YKSIN, KIITOS
Hertta Kustannus, August 2023, 264 pp.

Reading material:
Finnish edition
English sample in September 2023

Alone, Yes Please!

Marika Riikonen

Let Finland, the nation of notorious introverts, help you to reclaim being alone!

✓  An entertaining examination of the stigma of loneliness !

✓  A good life lived alone is a phenomenon that is taboo – and yet perfectly ordinary

A hermit, a lonely one, a spinster. Living alone, or even a short period of longing for some alone time seems to be an issue necessary for an immediate fix: the society punishes, relatives jab, politicians admonish, those in a happy relationship push their horrifying friends onto you, and the media just strengthens the stereotypes. What if someone wants to be alone, enjoys their own company?

The need for being alone – for “me-time” – is very common. Still, literature on it is scarce – even if being alone is connected to all aspects of life, the big and the small.

ALONE, YES PLEASE! examines this taboo-like phenomena thoroughly. It combines sharp societal discussions and humoristic observances by delving into existing literature and hearing from people that feel the need for solitude.

Based on the author’s own experiences, ALONE, YES PLEASE! shakes our strongly rooted idea that life revolving around family or a relationship, never mind the constant need for company, is the only right option.

Marika Riikonen is an author and journalist from Tampere. She lives with a cat, but enjoys the company of humans as well – as long as she’s had her morning coffee alone first.

RITUAALIKIRJA – ETSIJÄN OPAS 
SKS Kirjat, August 2023, 348 pp.

Reading material:
Finnish edition
English sample

Timeless Nordic Rituals
Bringing Purpose and Joy to Modern Life

Reetta Ranta

Rediscover your lost connection to nature by applying Nordic rituals in your own everyday life.

✓  Ancient and modern Nordic rituals as medicine for our hectic, disconnected, and urban lives

✓  A guide connecting with yourself, nature, and ancient roots

✓  What can we learn from the ancestors of the “happiest people on Earth”?

Can people who live their lives in cities, often more connected to technology than the world around us, benefit from ancient rituals and discover a life in rhythm with nature? What can we learn from the ancestors of the “happiest people on Earth”, the Finns?

TIMELESS NORDIC RITUALS  is a book that invites us to take inspiration from long-forgotten and living traditions of the Finno-Ugric people, and to create rituals that strengthen our connection with nature, the cycle of life, and with our inner selves.

Rituals create a connection with the past, the present moment, and the future. Ancient cultures and indigenous peoples created songs, poems, rituals, and celebrations to bring presence and deeper meaning to life. In Finland we lived in harmony with the rhythm of nature, and offerings and chores were planned according to the seasons and cycles. With our urbanized and secular lifestyle, we have forgotten or abandoned many of the rituals and customs that have traditionally helped people transition from one season and life stage to the next.

Reetta Ranta’s work is rooted in research and study of Finno-Ugric mythologies, mostly unpublished in English. Her writing style is practical, playful, and the book serves as a joyful invitation for international audiences to learn, explore, and practise a little bit of ancient wisdom and ritual from the North.

STOP CHASING HAPPINESS. Counterintuitive Life Advice From the World’s Happiest Country

Reading material:
English book proposal
English sample chapter coming soon

Stop Chasing Happiness
Counterintuitive Life Advice From the World’s Happiest Country

Frank Martela

A guide to finding happiness by Finland’s leading happiness expert

✓  Frank Martela, PhD, is Finland’s #1 internationally bestselling non-fiction author – his previous title, A WONDERFUL LIFE, has been sold to 30 countries!

✓  Unique blend of personal stories and quirky anecdotes from Finland combined with deep understanding of the latest psychological research on well-being

✓  Finland has been ranked the happiest country 6 times in a row. Frank Martela is a leading happiness reseacher who has explained the secret to Finnish happiness for media ranging from Fox News and New York Times to Scientific American and New Scientist.

Want to be happier? Stop searching for happiness. Obsessing about happiness is, paradoxically, one of the key obstacles for a happier life. For six years in a row, Finland has been the world’s happiest country and the wisdom emerging from this land of darkness and heavy metal teaches you to stop caring about happiness, about what others think, and about what happens next. This liberates you to take life as it is.

