16 audiobooks that offer life (and language) lessons

It all started with hygge, a Danish term for a feeling of warmth and coziness that launched a score of books and audiobooks. A bulwark against dark Scandinavian winters, it isn’t hard to see why this appreciation for snuggling by candlelight, safe and warm and sipping cocoa while the storm rages outside is a natural fit for Northwesterners. If you’ve yet to burrow into hygge, in his “The Little Book of Hygge,” Danish author Meik Wiking tells you all you need to know in a wry, gently accented voice. The CEO of the Happiness Research Institute, Wiking went on to write and narrate “The Little Book of Lykke,” a more research-centric look at lykke — or happiness — which offers a wealth of practical tips for living a more upbeat life, and “The Art of Making Memories,” which contemplates more nostalgic pleasures, suggesting ways that we can live more fully today in order to better cherish our future recollections. Wiking’s narrations are as reassuring and charming as the subjects he explores, making him the perfect ambassador for the much-touted Danish knack for well-being. 

Of course we have our own word for hygge, as Isabel Gillies describes in her reflective “Cozy,” in which the author delves beneath the superficial trappings of coziness to grasp its essence, a personal sense of groundedness and belonging which will be different for each of us, and which she suggests we can carry with us wherever we go. Gillies’ appealing narration is relatable and authentic, with barely a word of Danish. Nevertheless, borrowing self-help concepts from other languages continues to be all the rage.

Do you get antsy with downtime? The Dutch offer lessons in being more chill with Maartje Willems’ “The Lost Art of Doing Nothing” and Olga Mecking’s “Niksen,” which establish the Netherlands as the global capitol of zoning out, as well as Mirjam van der Vegt’s soothing “Stilte,” which promulgates a more intent, spiritual embrace of solitude, stillness and silence derived from Christian monastic practice, the end result of which may be to doff our earbuds altogether and just get comfortable with peace and quiet. 

In addition to döstädning, or “The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning,” an existentially-savvy approach to tidying up by Margareta Magnusson that gets a warm and empathetic narration by the great Juliet Stevenson, Sweden brings Niki Brantmark’s paean to Nordic moderation “Lagom” to our self-help smorgasbord. British narrator Ana Clements captures the author’s almost worshipful estimation of all things Swedish, from a Seattle-friendly love of coffee breaks — or fika — to the frigid joys of ice swimming. This last hardly seems like moderation to me, calling for a healthy dose of Katja Pantzar’s “Everyday Sisu,” a Finnish style of fortitude engagingly narrated by Jade Wheeler, the sequel to Pantzar’s “The Finnish Way,” narrated by Karen Cass, in which she describes her move from Vancouver, B.C., to Finland where she marveled at the hardy, enduring spirit of the people. Little doubt remains that we can all do with a healthy dose of what Norwegians call friluftsliv, or “The Open-Air Life,” as described in Linda Åkeson McGurk’s book of the same name, with an earnest, pleasing narration by Laura Jennings. A midday walk with any of these audiobooks is a great antidote to our dark, damp winter, combining a fresh outlook on life with much needed vitamin D.

Need a good reason to get out of bed in the morning? Awaken to “Awakening Your Ikigai,” the first English-language release by prolific Japanese author Ken Mogi, and the most substantive and culturally attentive among a crowded field of audiobooks devoted to this concept, which roughly translates as raison d’être, or a reason for living. Narrator Matt Addis conducts Mogi’s tour through a variety of Japanese cultural and spiritual traits and traditions with an enthusiasm and keen interest as befits an inquiry into the life force. Candace Kumai’s “Kintsugi Wellness” offers a more personal account of how the author has benefitted from a variety of Japanese concepts and wellness practices, narrated with earnest ease by Caitlin Kelly. The art of restoring broken pottery with gilt lacquer, kintsugi serves as both an epitome and a guiding metaphor for an approach to life that embraces and even celebrates our flaws as part of what makes us fully human. In “Wabi Sabi,” Beth Kempton gives a captivating and eloquent master course in a wide array of Japanese spiritual and aesthetic concepts, with a spirited narration by the author herself. Kempton’s information-packed survey successfully combines principles for interior decoration with ideas for a more integrated and calm interior life.

Of course other people can’t be avoided, try as we might, and for brushing up our pandemically rusty social skills, you’ll want to cross the Korea Strait and pick up Euny Hong’s “The Power of Nunchi,” in which narrator Jackie Chung assumes the role of that rare friend who will gently and amiably reveal to you those subtle social graces that you lack. If you’ve ever had the mortifying experience of being told to “read the room,” nunchi is precisely what you need, and Chung succeeds in converting our social anxiety into a fun perceptual guessing game.

As for the next addition to our self-help vocabulary, I hope to hear audiobooks on the warm reassurance of Spanish querencia, the soulful creative dedication of Greek meraki, and maybe a nice bracing dose of good old fashioned chutzpah!