Books & Music

An engaging and practical guided tour of the simple and nature-inspired ways that Finns stay happy and healthy--including the powerful concept of sisu, or everyday courage.

Forget hygge- it's time to blow out the candles and get out into the world! Journalist Katja Pantzar did just that, taking the leap to move to the remote Nordic country of Finland. What she discovered there transformed her body, mind, and spirit. In this engaging and practical guide, she shows readers how to embrace the "keep it simple and sensible" daily practices that make Finns one of the happiest populations in the world, year after year. Read about the power of Sisu in this exciting new Finnish book.

• Author: Katja Pantzar
• Paperback: 251 pages
• Language: English
• ISPN: 978-0-14-313299-8
• Dimensions:  5.5 in X .5 in X 8.25 in

A beautifully illustrated Finnish cookbook with 25 authentic Finnish dishes. The author Anja Hill grew up on her parents' farm near Lahti in southern Finland. She is married to chef Shaun Hill and now lives in England. For 10 years Anja shared the cooking with her husband at their Michelin starred restaurant in Ludlow, The Merchant House.

• Hardcover: 64 pages
• Author: Anja Hill
• Publisher: Lorenz Books 
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0754830403
• ISBN-13: 978-0754830405
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 0.7 x 6.5 inches

Secrets of good sauna building from a master sauna builder - Bert (Pertti) Olavi Jalasjaa! This How to build a sauna book covers everything you need to know about saunas building. If you plan plan on building a sauna then you must read this book. The sauna building book covers a brief history of Sauna, the different styles of Saunas and heaters, types of Saunas available, planning of the Sauna room, how the Sauna is actually built, and how to finish off your sauna so it is ready to fire up for the first time. The book has plans for different sized sauna rooms with different features - it really is the all encompassing how to build a sauna book. 

• Page Count: 88
• Type: Paperback
• Author: Bert (Pertti) Olavi Jalasjaa

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Clarkson Potter; Revised edition (December 13, 1964)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517501112
• ISBN-13: 978-0517501115
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 0.9 x 8.5 inches
• Author: Beatrice A. Ojakangas

Discover the Finnish quality of sisu and how cultivating it can help you lead a life of greater purpose and happiness.

This ancient Finnish word describes an attitude of courage, resilience, grit, tenacity and perseverance. This key psychological competence enables extraordinary action in times of adversity. To have sisu confers a further dimension of doing so with honesty, integrity and humility.

By cultivating sisu you can:

Sisu is a universal trait. It may have been bottled and labelled by the Finns, but it is within reach of everyone. It lies within you, and you are very likely to have used it already.

• Author: Joanna Nylund
• Paperback: 158 pages
• Language: English
• ISBN: 978-0-7624-6506-4
• Dimensions:  5.5 in X .5 in X 8.25 in

From awkward interactions on public transportation to avoiding small talk with salespeople, introverts from all over the world will find something to love in this comic sensation from Finland.

Mild-mannered protagonist Matti is a typical Finn who appreciates peace, quiet, and personal space--but things do not always go according to his wishes. Finnish Nightmares is an illustrated collection of his and many people's worst fears when it comes to social interactions. Divided into sections on dealing with neighbors, going shopping, sharing public spaces, tense dining situations, and more, there is a comic for every squeamish scenario, from having to sing your own praises in a job interview, to being unable to leave your apartment because a neighbor is in the hallway. A fascinating look at Nordic culture, globe trotters and armchair travelers alike will enjoy this insider's glimpse into the local life and habits of Finland. With a charming and quirky universality, there is an awkward and laughable situation that everyone can relate to in Finnish Nightmares.

• Author: Karoliina Korhonen 
• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Language: English
• ISBN-13: 978-1984857040
• Dimensions: 7.3 x 0.6 x 5.3 inches

Read all about Finnish people living in Michigan's Upper Peninsula - the most densely populated Finnish-American area. Michigan's Upper Peninsula was a major destination for Finns during the peak years of migration in the nineteenth century and the early decades of the twentieth century. Several Upper Peninsula communities had large Finnish populations and Finnish churches, lodges, cooperative stores, and temperance societies. Ishpeming and Hancock, especially, were important nationally as Finnish cultural centers. Originally published in Finnish in 1967 by Armas K. E. Holmio, History of the Finns in Michigan, translated into English by Ellen M. Ryynanen, brings the story of the contribution of Finnish immigrants into the mainstream of Michigan history. Holmio combines firsthand experience and personal contact with the first generation of Finnish immigrants with research in Finnish-language sources to create an important and compelling story of an immigrant group and its role in the development of Michigan.

