“We were young and hopeful and beautiful and fearless, for just a few seconds, and it made us smile, until we heard the murmuring behind us, and we moved to the side of the gym and took our phones and our mirrors and our lip glosses out of our purses, and we checked to make sure everything was in place.” 
― Sarah Bannan, Weightless

"We took photos of her bathroom cabinet and the scale and put them up on Instagram, Facebook, wherever. Looking back, it's easy to see how irresponsible we'd been, with information and with other people's feelings. But we couldn't have known what was going to happen."

 Sarah Bannan, Weightless.

Truth doesn't have to be black or white, but with lagom we can avoid extremism.

Lagom is a Swedish word derived from the Viking term Laget Om which literally means "around the team" where they pass around a horm of mead ensuring that there is enough for everyone. It has no English translation but it relatively means "not to litte, not too much".  In English the word lagom simply describes "just enough" or "just right".

"Not too little, not to much, just right."

Lagom can be anything like being invited to a party but bringing something to add to the food or washing the dishes after because you don't want to abuse your host's hospitality to buying a practical car even if it is not the most attractive of vehicles, its wearing that bright red lipstick and leaving the rest of your makeup minimal, its being part of a greater entity, belonginess and sharing responsibility. It is the ethos of balance of using just enough resources and perfectly balancing your time between work and spending time with your family. Accordingly, the law of lagom or aiming for "just enough" at all times has social, psychological and emotional benefits. If there is balance a majority of people will enjoy a great quality of life. It also adds that a lagom way of being in touch with our feelings is linked to good mental health. To find the right emotional balance is in fact the major goal of mental health therapies. So with the notion of "good enough" we can avoid burn out and exhaustion bring about by too much ambition, too much work, too much stress which leads to poor mental health or mental illness. Lagom aims for "non-judgemental awareness of of the present moment" or mindfulness.

By living lagom we can ◆ reduce our environmental impact ◆ improve our work-life balance ◆ free your home from clutter  ◆ become a more conscious consumer ◆ cherish the relationship with those you love ◆ enjoy good food (the swedish way or your way) ◆ grow your own food and learn to forage ◆ enjoy health and exercise in nature ◆ live a happier and more balanced life.

Well, I can't help but adore this book although there are still some points that I needed to process.However, what I love about it is it offers practical solutions to achieve a balance lifestyle towards sustainable happiness. This book gives us a glimpse to the Swedish culture which I should say is an antithesis to a chaotic, complicated, competitive lives we are constantly prodded. It could either be too much stress or too much stress. But with lagom moderation is a virtue because waste is a mortal sin. Well I am sure the Swedes will say they aren't that perfect (assuming they'll say that) but they have found a way to embrace that balance which allows them a latitude for change and develoment. This book talks about the way the Swedish culture finds Lagom in design, fashion, food, health and well being, in their society, their environment and sustainable living. This book is an honest approach to happiness indeed. 

                                  " Happiness in a sustainable sense is not about extremes."

Although this book may seem a little too good to be true, in my perspective at least, this book is cover to cover a breath of fresh air. Definitely a must read. The prose is easy to follow and it comes with beautiful picture illustrations and the cover is a plus factor gorgeous. I give this book five stars out of five. So there's my thought on this book. Till next time. Babye!

"At first sight Ove is almost certainly the grumpiest man you will ever meet. He thinks himself surrounded by idiots - joggers, neighbors who can't reverse a trailer properly and shop assistants who talks in codes.  But isn't it rare, these days to find such old-fashioned clarity of belief and deed? Such unswerving conviction of what the world should be, and a life long dedication to making it just so. In the end, there is something about Ove that you will find irrestible."

Okay so it took me awhile to finish this book not because it was not a hit but because I was torn between reading two of Fredrik Backman's books, this and 'My Grandmother sends her regards and Apoligises which I also love. 

Fredrik Backman tells about an old lonely widower named Ove who hates everyone around him because he thinks  they are stupid or behaves differently than what he thinks people should. He has rules for everything. He has a strong belief in justice, hard work and fair play and "a world where right has to be right not so one could get a medal or diploma or a slap in the back for it, but just because that was how it was supposed to be." Then he met Parvaneh, her two daughters and her husband Patrick, who doesn't know how to drive a trailer properly he thought. Ove misses his wife and just wanted to be alone. But things turn out different than what he wanted. Soon he finds himself mending other peoples things - because apparently they don't know the proper way to do it and being badgered to be in places he doesn't want to be. 