In this book, Finland’s leading happiness expert offers straight-talking life advice on why finding happiness is not about learning new things – it is more about unlearning patterns of thinking holding you back. Combining ancient wisdom with latest research and mixing it all together with quirky stories and Frank’s encounters with peculiar Finnish characters met in the forest, in rock festivals, and during his hitchhiking and other travels around the country, the book guides you to build a way of living where you are content and serene, yet actively engaged and energized to pursue your self-chosen purposes in life.

CupOfTherapy – YKSI NÄISTÄ HETKISTÄ
Gummerus, 2021,  223pp

CupOfTherapy – TUNTI TUNNILTA TUNTIEN
Gummerus, 2020, 223pp

CupOfTherapy – TILKKANEN TERAPIAA
Otava, 2017, 226pp

Reading material:
English editions

CupOfTherapy series

Antti Ervasti and Matti Pikkujämsä

Internationally bestselling and easily approachable and comforting selfcare with a visual approach – created by an experienced Finnish psychotherapist and an award-winning illustrator

✓  Selfcare for the Instagram generation!
✓  Relatable and comforting illustrations of the human experience with all its struggles and wonders
✓  With expert advice from a psychotherapist on how to deal with common struggles and experiences
✓  Books sold 75,000 copies! Rights sold to 20+ countries! Bestseller in the MUJI stores in Japan!

The CupOfTherapy illustrations are the results of Antti’s and Matti’s cooperation combining psychotherapeutic expertise and the artist’s talent to capture human experience and put it on paper. They discuss daily events, topical phenomena and their own experiences together and Matti sketches animal figures simultaneously. The topics and the reflection of their discussions are interactively and lovingly refined into CupOfTherapy illustrations.

CupOfTherapy book #4: Earn, Lose & Learn 
”Even a small reflection on our financial habits helps tackle the feeling of being lost”

Money has an impact on our lives, whether we wish it or not. Our relationship to money is individual, it is linked with our past, present and future. This book looks like its creators and tackles a touching and important topic: the relationship with money and mental well-being. It makes visible a phenomenon that easily goes unnoticed, and inspires us all to think about how we could reduce the stigma and how to face challenging feelings often associated with money and finances. EARN, LOSE & LEARN is an aptly written and illustrated, warm compassion book from the creators of the internationally renowned brand CupOfTherapy.

CupOfTherapy book #3: Moments by Myself

MOMENTS BY MYSELF is an emphatically written and illustrated book from the creators of the internationally renowned brand CupOfTherapy, tackling a touching and important topic: loneliness and being alone. It makes visible a phenomenon that easily goes unnoticed but at the same time is something all of us experience at some point through our lives. This book is the perfect friend to have at hand when feeling lonely and also inspires us to reach out to the people around us and invites us to think about how we could reduce the stigma often associated with loneliness.

CupOfTherapy book #2: Self-Care Everyday

CupOfTherapy – SELF-CARE EVERYDAY addresses a current and important matter: work–life balance. The book is like a strong bear hug with a great message: It is normal to face obstacles and problems, and we are important the way we are, with all our fur and everything . The book offers fiercely sweet encouragement amid all the challenges in our everyday life and work.

CupOfTherapy book #1

Encouragement, comfort and humor as suitable bites for different moments of life. A small big book from the creators of the hugely popular Finnish phenomenon CupOfTherapy.

SAISINKO HUOMIOSI?
Kirja joka jokaisen somenkäyttäjän pitäisi lukea

Otava, December 2023, 200 pp.

Reading material:
English sample 

Do You Follow?
How to have a less toxic relationship with social media

Perttu Pölönen

The book that every social media user should read! The third book by popular speaker and sales success Perttu Pölönen!

✓  Perttu Pölönen has studied future technologies at Singularity University think tank, based at NASA Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, co-founded an edtech company in Myanmar and won EU’s biggest science competition for youth. In 2018, MIT Tech Review honored him among the 35 Innovators Under 35 in Europe.

✓  Rights to Perttu Pölönen’s books sold in 8 territories

There’s not a single person in the metro not staring at a screen. At dinner, a couple takes out their phones. Kids get a tantrum if the mobile is taken away from them.

