Then, just as suddenly, you are on the moon (in fact, they rehearsed the Apollo 11 moon landings here).

On Michael Booth's list of things to love about Denmark: “I once saw the Danish prime minister on a pre-election walkabout in Copenhagen, on the equivalent of Times Square, and no one was paying him the slightest bit of attention.“

Early one dark April morning a few years ago I was sitting in my living room in the Danish capital, Copenhagen, wrapped in a blanket & yearning for spring, when I opened that day‘s newspaper to discover that my adopted countrymen had been anointed the happiest of their species in something called the Satisfaction with Life Index . . . . I checked the date on the newspaper: it wasn‘t April 1.

#FridayReads #FirstLineFridays

It was probably more me than the book but I gave up after the introduction. The author‘s tone just suggested that he was not really a big fan of the people he was going to be discussing and I decided this wasn‘t the book for me. In the books defense though, I have bailed on quite a few books this year, many more than I usually do.

@Texreader turns out my father enjoyed Norwegian jokes. I need all your Norwegian jokes! lol

I‘m learning so much about Sweden of which I had no idea: eg, what the author calls “benign totalitarianism” for much of the 20th century (see quote above), its “neutrality” in WWII vastly benefitted the Nazis, and forced sterilization of 60,000 women for a huge chunk of the same century to protect its “relatively unspoiled race.” Whoa!

On to Sweden and its open immigration policies: “‘It is economic suicide not to integrate immigrants and not to invite people from elsewhere to come and work here. The Swedish economy is booming. People have moved around throughout human history. With some patience, and stable economic circumstances, it works...‘”

“Finland has in terms of its labor market is that it is arguably the most gender-equal society in the world.”

Another joke, courtesy of the Finns.

More on the Finns... Love this joke about Americans; we are a wickedly friendly bunch (especially those of us from Texas). And as for Helsinki, my beautiful and wonderful sister-in-law (married to my husband‘s Norwegian brother) is from Helsinki. I haven‘t been there, but if she is representative it is a marvelous place.

The author went relatively light on Norway (from reading Norwegian writers and my own experiences, he really did go light), and now promises to be even kinder to the Finns. This after Denmark (the author‘s present home) and Iceland received scathing reviews. What he writes sounds accurate. But maybe not all of it, omitting both good and bad. He saves Sweden for last. I assume he will say only all great things if the trend continues.

An accurate description of Norway. This from a chapter on immigrants in Norway.

Rather than giving up on the whole eating shark business altogether, they eventually hit upon the idea of burying it in the ground for between eighteen months and four years until it has decayed to the point where it becomes, in the very loosest sense of the word, edible.

One does wonder, as the author does on the next page, why anyone with access to the freshest greatest fish on the planet would choose to eat putrified shark. Ewww!

One of the reasons for a happy Dane: “Right now, the Danes are especially preoccupied with role playing—dressing up like Gandalf or elves and acting out violent narratives deep in the woods with their foam “boffers””. I‘d love that, too.

Next up since we‘re going back to Norway again this summer. Seemed an appropriate timely read.

This book was interesting, as in I learned a lot from it about each of the Nordic countries, but it was so much to take in. I had a hard time staying into it, probably a more difficult read for me

I‘ve been thinking of moving to Europe for a long time. The Scandinavians seem to have everything worked out. Politics, education, and hygge. But maybe I should look into Italy instead...
Anyone here from Scandinavia?

Interesting and informative. It opened my eyes to some things in the countries mentioned, especially Sweden.

Very insightful and interesting observations!

An interesting read. A lot of history and explanation but definitely comes off negative/trying to prove they aren't perfect (which I mean I guess is the point).

#bookriot challenge day 20 is beautiful covers. #riotgrams every cover of every book I've read is beautiful just in different ways. So this is also my #currentread

Wanderlust setting in again...2 of the last 5 books stacked are about Scandinavian culture. #seasonsreadings2016 #lastbookstacked #tbr #lastbookyoustacked

Perhaps Danish happiness is not really happiness at all, but something much more valuable and durable: contentedness, being satisfied with your lot, low-level needs being met, higher expectations being kept in check.

Sunday night was meant for #audiocoloring!🖌💛💚💙💜❤️

Ok, so I'm kinda cheating today, but I don't have any books that aren't in English, and this book has a ton of Danish words in it. This is a fun but informative look at the myth of the Nordic people being the happiest on people on the planet. Booth breaks up the statistics with personal stories and travel bits, and it sheds some light on why these countries are the way they are. I'm really liking it so far!❤️✈️🌍#seasonsreadings2016 #notinEnglish

I went into this with a bad attitude because I'd read a disparaging article on Scandinavia by Michael Booth, but ended up loving his book. His lighthearted analysis of the benefits and hidden flaws of Nordic culture made me laugh out loud several times, and made me desperately wish I could move back.

Seems if you write a book about Scandinavia it must have a #longtitle. For our trip last year, I read The Year of Living Danishly (love that title!) while my travelling companion chose The Almost Nearly Perfect People.

#booktober

I loved this book! After reading the history of each of the Scandinavian countries, I also read this. The combination made me well prepared for my long awaited trip to Sweden & Norway. I'd often wondered about the "rest of the story" to how perfect these countries appear to those of us on the outside. This book clears all of that up in a very entertaining way.

A so-so leaning toward a pan. Had some good info but too often felt that the author couldn't decide what type of book it was. Travelogue of personal experiences? Social science examination of the region? Far too often the author would undermine some valuable information or insight with a glib aside, to the detriment of the book. With the ricochet between genres, this just fell flat for me and far too drawn out. Loved the cover though!

Theme park take two. This time I'm sitting and reading while Bee goes on the rides with her aunt (no vertigo for me!). Almost done this and hoping to finish it off here.

Clearly, the editors couldn't decide whether or not to go with the British or American version of this word. Curious that they ended up back to back on the same page though!

I am almost embarrassed to admit how many books I start and fail to finish, and how many I have on the go at any time. A book monogamist I most definitely am not! I do keep a list of all books I have started and I'm attempting to remedy the situation, starting with this title that I am 2/3 through.

Now I'm curious - how many of you are book monogamists? How many books do you leave unfinished?

Learned a lot and it was great to read it while I was traveling there. I had always viewed the Nordic countries as all the same, but it was eye opening to learn about their differences. Booth writes well and added a lot of humor, much like Bill Bryson.

Preparing for our upcoming trip to Scandinavia by doing a deep dive.

This book is proving to be very interesting. Not what I thought, but maybe better.

Having spent part of last summer in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, this book really captures the uniqueness of each of the countries comprising Scandinavia. Also a quite entertaining read with some serious laugh out loud moments.