Swedish Living

Here are two books about Swedish culture that I think are great:

1. There's No Such Thing as Bad Weather by Linda McGurk. This Swedish born and raised women immigrated to the US, then took her kids back to Sweden as a parent. The premise is that kids should play outside. A lot. In clothes that keep them warm. But it's the journey that's charming, and McGurk's insider/outsider perspective on Swedish culture and Swedish parenting culture. 

2. The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family by Margareta Magnusson. Margareta is Swedish, and she has lived a lovely long and interesting life. Her book, part cleaning-out-your-house-before-you-die, and part memoir is just plain charming. Her premise is that as we all near the end of our lives, cleaning out our houses and stuff is a gift to our families.  Her message is lovely. 

I was grieving a miscarriage when I read this book, and grieving all the "stuff" that remained from the baby that wasn't coming: the bins of clothes, waiting, the high chair that I'd saved, the maternity clothes I wouldn't wear, the crib, you know . . . the stuff. And there was something healing for me about reading this memoir of a woman who was making her peace with the end of her life. It was a loss she was accepting, blessings she had experienced and was grateful for, and a passage she was preparing herself to make. And part of all that was getting rid of the stuff. I got the message, and I highly recommend this charming, gentle, love-your-life book.