• Author: Armas K.E. Holmio
• Translator: Ellen M. Ryynanen
• Page Count: 512
• Type: Paperback

Danes have hygge.  Swedes have lagom.  But the Finns have the best - "kalsariokanni" or pantsdrunk – drinking at home, alone, in your underwear.

When it comes to happiness rankings, Finland always scores near the top.  Many Finnish phenomena set the bar high: the best education system, gender equality, a flourishing welfare state, sisu or bull-headed pluck.  Behind all of these accomplishments lies a Finnish ability to stay calm, healthy and content in a riptide of endless tasks and temptations.  The ability comes from the practice of "kalsarikanni" translated as pantsdrunk.

At its essence, pantsdrunk is an attitude toward life that liberates its practitioners from the day-to-day pressures and an overly compulsive reliance on social pretense. Getting a nice, warm buzz on your couch is the Finnish way to authentic personal recuperation-no sauna required!

So sit back, have a beer or a glass of wine handy, and flip through the pages of this guide to help you attain a state of transcendent relation the Finnish way.

• Author: Miska Rantanen
• Hardcover: 175 pages
• Language: English
• ISPN: 978-0-06-285589-3
• Dimensions:  5 in X .5 in X 7.5 in

Winner: First Place for Historical Fiction, Purple Dragonfly Awards for excelence in children's literature. Award given Nov. 6, 2010, by Five Star Publications in conjunction with the Arizona Authors Association. To twelve-year-old Emma, life may be hard, but it is basically good. She has finished sixth grade and is nearly a young lady. But in the summer of 1913, her life, and the lives of everyone in the region, will be changed forever by a violent strike against the mining companies in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. A friend whose father is not on strike will be forbidden to talk to her. Another will die in the terrible Italian Hall Tragedy on Christmas Eve. Only the trait the Finnish people call Sisu will help her and others in the region live through it.

• Author: Deborah K. Frontiera
• Page Count: 237
• Type: Paperback

Moomintroll takes the youngest reader through a day in his life, building simple vocabulary along the way. From dancing to book-browsing, the scenes depicted will echo favorite moment's in a child's own day, ending on a bedtime note.

• Age Range: 1 - 3 years
• Grade Level: Preschool and up
• Series: Moomins
• Hardcover: 16 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR); Brdbk edition (April 12, 2011)
• Language: English
• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 0.3 inches

100 Things to do in the Upper Peninsula Before you Die, is the great Yoopers bucket list. Learn about the rustic sights and scenic beauty. The UP is pure solitude according to author Kath Usitalo, who grew up in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and vacationed in the Upper Peninsula often. 

• Author: Kath Usitalo
• Paperback: 146 pages
• Publisher: Reedy Press 
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 978-1-68106-088-0

Beatrice Ojakangas, the oldest of ten children, came by it naturally—the cooking but also the pluck and perseverance that she's served up with her renowned Scandinavian dishes over the years. In the wake of the Moose Lake fires and famine of 1918, Ojakangas tells us in this delightful memoir-cum-cookbook, her grandfather sent for a Finnish mail-order bride—and got one who’d trained as a chef.

Ojakangas’s stories, are, unsurprisingly, steeped in food lore: tales of cardamom and rye, baking salt cake at the age of five on a wood-burning stove, growing up on venison, making egg rolls for Chun King, and sending off a Pillsbury Bake Off–winning recipe without ever making it. And from here, how those early roots flourished through hard work and dedication to a successful (but never easy) career in food writing and a much wider world, from working for pizza roll king Jeno Paulucci to researching food traditions in Finland and appearing with Julia Child and Martha Stewart—all without ever leaving behind the lessons learned on the farm. As she says, “first you have to start with good ingredients and a good idea.”

