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Year of Living Danishly
Year of Living Danishly: Uncovering the Secrets of the World's Happiest Country | Helen Russell
When she was suddenly given the opportunity of a new life in rural Jutland, journalist and archetypal Londoner Helen Russell discovered a startling statistic: the happiest place on earth isnt Disneyland, but Denmark, a land often thought of by foreigners as consisting entirely of long dark winters, cured herring, Lego and pastries. What is the secret to their success? Are happy Danes born, or made? Helen decides there is only one way to find out: she will give herself a year, trying to uncover the formula for Danish happiness. From childcare, education, food and interior design to SAD, taxes, sexism and an unfortunate predilection for burning witches, The Year of Living Danishly is a funny, poignant record of a journey that shows us where the Danes get it right, where they get it wrong, and how we might just benefit from living a little more Danishly ourselves.
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Magpiegem
Pickpick

42/22 I didn‘t expect this book to give a balanced view of the Danish way of life, but I think Russell did a good job of it. Did I still end up wishing I could live there? Yes. But I can also see that, as the population of there whole country is less than my capital city the lessons to be learned for my own life are the ones I can implement in my home as the national changes would never be viable here. #booked2022 #authorisajournalist

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Twocougs
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Pickpick

Lots of thought provoking ideas. Made me laugh often too😂

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Sharpeipup
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After many days of no mail, I finally hit the jackpot (and soon the teapot!). Thank you #litsyteaswap
Thank you one & all!

35 likes1 stack add
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Bookworm54
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Pickpick

I loved this #BookSpin book!

Journalist Helen‘s husband gets the opportunity to move to Jutland in Denmark to work at Lego. They agree to go over for a year, and Helen sets herself the task of uncovering the secret to Danish happiness (they are known as the world‘s happiest country).
Despite this she doesn‘t shy away from the bad parts of Danish living such as sexism, and in the newest 2020 chapter, racism.

A great read :)

#JumpStart2021 #20in4

TheAromaofBooks Great progress!! 3y
Clwojick ♥️♥️♥️♥️ 3y
Andrew65 Well done 👏👏👏 3y
Gaylagal2 @Bookworm54 So cute! 🐾❤️🐾 3y
50 likes2 stack adds4 comments
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Bookworm54
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Starting my Sunday morning finishing this book with a chai latte and doggy cuddles 🥰

Shame I have no pastries though!

#JumpStart2021 #20in4

Clwojick This looks like a great book. 3y
Andrew65 Good luck. 3y
44 likes2 comments
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Bookworm54
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My aims for #20in4 are to finish The Year of Living Danishly (I am nearly half way through) and finish The Seven Sisters (10 hrs left on my audiobook).
That should get me fairly close to 20 hours I would think! ☺️

The Seven Sisters will be my third #Brazil book, and we will be getting Brazilian takeaway tomorrow! I am excited to try someone else‘s Feijoada and to taste some Coxinhas and Pao de Queijo!

#JumpStart2021 #BookSpin #FoodAndLit

Texreader Hope you love all that food!! I still need to make and try the stew. 3y
Clwojick Yummm! Sounds delicious! 😊 3y
Butterfinger How exciting! I hope you enjoy The Seven Sisters. 3y
Andrew65 Love that series. Good luck with the Readathon. 3y
TheAromaofBooks Sounds like a lovely weekend!! 3y
45 likes5 comments
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Bookworm54
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Managed to squeeze in a couple of chapters of my #BookSpin book today.
I have always found differences between the way countries live intriguing, and who doesn‘t want to know more about the happiest country in the world? ☺️

The bookmark is one of 3 I got for Christmas. I love it 🤣
The other 2 are quite delicate so I will need to be more careful with them!

#JumpStart2021

MeganAnn This bookmark is fantastic! 🤣🤣🤣 3y
ScientistSam 💖 the bookmark! 3y
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 3y
Lizpixie Love the bookmark💚 3y
40 likes4 comments
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bekakins
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Pickpick

So... Now I need to move to Denmark 🤣 I really enjoyed this non fiction account of a woman's first 12 months of living in Denmark... Very interesting!

