"My Hygge Home: How to Make Home Your Happy Place" by Meik Wiking

I picked this up at the library on a whim and really enjoyed browsing through it!  I have been interested in the Danish concept of "hygge," or "a safe, happy, cozy atmosphere," for a while now, but I really hadn't read much about it.  I just know I like hygge-ful pictures of books and reading on Instagram, and a friend who has a homemaking blog writes about the concept sometimes.  I wouldn't say I read this book, exactly, as there were some pages/chapters I just skimmed, but there were others I read in depth.

The chapters that I paid the most attention to were "A Perfect Night In," "Shining a Light on Happiness," and "Hygge is Homemade."  I really liked the things Wiking said about needing to have different spaces within your home for different functions.  Obviously, we know a kitchen and a bathroom have different functions than a living room or bedroom.  But within the living room and bedroom spaces, it's important to have places where we can gather with others, and places where we can cozy up alone.  The importance that lighting choices can make in those different areas was very interesting to me too.

(Just sharing some of my most hygge book pics
from my Instagram account...)

Will I be changing things in my house because of this book?  Actually, not much, because it turns out I have intuitively set up our house to be very hygge already.  In our living room, we have a couch and two comfy chairs that face each other, providing a place for people to interact in comfort.  In our library, we have a loveseat with a nice light, a pillow, and a throw blanket for people who want to read in semi-solitude.  Our basement also has a couch for those who want to be more away from others for a while.  We have mostly warm lighting throughout our house, which promotes the feeling of cozy belonging.  And we are blessed with an abundance of natural light through our many windows.  We have plenty of green, growing things outside to see through the windows, and we have houseplants in four rooms inside too.  We have a jigsaw puzzle set up almost all the time for people to gather around and work on together, which facilitates togetherness and conversations.  We eat meals together every day around our dining room table, not by the TV.  And so on.

The things I found most fascinating in this book were the studies on the way that sunlight can affect us, the way that different kinds of social interactions can affect our mental and physical comfort, and how much the specific kinds of light you have in your living and working spaces can impact your mental, emotional, and physical health.  Plus, there were a lot of lovely pictures throughout :-)

Particularly Good Bits:

...staying at home and finding comfort and joy in what you already have is an act of rebellion.  This is what hygge is truly all about -- living the good life on a tight budget.  It is the enjoyment of simple pleasures.  It is the art of creating a nice, warm, comforting atmosphere (p. 128).

I think one of the best things we can give to our children is an understanding of where we can find joy and well-being without spending money (p. 129).

Play just for the sake of play is vital to our happiness.  To me, the good life -- a rich life -- includes moments of laughter, joy, and play (p. 196).

A hygge home means a series of spaces that remind you of who you are and what brings you happiness.  It means making space for what you love to do (p. 235).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: G.  Nothing objectionable here, content-wise.  There is some humanistic thinking about people being basically good that Christians can politely disagree with and move past.

"Hello, My Name is Single" by Adriane Dorr Heins

Let's be clear:  I am not single.  I didn't suddenly ditch Cowboy and not tell you about it.  But I wanted to read this book anyway because I do have friends who are single, and I'd like to be a better friend to them.  I thought this book might give me some insight into the particular struggles that Christian singles face, struggles I haven't had to deal with for almost two decades, that I might be forgetting.

I was right.  This book is VERY insightful.  And funny.  And helpful.  I mean, it was helpful to me, giving me ideas and reminders on what my unmarried friends might need from me.  I think it would also be really helpful and encouraging for Christians who ARE single too.  Your mileage may vary, of course.

The subtitle of this book is (How I Learned to Ignore the World's Expectations and Trust God), and that's very much what Heins focuses on here.  It talks a lot about the expectations and demands and ideas of the world concerning singles, and then it zeroes in on ways to trust God and get past what the world is telling you.

Heins never falls into the "just pray more and God will send you a spouse" trap.  She talks about that trap and exposes it for the nonsense it is.  She also talks at length about those who are blessed with the gift of celibacy and are truly happy to be unmarried.  But much of the book is meant for people who are not currently married, but wish they were.  And she also speaks to people like me who know singles, or who have single people in their congregation, and gives suggestions on how to be a good friend to a single person even if you're not currently single yourself.

(Random fun note: Adriane Dorr Heins' dad and my dad grew up together and are still friends.  I've never met her, but I think that's really fun.  It's a small Lutheran world!)

Particularly Good Bits:

What the Lord has to give you isn't dependent on your attitude or your emotions.  He will provide you with the comfort and the peace you need, no matter your mood.  He is faithful.  He cares about you (p. 106-07).

Instead of waiting for some magical moment to kick-start your life, you can -- get this -- go ahead and live boldly right now (p. 152).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It:  PG-16 for frank, non-explicit discussions of sexual matters such as pornography and casual sex.

This is my 7th book read for #TheUnreadShelfProject2020.