Social media is addicting, steals our ability to concentrate, and steals our time. Often we feel worse after a social media scroll than before it. Nevertheless, we pick up the phone again and again. Why?

No one wants to be manipulated, but on social media we are constantly influenced without us noticing. Do we really understand what social media does to us? Could things be different?

TULEVAISUUDEN LUKUJÄRJESTYS
Otava, 2020, 192 pp.

Reading material:
English edition

Future Skills

Perttu Pölönen

What are the 12+1 essential skills that will help you defeat the fear of the future?

✓  An essential book for parents, educators, and anyone who wants to prepare themselves for an uncertain future!!

✓  Sold to 8 territories!

✓  Perttu Pölönen has studied future technologies at Singularity University think tank, based at NASA Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, co-founded an edtech company in Myanmar and won EU’s biggest science competition for youth. In 2018, MIT Tech Review honored him among the 35 Innovators Under 35 in Europe.

✓  With practical advice on how we all can develop the skills needed to “futureproof humanity” when faced with AI and technological revolution

The next revolution is a human revolution, says Perttu Pölönen, a futurist, inventor and inspirational speaker. We should develop courage, adaptability, compassion, storytelling, patience and curiosity, to name a few, in order to succeed in the era of machines, robots and artificial intelligence such as the ChatGPT. Pölönen explains how.

FUTURE SKILLS challenges assumptions about the future and provides insightful and thought-provoking observations – there’s a lot to digest. With the world developing so fast, we should not focus on what is changing but rather find what is not going to change. What makes us different from machines, makes us happy.

FUTURE SKILLS has become an instant bestseller in Finland where its readers have reported to have changed their career paths and found meaning in their current jobs. It is a book that gives hope. Pölönen is a bright young mind whose personal experiences and stories make the book lively and engaging, and you will find yourself laughing and sobbing. When nothing is certain, everything is possible.

THE POWER OF HOT AND COLD
From Sauna to Sea: The Finnish Way to a Happy, Healthy Life
Yellow Kite / Hodder & Stoughton, 2024, approx. 45,000 words

Reading material:
English Book proposal & Sample chapters
Full English manuscript in Fall 2023

The Power of Hot and Cold
From Sauna to Sea: The Finnish Way to a Happy, Healthy Life

Katja Pantzar and Carita Harju

Hot and cold contrast therapy is fast becoming the must-do wellness experience. This new book inspires readers with insights and expertise into the powerful Finnish method of alternating between a hot (sauna) and cold (sea, lake, or plunge pool) environment in order to boost health and happiness. It reveals how experiencing these contrasting extremes of temperature can change your outlook, your wellbeing and your life.

✓  The secret to how the world’s happiest nation keeps calm and carries on – no matter what life throws at them.!

✓  World English rights sold to YELLOW KITE/Hodder & Stoughton for publication in 2024!!

✓  Inspiration and practical tools for creating a wellness retreat at home using the Nordic contrast bathing philosophy, wherever you are in the world.

✓  The Finnish hot and cold method boosts happiness by increasing wellbeing and encouraging connection with nature.

✓  Unique collaboration by Carita Harju, Finnish sauna experience expert, and Katja Pantzar, author of THE FINNISH WAY, sold to 24 languages

Step into the world of hot and cold, where contrast therapy – pairing a good steam in a sauna with an icy dip in a lake or the sea – is an essential part of life in Finland. More than a trending pastime, the traditional Finnish practice of alternating hot and cold has a range of health benefits that boost mental and physical wellbeing, which greatly contribute to happiness. It’s also a large part of the reason Finland has been named the World’s Happiest Country for the six years in a row.

The sauna, the first Finnish element on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, was recently ranked as the No. 1 global wellness trend by the Global Wellness Summit. Cold-water swimming is also a growing trend and is being proposed as a cure for all manner of things – from improving mental health to boosting immunity. But why is being hot good for you, and why is submerging into icy water good for you? And what about alternating between the two? What exactly is hot and cold therapy and why is it so vital for physical and mental health?

This definitive guide by two experts takes readers on a journey into the transformative powers of hot and cold by pairing the sauna, that quintessential hot Finnish steam bath, with a cold-water dip. Along the way, it serves up the inspiration and practical tools for creating a wellness retreat at home using the Nordic contrast bathing philosophy, wherever you are in the world.