Now chosen my next #TBRDeckOfCards read... There is definitely something to be said for removing decision making from myself!!

Clwojick Oh sounds good! 😄 3y
9 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Litsi
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Pickpick

If you have a Danish fantasy, read this. All that you probably think is true, but this book may change how you think about it. https://www.facebook.com/1082882538/posts/10221771262365775/

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Andrea313
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Pickpick

I picked up the tagged book on a whim, and loved it so much that I decided to dive straight into all things Scandi, and arrive at the #hygge party three years too late. I'm really looking forward to spending a quiet December with all of these books, thanks to Russell's investigation on why the Danes are "the happiest people on earth". Highly recommended, especially to my fellow Americans. The contrasts between our nations are sobering indeed.

CuriousG Her second book is also quite good - I also did a deep dive into Hygge after reading this one 3y
Andrea313 @CuriousG Thank you for the recommendation! I'll definitely check out her second book. 3y
21 likes3 stack adds2 comments
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shanaymayer
Pickpick

What fun to read about this happy culture during a pandemic with our virtual book club, while travel is impossible! The author was so comedically refreshing and I loved her take on her plunge into Danish Living.

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AvidReader25
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Pickpick

A British woman moves to Denmark for a year when her husband is hired by LEGO. She researches their claim to be the happiest nation on earth. She delves into a fascinating mix of maternity leave, hobbies, alcohol, strict rules, holiday traditions, and trust. I appreciated her skepticism as she uncovered “the Danish way” and revealed a much different culture than I‘m accustomed to. It was written with such wit and humor that it‘s a fun read.

36 likes3 stack adds
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bbackes
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Saturday night

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barbwire
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Littens, I‘ve found my new mantra!

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bbackes
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Coronastyle

alessandrafn Lhamas douradas style 4y
5 likes1 comment
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bbackes
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Trying to survive this pandemic

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barbwire
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Did I mention my current read?

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barbwire
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This one caught my eye because my godson and his wife moved last autumn from San Diego to Veijle (he works for LEGO), because I‘m studying Danish, and because one of my current YouTube buddies is Anglo-Danish writer and actor Sandi Toksvig (check our her “Tox Vox” series there). IMHO, I think the Danes are on to something.

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Megabooks
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Pickpick

Fun, quick read that makes sense. When you have a good social welfare network, less income inequality, and trust in each other, society functions really well. Having traditions, adult clubs, reasonable work hours, and open minds helps, too.

Is it possible to have this in a more populous, less homogeneous country, I don‘t know, but I do know it‘s worth trying. 4⭐️