This I must say is one of the most adorable books I have read this year. I love how it touches current issues and themes like loneliness in old age, social responsibility, lifestyle, relationship, death and loss and how the older generation perceive the use of modern technology. This book makes us realize that it must be difficult for people like Ove who worked hard all his life, never had a loan, paid taxes and yet one day we seemed to forget about them... somehow society has  a way of treating our elderly. We seemed to forget that they are people too that they get lonely... we fail to reach out to them just because they are from a different generation. This book also shows us that love has a peculiar way of manifesting itself, that people doesn't have to be exactly or slight replica of each other's likeness or things shared in common to build friendships and even marriages. 

One thing I also love about this book is how it presents the issue of a infertility, childless marriages and kind of gives us a "sneak peak" on what most of us are probably dreading about... getting old alone. I have always wondered about this... what it would be like having no children to come visit you, no grandchildren running around breaking things... the loneliness. The curmudgeons in our lives, like Ove, they might be difficult to get along with and sometimes we can't help but feel irritated, annoyed perhaps. But all we need to do is look closer, knock on their doors because they might just be lonely.

This book has made me laugh and cry and hit me in all the tiny spots in my heart. Definitely a hit and I give it 4 out of 5 because the edition I picked had too tiny fonts  my eyes were blurry for a day after reading it. Okay I give it 5. 

Here are some quotes I love from this book...

“To love someone is like moving into a house," Sonja used to say. "At first you fall in love in everything new, you wonder every morning that this is one's own, as if they are afraid that someone will suddenly come tumbling through the door and say that there has been a serious mistake and that it simply was not meant to would live so fine. But as the years go by, the facade worn, the wood cracks here and there, and you start to love this house not so much for all the ways it is perfect in that for all the ways it is not. You become familiar with all its nooks and crannies. How to avoid that the key gets stuck in the lock if it is cold outside. Which floorboards have some give when you step on them, and exactly how to open the doors for them not to creak. That's it, all the little secrets that make it your home.” 

“Death is a strange thing. People live their whole lives as if it does not exist, and yet it's often one of the great motivations for the living."

“We always think there's enough time to do things with other people. Time to say things to them. And then something happens and then we stand there holding on to words like 'if'.” 

“She just smiled, said that she loved books more than anything, and started telling him excitedly what each of the ones in her lap was about. And Ove realised that he wanted to hear her talking about the things she loved for the rest of his life.” 

“And time is a curious thing. Most of us only live for the time that lies right ahead of us. A few days, weeks, years. One of the most painful moments in a person's life probably comes with the insight that an age has been reached when there is more to look back on than ahead. And when time no longer lies ahead of one, other things have to be lived for. memories, perhaps.” 

“Loving someone is like moving into a house," "At first you fall in love with all the new things, amazed every morning that all this belongs to you, as if fearing that someone would suddenly come rushing in through the door to explain that a terrible mistake had been made, you weren't actually supposed to live in a wonderful place like this. Then over the years the walls become weathered, the wood splinters here and there, and you start to love that house not so much because of all its perfection, but rather for its imperfections. You get to know all the nooks and crannies. How to avoid getting the key caught in the lock when it's cold outside. Which of the floorboards flex slightly when one steps on them or exactly how to open the wardrobe doors without them creaking. These are the little secrets that make it your home.” 

"I don't exist. Don't I? It often feels as if I'm not here, that I'm a figment of my imagination. There are days when I feel so lightly connected to the earth that the threads that tether me to the planet are gossamer thin, spun sugar. A strong gust of wind can dislodge me completely, and I'd lift off and blow away, like those seeds in a dandelion clock."

This book is one of the best contemporary fiction that I ever read, to think that I don't always find myself wanting to read these kind of books. But usually when I pick one, I would always find myself surprised how it hits me in a way that I get so engaged with it, love the characters and brings out all the emotions in me . how lucky am I?

Okay so the premise of the story is about a lady, Eleanor,  in her thirties who lives alone. She goes to work everyday and follows a routine. She doesn't have any friends or what she thought and is happy and content living on her own. She goes to her job everyday minding her own business and making sure that she stays away from people in her job which she doesn't get for the most part anyways, she thought. Nothing missing from her completely fine and timetabled life of avoiding social interaction, phone chats with mummy, and two bottles of vodka every weekend. Then she met Raymon an unhygenic, poorly dressed, IT guy from her office.  They met when both were going home from work when suddenly an old man, Sammy, collapsed in front of them. Raymon immediately rushed to help him dragging a hesitant Eleanor behind forcing her to call for help. Not long after, the three of them Raymon, Eleanor and Sammy made an extraordinary friendship where they rescue each other from solitude and loneliness.

