Imagibrary

Lagom: Not Too Little, Not Too Much: The Swedish Art of Living a Balanced, Happy Life

by Niki Brantmark

In a fast-paced world, wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could slow down and enjoy a life with less pressure, less stress, and more time for the things you love? 

Sweden is ranked in the top three of the world’s happiest places to live, and lagom, which means “not too much and not too little—just right,” is the Swedish philosophy for enjoying balance in every aspect of life—from work and leisure to family and food, and everything in between. Experienced bakers know by touch when the dough they are kneading is lagom—not too moist and not too dry. At the office, professionals who work hard—but not to the detriment of other parts of their lives—are following the lagom ideal. Lagom is moderation, balance, and equality.

The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living

by Meik Wiking

Embrace Hygge (pronounced hoo-ga) and become happier with this definitive guide to the Danish philosophy of comfort, togetherness, and well-being.

Why are Danes the happiest people in the world? The answer, says Meik Wiking, CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen, is Hygge. Loosely translated, Hygge—pronounced Hoo-ga—is a sense of comfort, togetherness, and well-being. "Hygge is about an atmosphere and an experience," Wiking explains. "It is about being with the people we love. A feeling of home. A feeling that we are safe."

Hygge is the sensation you get when you’re cuddled up on a sofa, in cozy socks under a soft throw, during a storm. It’s that feeling when you’re sharing comfort food and easy conversation with loved ones at a candlelit table. It is the warmth of morning light shining just right on a crisp blue-sky day.

The Little Book of Hygge introduces you to this cornerstone of Danish life, and offers advice and ideas on incorporating it into your own life, such as:

Get comfy. Take a break.

Be here now. Turn off the phones.

Turn down the lights. Bring out the candles.

Build relationships. Spend time with your tribe.

Give yourself a break from the demands of healthy living. Cake is most definitely Hygge.

Live life today, like there is no coffee tomorrow.

My Miniature Library: 30 Tiny Books to Make, Read and Treasure

by Daniela Jaglenka Terrazzini

My Miniature Library is a kit to make a complete collection of tiny books that you can really read!

With stories ranging from illustrated fairytales to well-loved nonsense rhymes and books of butterflies, birds and flowers, plus blank books for you to complete yourself, you'll have everything you need to make a little library of beautifully illustrated books.

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory

by Caitlin Doughty

“Morbid and illuminating” (Entertainment Weekly)―a young mortician goes behind the scenes of her curious profession. Most people want to avoid thinking about death, but Caitlin Doughty―a twenty-something with a degree in medieval history and a flair for the macabre―took a job at a crematory, turning morbid curiosity into her life’s work. Thrown into a profession of gallows humor and vivid characters (both living and very dead), Caitlin learned to navigate the secretive culture of those who care for the deceased.

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes tells an unusual coming-of-age story full of bizarre encounters and unforgettable scenes. Caring for dead bodies of every color, shape, and affliction, Caitlin soon becomes an intrepid explorer in the world of the dead. She describes how she swept ashes from the machines (and sometimes onto her clothes) and reveals the strange history of cremation and undertaking, marveling at bizarre and wonderful funeral practices from different cultures.

Her eye-opening, candid, and often hilarious story is like going on a journey with your bravest friend to the cemetery at midnight. She demystifies death, leading us behind the black curtain of her unique profession. And she answers questions you didn’t know you had: Can you catch a disease from a corpse? How many dead bodies can you fit in a Dodge van? What exactly does a flaming skull look like?

I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life

by Ed Yong

Joining the ranks of popular science classics like The Botany of Desire and The Selfish Gene, a groundbreaking, wondrously informative, and vastly entertaining examination of the most significant revolution in biology since Darwin—a “microbe’s-eye view” of the world that reveals a marvelous, radically reconceived picture of life on earth.

Every animal, whether human, squid, or wasp, is home to millions of bacteria and other microbes. Ed Yong, whose humor is as evident as his erudition, prompts us to look at ourselves and our animal companions in a new light—less as individuals and more as the interconnected, interdependent multitudes we assuredly are.