#readingeurope2020 #denmark @BarbaraBB @Librarybelle

Megabooks Thanks @Caroline2 for spurring me to check this out! 4y
BarbaraBB Great review. I agree about the homogeneous population! Sharp observations! 4y
Kalalalatja I definitely agree, that Denmark‘s size and population is a big factor in getting our wellfare system to work as well as it does. 4y
See All 20 Comments
Megabooks @BarbaraBB Thank you! 😊 I think it‘s harder for people coming from different backgrounds to automatically trust each other, but the book said immigrants to Denmark generally integrate in a generation, which is more quickly than the US for sure! 4y
Megabooks @Kalalalatja I think it would definitely be a lot harder in a country the size of the US or even the UK, but I like that some social democrats have come to prominence in the US and the mainstream Democrat candidates all have some version of these policies. It seems countries made large decisions of how they wanted to be after worldwide depression and WWII, and y‘all made some good ones! 👍🏻👍🏻 4y
BarbaraBB That is strange, to me it always seems as if immigrants in the US feel American immediately while, at least in the Netherlands, immigrants keep referring to themselves in the nationality of the country they (or their parents) came from. 4y
Megabooks @BarbaraBB I do know people who “look Asian or Latinx” get asked where they‘re “from” a lot and if they say Colorado, people are like no really, where? and that can get annoying for them. I think a lot of feeling American has to do with that particular immigrant‘s experience. We have a community of resettled Burmese here in my town (surprising, I know) and they are slower getting integrated than individual families who have come. 4y
Caroline2 Oh I‘m glad you liked it. It‘s fascinating isn‘t it. I agree tho, I don‘t think it would work with a bigger population like here in the uk. 4y
BarbaraBB Thanks for explaining. I learn so much from you! ❤️ 4y
Megabooks @Caroline2 totally agree. But I like the concept and there are parts I feel I can integrate, like hygge, to my everyday life. 4y
Megabooks @BarbaraBB I learn a lot from you, too! 💜 4y
Texreader @Megabooks @BarbaraBB I feel like here in San Antonio where we have a very diverse community, where a minority has long outpaced the white community, it is far easier and faster for immigrants to identify as Americans. This is such a laidback city to live in (for the most part), where it feels people are more welcoming, people are hardworking...and do tend to be more conservative in their economic beliefs. 4y
Librarybelle Nice! 4y
Megabooks @Texreader I can definitely see that. My town is 85% white, 8% black, 6% Latinx and 1% other, so I can see how an immigrant would have a very different experience in San Antonio. Excellent point!! The town was 91% white when I was in high school, so it has slowly changed over 20 years. @BarbaraBB 4y
BarbaraBB @Texreader Thanks for the example, I can see how that differs from Meg‘s town. Where I live 34% is white, 26% North African, 20% black and 20% Asian and Middle Eastern and we live together pretty laidback too. However in other parts of the Netherlands, where at least 80% of the population is white, immigrants are less integrated in society I think. There people still talk about ‘the Morrocans‘, ‘the Turkish‘, ‘the Surinam‘ etc. 4y
Texreader @BarbaraBB @megabooks It really is a breath of fresh air here. I grew up about 90 miles north of here & went to school in a predominantly white little German town. I don‘t know but I doubt any minority felt very welcome. I know there were strong feelings about “English only.” Eyes open during one of my first trips to San Antonio, where menus were in two languages! And society didn‘t rip apart! Fascinating topic. Thanks for sharing experiences. 4y
Megabooks @Texreader I bet! I miss the diversity of other places I‘ve lived. I feel like if people had more positive day-to-day interactions with people that are different ethnicities, then there wouldn‘t be all this white nationalism. It‘s hard to “other” people when they‘re your friends. @BarbaraBB 4y
Texreader @Megabooks I completely agree! 4y
BarbaraBB @Texreader I love that so many things are communicated in two languages in the US. We formerly did translate things in Arabic and Turkish but now the opinion has shifted towards ‘you live here? Speak Dutch‘. 4y
91 likes2 stack adds20 comments
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Caroline2
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Pickpick

I really enjoyed this. Yes, she‘s very privileged and it‘s all middle class problems. She reminded me of Carrie Bradshaw! But I really enjoyed learning about how the Danish live, esp when compared with Britain, and I soooo want to move to Denmark now!! #Denmark #ReadingEurope2020

Librarybelle This is on my to read list! Good review! 4y
Megabooks I was wondering what to do for Denmark, and my library has this! 4y
squirrelbrain I just read my #denmark book, otherwise I might have gone with this one..... ❤️ 4y
xxjenadanxx I loved this one myself. So much interesting information about the ins and outs of living there. And the pool scene had me cracking up! 4y
Samplergal I read this last year and loved it! 4y
107 likes3 stack adds5 comments
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Debblyliz
Pickpick

A book which details Helen Russell‘s year in Denmark and her attempts to discover the secret behind the Danish‘s happiness. A fun and frivolous read.

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Redjewel_7734
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Pickpick

So who doesn‘t want to be happier? And what better to figure out how to be happier than immersion in the culture of the happiest country in the world? This was a fun read as Russell & her husband try to figure out out the secret of living Danishly & what exactly makes these Vikings so happy. The answers are pretty straightforward & not all that surprising but watching them figure it all out & stumble their way into the Danish life is great fun!

Redjewel_7734 Now somebody bring me a snegle! 5y
74 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Samplergal
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Pickpick

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️. I loved this little book. Highly recommend this to all.

mreads It was cute 😀👍 5y
97 likes4 stack adds1 comment
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Samplergal
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Such an entertaining book!