Chock-full of recipes, anecdotes, and a kind humor that bring to vivid life the Finnish culture of northern Minnesota as well as the wider culinary world, Homemade delivers the savory and the sweet in equal measures and casts a warm light on a rich slice of the country’s cooking heritage.

• Hardcover: 184 pages
• Publisher: Univ Of Minnesota Press
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0816695792
• ISBN-13: 978-0816695799

Pre-readers can sharpen hand-eye coordination as they join Moomintroll's search for that rascal Little My, who has found a very clever hiding place. Along the way, they will meet Moomintroll's family and many friends. The funny names--from Snufkin to Fillyjonk--beg to be sounded out and repeated again and again.

• Age Range: 1 - 3 years
• Grade Level: Preschool and up
• Series: Moomins
• Hardcover: 24 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
• Language: English
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 0.4 x 8.6 inches

This high-definition Finnish documentary film features authentic re-enactments of the Soviet Union's invasion of Finland and Finland's spirited 105-day defense in a "frozen hell". This Finnish DVD begins with the aerial bombardment of Helsinki, fires rage in the city and dazed citizens run for their lives. Poorly equipped Finnish troops face a massive Red Army attack almost three times larger than the Allied landing at Normandy on D-Day. The Russians are confident of a quick victory. A Finnish poet, an American volunteer ambulance driver, and contemporary journalists and soldiers on both sides of the conflict give accounts, many from war diaries translated into English for the first time. Historians provide unique insight and perspective. Rare archive footage, enhanced by meticulous attention to historical detail in re-creating scenes, reveals the improvised Finnish defense with Molotov cocktails and crowbars and a unique female corps called Lotta Svaard. Outnumbered and outgunned, Finns knew the war was not about territory; it was a total war for their very existence as a people, and as temperatures descend to 50 below zero, their mastery of winter becomes a strategic advantage.

• Producer/Director/Writer: Ben Strout
• Released: 2005
• Length: 79 Minutes
• Produced in full color HD 16:9 Widescreen Format
• In English with English subtitles for Finnish speakers

Be inspired to visit Finland with hundreds of evocative colour photographs capturing Finland in all its astonishing diversity with the Finland Travel Guide Book by Insight Guides. Become informed about what Finland has to offer from local writers sharing their love and knowledge of Finland in lively features on its people, history and culture. The Best of Finland section highlights the country's top attractions and includes the Editor's Choice of recommendations. Travel tips give practical information on how to get there, how much to budget for your trip and extensive listings on where to stay and eat. The Finnish Travel Guide Book lets you select a broad itinerary with The Places chapters that cover the entire country, from the capital Helsinki to Lapland in the far north. Full-colour maps are cross-referenced with the text to help you get around and make the best use of your time. Whether you are finding your inspiration, planning your trip or already have your trip to Finland booked, the Finland Travel Book from Insight Guides will help you have the most memorable trip.

• Pages: 309
• Type: Hard-Soft Style cover with book jacket
• Publisher: Insight Guides

19 amazing tracks of traditional Finnish music performed by Wil Kilpela & Friends. If you have ever heard this music, or wondering what it is, this is a great compilation of instrumental and Finnish language music right from the great northern town of Marquette, MI. A truly unique item.

• Artist: Wil Kilpela and Friends
• Volume 1

Little ones can rely on the Moomins to make numbers fun. Moomintroll, Moominmamma, and the Snork Maiden help create a game out of learning to go from one to ten, and beyond, with everyday objects such as seashells and stars.

• Age Range: 1 - 3 years
• Grade Level: Preschool and up
• Series: Moomins
• Hardcover: 16 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR); Brdbk edition (April 12, 2011)
• Language: English
• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 0.3 inches

Michigan Tahquamenon Falls puzzle. Known for the breath taking waterfall. Enjoy this 1,000 piece Michigan puzzle at a family gathering. Photograph displays late September in the fall. 

• Pieces: 1,000
• Photographer: Phil Stagg
• Measurement: 27" x 20"
• Made in USA
• Interlocking

It is spring in the valley and the Moomins are ready for adventure! Moomintroll and his friends Snufkin and Sniff find the Hobgoblin's top hat, all shiny and new and just waiting to be taken home. They soon realize that his is no ordinary hat; it can turn anything―or anyone―into something else!