The microbes in our bodies are part of our immune systems and protect us from disease. In the deep oceans, mysterious creatures without mouths or guts depend on microbes for all their energy. Bacteria provide squid with invisibility cloaks, help beetles to bring down forests, and allow worms to cause diseases that afflict millions of people.

I Can't Sleep

by Knock Knock

I Need to Unplug

by Knock Knock

Unf*ck Your Habitat: You're Better Than Your Mess

by Rachel Hoffman

Finally, a housekeeping and organizational system developed for those of us who'd describe our current living situation as a “fcking mess” that we're desperate to fix. *Unfck Your Habitat* is for anyone who has been left behind by traditional aspirational systems. The ones that ignore single people with full-time jobs; people without kids but living with roommates; and people with mental illnesses or physical limitations. Most organizational books are aimed at traditional homemakers, DIYers, and people who seem to have unimaginable amounts of free time. They assume we all iron our sheets, have linen napkins to match our table runners, and can keep plants alive for longer than a week. Basically, they ignore most of us living here in the real world.

How to Be You: Stop Trying to Be Someone Else and Start Living Your Life

by Jeffrey Marsh

There Is No Right Way to Meditate: And Other Lessons

by Yumi Sakugawa

Take a Moment and Breathe!

In There Is No Right Way to Meditate, award-winning artist Yumi Sakugawa helps you tap into your inner self and finally find the peace that you've been seeking. Each page offers a unique perspective on how to lead a more mindful life, with captivating ink illustrations and encouraging words like, "it's okay if the only thing you did today was breathe." From simple ways to get rid of a bad mood to instructions for making your intentions come true, her lessons will inspire you to become more aware of the present moment and find stillness no matter where you go.

Your Illustrated Guide To Becoming One With The Universe

by Yumi Sakugawa

Named one of the Best Books of 2014 by NPR

As seen on The Today Show

A hand-drawn path to inner peace!

Your Illustrated Guide to Becoming One with the Universe will set you free on a visual journey of self-discovery. Set against a surreal backdrop of intricate ink illustrations, you will find nine metaphysical lessons with dreamlike instructions that require you to open your heart to unexplored inner landscapes. From setting fire to your anxieties to sharing a cup of tea with your inner demons, you will learn how to let go and truly connect with the world around you.

That Should Be a Word: A Language Lover's Guide to Choregasms, Povertunity, Brattling, and 250 Other Much-Needed Terms for the Modern World

by Lizzie Skurnick

Finally there’s a word for it: Fidgital—excessively checking one’s devices. Martyrmony—staying married out of duty. Author of the highly popular “That Should Be a Word” feature in the New York Times Magazine, Lizzie Skurnick delights word lovers with razor-sharp social commentary delivered via clever neologisms. That Should Be a Word is a compendium of 244 of Skurnick’s wittiest wordplays—more than half of them new—arranged in ingenious diagrams detailing their interrelationships.

Complete with definitions, pronunciations, usage examples, and illustrations, That Should Be a Word features words on our obsession with food: carbiter—one who asserts that someone else cannot be hungry. On social media, like twiticule—to mock someone in 140 characters. On the modern family, like brattle—to discuss one’s children at great length, which leads to words like spamily—Facebook or Twitter updates about kids—and spawntourage—a group of approaching strollers.

Super Graphic: A Visual Guide to the Comic Book Universe

by Tim Leong

Spark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up

by Marie Kondo

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing

by Marie Kondo

Despite constant efforts to declutter your home, do papers still accumulate like snowdrifts and clothes pile up like a tangled mess of noodles?

Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes tidying to a whole new level, promising that if you properly simplify and organize your home once, you’ll never have to do it again. Most methods advocate a room-by-room or little-by-little approach, which doom you to pick away at your piles of stuff forever. The KonMari Method, with its revolutionary category-by-category system, leads to lasting results. In fact, none of Kondo’s clients have lapsed (and she still has a three-month waiting list). 

Feathers: Displays of Brilliant Plumage

by Robert Clark