SW-T I enjoyed it! 5y
CarolynM Me too🙂 5y
74 likes6 stack adds2 comments
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CuriousG
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Still in a slump and not able to handle much new content. Re-reading/listening to this one as I was thoroughly entertained the first time round #reread #hygge

9 likes2 stack adds
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BeckyandBooks
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Pickpick

Now I wanna move to Denmark! But seriously, I really enjoyed this book and information in it. Kinda made me sit back and think, sure if the government was different we might be happier, but there are a lot of things in our own every day lives we could change ourselves...and be happier for it.

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Fortifiedbybooks
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I asked the followers of my blog to help me choose my first read of the new year. Here it is, along with one of my most #Hygge bookmarks.

16 likes1 stack add
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CarolynM
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Pickpick

When her husband gets a job with Lego, journalist Helen leaves her London job to accompany him to Jutland and freelance while investigating what it is that makes Denmark the happiest country in the world. This book is basically a series of lifestyle pieces on life in Denmark tied together with the story of the couple's first year in their new country. #Fascination would describe how I've felt about reading it while in Denmark. #SeptemberDanes

Kalalalatja I have thought about picking this up, mostly to see what a Denmark looks like from an outside perspective 👍 6y
Cinfhen Fun!! 6y
Cathythoughts You lucky duck ! I can‘t wait to go there 😍 6y
56 likes3 stack adds3 comments
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Kalalalatja
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Somehow, we have made it to the middle of September already! Time is flying 💨

Here are the prompts for #SeptemberDanes for everyone who needs a refresher or are joining in now. I‘m enjoying all your posts, so keep it up awesome littens 👏

ephemeralwaltz Thanks lovely!! 6y
Cinfhen Can't believe it's already the halfway point 😟are u still ready to co-host @Robothugs for October??? 6y
ephemeralwaltz @Cinfhen I'm loving these co-hosted challenges! 6y
See All 9 Comments
Cinfhen So you NEED to join me @ephemeralwaltz 😍😘😘 6y
ephemeralwaltz @Cinfhen very true! Count me in whenever you have a free month 😍 6y
Cinfhen Right now it looks like July 2019 😜😲 but things change!!! I'll keep u in mind if I get any cancellations 😎🤘🏽 @ephemeralwaltz (edited) 6y
ephemeralwaltz @Cinfhen ooh well, I can wait 😍 6y
Robothugs @Cinfhen 😱 I can‘t believe it‘s so soon. Yes I am!! 6y
Cinfhen Great @Robothugs 🤗🤗🤗 6y
63 likes9 comments
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Kalalalatja
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I can‘t believe we are this close to September, and the end of Summer! And while I can‘t offer you all a year of living Danishly, I can offer you a month of Danish music! 🇩🇰🇩🇰🇩🇰

I have teamed up with the lovely @Cinfhen and are bringing some #SeptemberDanes for all of you creative littens! So join us in the September photo challenge, and make sure to tag both of us in your posts, and dance along to some Danish tunes! 💃