"Rapunzel's Guide to All Things Brave, Creative, and Fun" by Suzanne Francis, Illustrated by Enric Prat

This is an adorable, entertaining, and informative little book.  I picked it up on a whim at the bookstore, and when I was only halfway through it, I decided I liked it so much, I gave a copy to the young daughters of one of my friends because I knew they would find it fun too.

The whole book is narrated by Rapunzel, as if she's chattily telling you how to do things she enjoys.  Art, writing, games, outdoor activities, even Self Defense with a Frying Pan are all covered here.  My almost-8-year-old is very happy that I've finally finished reading this because she is eager to get her own hands on it :-)  But I think my 10-year-old son is going to get a kick out of it too!  Things like chess and sword-fighting and knot-tying get just as much time as hairstyles and pottery and good manners. 

If you've got a youngster in your life who loves to learn how to do new things for themselves, I totally recommend this book.  Plus, the illustrations are adorable.  And there are lots of Eugene :-D

If This Was a Movie, I Would Rate It:  G.  Nothing objectionable here at all.

This is my second book read and reviewed for the Mount TBR Challenge 2018.

"The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin

I would never have read The Happiness Project if it hadn't been for Danielle at the WXROZ blog.  She picked it for her blog's book club, and I've never belonged to a book club, so I thought that might be a fun way to try one out, one where I didn't have to attend meetings, lol.  So anyway, if you want to join us and discuss this book too, go here.  You can read our chapter-by-chapter comments there, and respond yourself if you're reading this.  

I'll just do a quick review here, then, and mention a few of the things I found helpful or enlightening.

Gretchen Rubin decided she wanted to be happier, and she set about learning about happiness and creating a detailed regimen for changing things in her life.  She figured that, by being happier herself, she would boost the happiness of those around her, especially her husband and two young daughters.  She admits that spending so much time on her own happiness felt a little selfish, and there were times when I did think she was kinda self-absorbed.  But she seemed to spend a lot of time and energy sharing her findings to help others be happy too, so good for her.

I don't know that I've read any self-help books since my freshman year of college.  I didn't care for the ones I read, and I'm not dissatisfied with anything to the extent that I'd seek the advice of strangers.  I've read a couple books on parenting by Dr. James Dobson, but that's as close as I've come.  However, I was pleasantly surprised to find some helpful ideas in this book.  

One thing that she suggested was, when you find a little task that would take less than a minute, don't put it off.  I've started doing that, saying to myself, "Will this take less than a minute?  Then do it!"  My house is less messy as a result.  I put away the shoes on the floor or change out the dirty towel, rather than say, "Oh, I don't have time."  She also suggested making an effort to smile more, especially when talking to people.  I've tried that for three days now, particularly when interacting with my kids, and I feel like I've been nicer and less irritable.  

Rubin also talked about her collection of True Rules -- an "idiosyncratic collection of principles" (pg. 241) -- that she has used all her life to respond to various situations.  She realized some were more helpful than others, and tried to stop using unhelpful ones.  I'm trying to figure out what my own True Rules are, and maybe I'll post them here some time, just for fun.  Rubin's were things like, "I know as much as most people" and "Never eat hors d'oeuvres, and never eat anything at a children's party."  (pg. 241)  Mine are very different, but the idea is the same -- little sayings I use to respond to things, mentally, as ways to get through things.

So, anyway, I'm glad I read this book because it had some good ideas, but I'm not inspired to start my own Happiness Project.  

Particularly Good Bits:

"Whatever love I might feel in my heart, others will see only my actions."  (pg. 55)

"Although enthusiasm seems easy and undiscriminating, in fact, it's much harder to embrace something than to disdain it.  It's riskier."  (pg. 268)

"A willingness to be pleased requires modesty and even innocence -- easy to deride as mawkish and sentimental."  (pg. 269)

"Wishes, Lies, and Dreams" by Kenneth Koch

I fell in love with Kenneth Koch's poetry during my sophomore year of college.  A few years later, my parents gave me this book for Christmas, and I read it once, then set it aside.  But now that I am homeschooling my kids, I pulled it out again to see if maybe I could put some of his advice to work. Plus, April is National Poetry Month, so I felt sort of obligated to read something poetry-oriented.

The book is based on Koch's experience teaching grade school kids how to write poetry back in the '70s.  He explains the different things that he found worked well or worked badly, and he also includes a LOT of the poems written by the kids he taught.  They're exuberant and imaginative, not stilted or hesitant.

Koch found that most kids have an aptitude for writing poetry if you don't try to make them adhere to things like rhyme and meter, which tend to overwhelm and squelch them.  Instead he would give them a subject (wishes, lies, dreams, colors, sounds...) and a bit of form (start every line with "I wish" or include a color in every line, etc), and the kids would take it from there.

I helped my kids (ages 3 and 5) write  poetry on the subject of wishes last Friday, and they loved it!  In fact, my 5-year-old asked me to help him write a poem about recycling yesterday.  I'd say Koch's ideas work :-)

Also, if you're not a kid, but you're looking for a jump-start to your own poetry writing, his ideas work really well for adults too.