" I suppose one of the reasons we're able to continue to exist for our allotted span in this green and blue vale of tears is that there is always, however remote it might seem, the possibility of change." 

This book is so heart warming and funny. Which is why I love this book in a way so different than I ever love other books. It is so simple, so easy to read but the sentiment of it brings out all the tears and joy in me... laughter too (I know it was quiet a difficult scene being in the room with me. LOL!) But I have no regrets staying up all night just so I can get to the other page. 

One thing that I love about this book was the way it addressed loneliness, kindness and friendship. The protagonist was presented in a way that despite her condition she wasn't self-pitying in fact you find her utterly witty, which sort of make you conclude that there is so much brilliance in her. 

I also love how this book depicts loneliness, that it can have a devastating effect on people regardless of age. In one of her interviews, Gail Honeyman stresses that she wants people to be aware that loneliness is an issue and anyone of us may suffer from it. This book also talks about mental health (which still creates stigma among cultures) and the importance of getting help. I also think that one of the reason that I dote on this book is the way it talks about friendship and kindness. It somehow gives us that perspective how people with mental challenges cope with their everyday life and how kindness is very important. All in all I give this book five out of five stars. Definitely a must read!

Love demands everything. 

CHANGELING-ORDER OF DARKNESS #1-111 (Changeling; Stormbringers;Fools Gold)

  

A LITTLE LIFE 

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

“These days, loneliness is the new cancer – a shameful, embarrassing thing, brought uponyourself in some obscure way. A fearful, incurable thing, so horrifying that you dare not mention it; other people don’t want to hear the word spoken aloud for fear that they might too be afflicted.” This is a debut novel by Gail Honeyman publised on May of last year. This book is funny and a light kind of read. I am already halfway in my reading and I have to say it kept me smiling through every page. Eleanor Oliphant is an easy to love character and the way it was written was so straightforward it almost feel like you are "sinfully" spying a neighbor from your window. But as her life unfolds, you began to understand the challenges she has to endure and how she copes with it (no spoiler alert).  I am so excited to know how it ends for her so to resume reading I must :) 

Title: Labyrinth
Author: Kate Mosse

Year Published: 2005
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Pages: 701

Favorite Quote: "What we leave behind in this life is the memory of who we were and what we did. An imprint no more."

"If I had known how it would feel to live with such loneliness, to stand, the sole witness to the endless cycle of birth and life and death, what would I have done."

"Anger serves no purpose. So my friend, keep your anger and your sword in readiness for those battles you can win."


Alice Tanner our heroine discovered two skeletons in a hidden cave in the Pyrenees Mountains. She unexpectedly found herself tangled in a mystery of the past which brought her running around the streets of medieval France. Meanwhile Alais is on the run to escape from her sister. A few days ago, she was at her dying father's bedside committing to a promise to keep and protect a secret. Torn between loyally to her husband and her father, Alais has to make a decision whether to stay beside her husband and protect the burning walls of Carcassona or take courage and set off and find the other keepers of the secret and fulfill the promise she made to her father.

As the walls of Carcassona began to fall, Oriane is eager to make a deal to exchange information for her freedom in case Carcassona will be conquered and she is determine to do everything to save herself. How far would she go to betray her sister?

What I like about this book is the twist of conspiracy in the medieval French history. It is like a mix of The Librarian, The National Treasure and Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code. The book has so many details and narration of French history but what I like about it is that the text is easy to follow. The text is also mixed with Occitan words but there is a glossary you can follow and besides even if you don't check the words, it is easy to understand just by following the context.

This is the first book that I read from Kate Mosse and I love everything about it. I love following the characters specially Alais. I love seeing everything through her perspective. I also like that French history is also introduced in the story. I don't really mind reading through the details. So if you are not the person who likes too much historical details and narrations in a book, then you might find this book challenging to read.

So anyways, I got this book from a second hand bookstore so I got it for a cheaper price of 190 baht. Here's a link to the bookshop where I got it from www.dasabookcafe.com the last time I was there, there were two copies of this book in soft bond.

Would I recommend this book? definitely yes! Infact I also puchased three of Kate Mosse' books; The Citadel, The Winter Ghost and Sepulchre and I am so excited to make a review on it.

Thanks for reading. Till next time!

Love,

The Book Hag