Cathythoughts Sounds great 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 6y
erzascarletbookgasm Looks interesting! 👍 🇩🇰 I‘ll try my best 😊 6y
See All 24 Comments
Cinfhen Woohoo 😎🤘🏽🎵 6y
merelybookish Fun! (Barbie Girl may be the only song I know? 😲) 6y
LeahBergen Yay! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 6y
julesG Cool list. I think I'll try to join in for this one. 6y
JennyM Yahoo...looks fun. 6y
Kalalalatja @Cathythoughts @erzascarletbookgasm @LeahBergen @julesG @JennyM I‘ll look forward to your posts 👍 @Cinfhen I‘m excited about being on the hosting-side of this 😄 @merelybookish I‘m not surprised! Danish music struggle a bit with getting out in the world, but you might know “7 Years” by Lukas Graham, too. It had a lot of international succes last year, I think 😊 6y
BarbaraBB Excited for this one! I love Mo, saw her life a few years ago 😍. And I miss Trentemoller, a favorite DJ of mine 🎧! So I know only one but I‘m in for some new stuff! 💃💃 6y
Kalalalatja @BarbaraBB I couldn‘t make this list without Mø ❤️ and I can‘t believe I forgot about Trentemøller! 6y
BarbaraBB He‘s not as hot as he used to be I think, he keeps experimenting, but I really love stuff like Miss You and Physical Fraction! And Mo is so good, such a cool girl. Looking forward to the songs you chose 💜😘 6y
emilyhaldi Oooohhhh so excited to live my best (Danish) life!!!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 6y
CarolynM Fantastic! And great timing for me - I'm going to be visiting Denmark for the first time in September😀 6y
merelybookish @Kalalalatja Right 7 Years! I know 2 Danish pop songs. 😎 6y
Kalalalatja @emilyhaldi 😎🇩🇰💃🎶 @CarolynM how exciting! Hope you‘ll like Denmark 👏👏 6y
ephemeralwaltz Oh this is so awesome! 6y
vivastory I'm going to try to do this one! 6y
Kalalalatja @vivastory Yay! With both this and #LesMisBuddyRead beginning tomorrow, we are in for a busy, but great September! @ephemeralwaltz 😘💕 6y
ferskner OH MY GOSH how did I miss this?!?!?!? I don't do photo challenges but I'm so excited to see all the pictures!!!! 6y
ferskner (Also ??? for "Fly on the Wings of Love" ???) 6y
Kalalalatja @ferskner you are more than welcome to look! And I couldn‘t do this without Fly on the Wings of Love 😆😆😆 6y
Linsy Oooh, I just found this and I‘m joining! Already loving your playlist! 🎶🎶🎶 6y
Kalalalatja @Linsy Yay! And I‘m glad you like it! I‘ll look forward to your posts 👏👏 6y
92 likes24 comments
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SW-T
Pickpick

The title was intriguing and the book was full of trivia and anecdotes about living in rural Denmark. Since her husband worked for Lego headquarters, there were little snippets of info about working there as well. The couple learned to adapt to the local lifestyle with humorous trial and error, and managed to have a baby, a dream they‘d been losing hope on.

#lego #movingishard #denmark

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rachaich
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Pickpick

Thoroughly recommend this book. It could be read in chunks or one go. It's a humorous yet informative account of her year, with lots of statistics and anecdotes. It also made me think about happiness and life :)

Caroline2 Oh I‘ve had this on my tbr shelf for a while now! Sounds like it‘s time to move it up the pile! 👍🏻 6y
rachaich @caroline2 it is a good read :) 6y
13 likes2 comments
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rachaich
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Love this!
Not too smarmy and great in its delivery of the Danish culture.
Plus it's a country I'd love to visit.

13 likes1 stack add
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drbethandherkindle
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Pickpick

Can you get hygge in June? Yes! I found this to be an entertaining memoir with a sprinkling of more serious nonfiction. As a spoiler for page 5, the author actually does move to Denmark, and somehow that surprised me 🤷🏼‍♀️ 😂
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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Lkbbooks
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Pickpick

Really enjoyed this one. The author is a writer from England who moves with her husband to Denmark. She tells the story of their year while looking for all the reasons why the Danes are the happiest people in the world. Along the way she learns some lessons that any of us can apply to our lives.

4 likes1 stack add
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Aurora0044
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1. Tagged book
2. Amsterdam
3. A cabin, in the woods, on a mountain, alone 💙
4. I prefer to drive but there are just some places you just can‘t reach that way
5. BOTH!

