Book Cover - Book Review: The Little Book of Lykke: The Danish Search for the World's Happiest People

This book was a happy surprise to me

Compared to author’s previous book, The Little Book of Hygge, this one is more profound, more personal, more diversified. The topic is happiness, be it called Hygge in Danish, Lagom in Swedish, or any other variant. (Lykke is the Danish word for happiness).

The author goes beyond the specificities of each country and tries to capture the true essence of happiness, the kind of things that can happen anywhere in the world, without having to move to Denmark. We truly see the results of the author’s work at the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen, that has allowed him to talk to people all around the globe. We hear stories of a Mexican street food vendor, an Indian cab driver, and stories inspired by the author’s own life. We are delightful by pretty pictures, and surprised by diagrams illuminating the differences between countries.

As a developer in a world full of opportunities, favorable to career development, we can become ambitious and lose sight of the fact that no achievement will bring us happiness for a long time. This book helps reconsider money, relationships, health, freedom, trust, kindness in the light of happiness. Everyone will find valuable insights in this book.

The Little Book of Hygge by the same author was pleasant to read. The Little Book of Lykke was insightful. I have no doubt the next one will be even better.

About the author

Julien Sobczak works as a software developer for Scaleway, a French cloud provider. He is a passionate reader who likes to see the world differently to measure the extent of his ignorance. His main areas of interest are productivity (doing less and better), human potential, and everything that contributes in being a better person (including a better dad and a better developer).

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