• Age Range: 9 - 12 years
• Grade Level: 4 - 7
• Series: Moomins (Book 3)
• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Square Fish
• Language: English
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.5 x 8.2 inches

Michigan Lake of the Clouds puzzle. Located in the Porcupine Mountains of Northern Michigan. Photograph displays beautiful autumn colors. Enjoy this 1,000 piece Michigan puzzle at a family gathering. 

• Pieces: 1,000
• Photographer: Phil Stagg
• Measurement: 27" x 20"
• Made in USA
• Interlocking

Moomin wakes up one morning to find the pond frozen over, and rather than hibernate, the family decides to brave the winter weather. At first, their wintry adventure seems to be going swimmingly, until Mr. Brisk of the Great Outdoors Club takes over and forces everyone to embrace the winter sports, whether they want to or not.

Another classic Moomin story reworked in full color, with a kid-proof but kid-friendly size, price, and format. The story is laid out in a format like a comic book, where there are multiple smaller pictures with scenes on them each page. 

• Age Range: 9 - 12 years
• Grade Level: 4 - 7
• Series: Moomin
• Paperback: 48 pages
• Publisher: Enfant; Revised ed. edition (October 2, 2012)
• Language: English
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 0.3 x 6.1 inches

Michigan Bond Falls puzzle. Photograph taken at the West end of the Upper Peninsula. Enjoy this 1,000 piece Michigan puzzle at a family gathering. 

• Pieces: 1,000
• Photographer: Phil Stagg
• Measurement: 27" x 20"
• Made in USA

Get ready to discover the beautiful waterfalls of Michigan, over 200 waterfalls featured, large and small. This is the great guide of Michigan waterfalls. 

• Paperback: 334 pages
• Author: Phil Stagg
• Photographer: Phil Stagg
• Publisher: MI Falls Publishing 
• Language: English
• ISBN: 9780997134643

Confront life's challenges courageously and gracefully with this beautifully illustrated, guide to sisu, the Finnish concept of resilience.
 
Often translated as resilience or perseverance, the Finnish concept of sisu is about never giving up, no matter how impossible a task may seem. At its heart lies the idea of getting back up from any failure, whether it be losing a job or the end of a relationship, and having the courage to use that experience to grow. So, if you’re running a marathon and feel like you’ve hit a wall or have a great business idea but feel too frightened to try it, channeling sisu can help you overcome both mental and physical blocks. This friendly introductory guide, filled with inspirational quotes, explains how to embrace sisu and incorporate its principles into your daily life. Learn how to welcome change with open arms and turn difficult situations into opportunities for self-reflection.

• Author: Justyn Barnes
• Paperback: 160 pages
• Language: English
• Dimensions:  6.75 in X 6 in X .75 in

Prohibition in the Upper Peninsula, written by Russel M. Magnaghi. Booze & bootleggers on the border. Explore the wild history of Yooper prohibition. 

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: The History Press (July 10, 2017)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 146711944X
• ISBN-13: 978-1467119443
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.3 x 9 inches

Michigan Mackinac Bridge puzzle. Connecting the upper peninsula of Michigan to the lower peninsula. Enjoy this 1,000 piece Michigan puzzle at a family gathering. 

• Pieces: 1,000
• Photographer: Phil Stagg
• Measurement: 27" x 20"
• Made in USA
• Interlocking

Michigan Northern Lights puzzle. Photograph taken at Brockway Mountain in the Keweenaw. Enjoy this 1,000 piece Michigan puzzle at a family gathering. 

• Pieces: 1,000
• Photographer: Phil Stagg
• Measurement: 27" x 20"
• Made in USA
• Interlocking

Get ready to discover all the rich history of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. From the prehistoric origins to the present. Written by Russel M. Magnaghi. 

• Paperback: 210 pages
• Publisher: Lulu Press Inc
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1387020978
• ISBN-13: 9781387020973

Get ready to discover the beautiful waterfalls of Michigan, specifically central Michigan. This includes Dickinson, Marquette, and Menominee counties. This is the great guide of Michigan waterfalls. 

• Paperback: 180 pages
• Author: Phil Stagg
• Photographer: Phil Stagg
• Publisher: MI Falls Publishing 
• Language: English
• ISBN: 9780997134629