#Manicmonday

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Morgan7r
Panpan

Nope nope nope! Just a book about getting “free” stuff and not understanding the value of work or money. 🙅🏼‍♀️😡🙅🏼‍♀️😡🙅🏼‍♀️😡🙅🏼‍♀️😡

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Aurora0044
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Pickpick

Helen Russell is fresh, funny, and honest in her review of the happiest country on Earth. I loved the month to month review of her adventures in trying to figure out the Danish way of living and what makes the Danes just so darn happy all the time. I left the book feeling warm and fuzzy inside and really wanting to visit Denmark as soon as the bank account allows 😊❤️

AmyG Now I want to know what makes them so happy, too. 😀 (edited) 6y
Aurora0044 @AmyG she dives deep into all aspects so it‘s a really good book to learn from 😊 6y
19 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Aurora0044
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# 4....... TRUTH!! As a person from the US that is living in Spain I can tell you it‘s not easy 😂

Cinfhen Agreed!!!! 6y
Libby1 Hello, fellow ex-pats! I left the US for Northern Ireland in 2000. Definitely not for sissies. ☺️ 6y
Aurora0044 @Libby1 Do you like it up there? 6y
Libby1 Hello, @Aurora0044 - yes, I do. It‘s tricky being foreign sometimes but most of the time I think I might be too sensitive! Where do you live in Spain? I‘ll be staying near Tarragona for a week this summer. 6y
Aurora0044 @Libby1 we are over on the west coast in a town called Chipiona. It looks like you‘ll be over near Barcelona. If you like seafood, try a tapa called choco; it‘s my favorite and oh so good 😊 6y
23 likes1 stack add5 comments
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lucylovestoread
Mehso-so

Fun and an insight into my friend in Denmark's life. Time to hygge things up....

RaimeyGallant Big hygge trend on Litsy recently. :) And welcome! #LitsyWelcomeWagon Some of us put together Litsy tips to help new Littens navigate the site. It's the link in my bio on my page in case you need it.
6y
DebinHawaii Welcome to Litsy!! 🎉📚👍😀 Hope you are enjoying it here! 6y
6 likes4 comments
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BookInMyHands
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I‘m listening to this one and it‘s so fun. I‘ve always been a Hygge kind of person without knowing the word for it. I‘m a little obsessed with the lighting of my spaces and we have an inordinate number of lamps in our house, or at least my husband thinks so. I need my pools of light.

It‘s fun to hear about Denmark from an outsider.

Mitch Working for Lego appears in my top 10 dream jobs for another life! 6y
ElizabethAndino My brother lived there for several years because he worked for Lego. I‘m really sorry I didn‘t visit him there 6y
78 likes8 stack adds2 comments
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Lmstraubie
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Pickpick

An interesting insight into life in Denmark.

MandaChittles I loved this! 😊 6y
57 likes2 comments
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Bookartbookmarks
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Listening to this while making bookmarks. Don‘t know how I feel about it. Keep going? https://bookmarkloves.etsy.com/

Julsmarshall So pretty! 6y
82 likes1 comment
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Amandajoy
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Just hanging out at the airport, diving into a new book.

TrishTheBibliophile I have this on my Amazon wish list! 6y
Chelsibeau That view on the cover is enough to make me happy 6y
61 likes4 stack adds2 comments
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Zelma
Bailedbailed

This seemed right up my alley but I just didn‘t care for it enough to push through to the end. I love travel memoirs, but I just didn‘t warm up to Russell or care for her voice. The beginning was promising, but she juxtaposes facts about Denmark with really fluffy anecdotes that didn‘t seem cohesive or flow well. And her commitment to asking every Danish person she met how happy they are on a scale of 1 to 10 was really annoying and repetitive.

RealBooks4ever Ugh! 😐 6y
Leelee.reads I pushed through with this one, but felt similarly. I noticed that I never thought stats on happiness would make me so unhappy. I was like “enough already!!” 6y
Zelma @Leelee.reads I‘m glad it wasn‘t just me. I feel like I‘m in the minority for not liking the but it came of as a bit whiny/pessimistic and definitely lacked the joy or fun I look forward to in travel memoirs. 6y
43 likes3 comments
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Deborah42
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Pickpick

Overall, I enjoyed this light and breezy travel memoir. The author, a stressed-out magazine editor from the U.K., writes about her year of living in Jutland, Denmark after her husband takes a job with the LEGO headquarters.

Russell is oddly naive about certain things.

Even if you can‘t (or would rather not) pack up and move to Denmark, you might pick up a few tips to living a happier life wherever you are.

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WanderingBookaneer
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Lacythebookworm That‘s a good one! 6y
68 likes1 comment