The Finnish hot and cold method boosts happiness by increasing wellbeing and encouraging connection with nature. It’s the secret to how the world’s happiest nation keeps calm and carries on – no matter what life throws at them. Now you too can learn their secrets.

EVERYDAY SISU
Tapping into Finnish Fortitude for a Happier, More Resilient Life
Penguin Random House/TarcherPerigee, March 2022, 250 pp.

Reading material:
English edition

Everyday Sisu
Tapping into Finnish Fortitude for a Happier, More Resilient Life

Katja Pantzar

Discover how the happiest people on earth survive—and thrive—through tough times!

✓  The brand new book by the bestselling author of The Finnish Way, sold in 24 territories!

✓  Published by Penguin Random House in the UK & US

✓  Rights sold in Japan, Indonesia, Thailand and World English

Sisu is a powerful mindset that makes Finland one of the happiest countries in the world, despite long winters, social isolation, and a history of challenging times.

Words that express happiness can help you improve your own. Katja Pantzar, author of The Finnish Way, says that a good sense of “sisu”, a Finnish concept that means not giving up in the face of challenges, can improve physical and mental well-being, which has the spillover effect of happiness. Practicing sisu “means using resilience-building skills such as looking for solutions when faced with setbacks and trying to break out of negative lifestyle habits and thought patterns,” Pantzar adds.

In Everyday Sisu, journalist Katja Pantzar explores the simple practices that make Finnish life so stable, sustainable, and healthy for body and mind, even when life doesn’t go as planned. You’ll discover ways to boost your mental and physical resilience to face life’s challenges head-on, including:

• connecting with nature
• strengthening community
• using what you have
• reframing what you can’t control
• adopting a solutions mindset
• finding strength in the struggle
• dealing with stress, anxiety, depression and burnout

Featuring insights from Finnish experts in mental health, wellness, sustainability, social justice, and more, this practical and empowering guide presents a roadmap for overcoming what you thought you couldn’t — and finding hope and tools to create a brighter way forward.

GENTLE POWER
A Revolution in How We Think, Lead and Succeed Using the Finnish Art of Sisu
Sounds True, January 2023, 192 pp.

Reading material:
English edition

Gentle Power
A Revolution in How We Think, Lead, and Succeed Using the Finnish Art of Sisu

Emilia Elisabet Lahti

The Finnish philosophy of sisu shows us a new way to look at power—not as force and domination but as the harmonious expression of human character in everyday actions.

✓  A pioneering work by the international keynote speaker and researcher of the Finnish power quality of sisu!!

✓  US publication on January 24, 2023 by Sounds True!

✓  Rights sold recently to Japan – and pre-publication to to China and Thailand!

✓ Learn how to use Gentle Power to overcome adversity and build a legacy of excellence through your everyday interactions

Finnish-born Emilia Elisabet Lahti explores sisu, world traditions, and modern research to provide a new way to approach leadership, resilience, and our power to create change.

Power is fundamental in our lives—we express it in every conversation, relationship, and choice we make. All too often, we equate force and domination with power, while gentleness and compassion are considered “soft” or “weak.” The destructive nature of this skewed perspective has never been more obvious, yet there is reason to hope. With GENTLE POWER, Dr. Emilia Elisabet Lahti shares an illuminating guide to an emerging shift in the way we define true strength—an approach that balances resolve with reason, grit with compassion, and personal success with service to the collective good.

To understand power is to realize that leadership is not just for some selected minority—we are all leaders whose choices impact those around us. “Each of us can play a vital role in the collective transformation that the world is calling for,” Lahti writes. “It all starts in our own heart, in our own gentle power.” Here you’ll discover a path of wisdom, resilience, and compassionate strength that will elevate your life—and uplift others to take part in a new revolution of human empowerment.

A WONDERFUL LIFE
Insights on Finding a Meaningful Existence
HarperCollins, March 2020, 200 pp.

Reading material:
English edition

A Wonderful Life
Insights on Finding a Meaningful Existence 

Frank Martela

Is happiness a worthy goal? What is the foundation for meaning in a secular society? Is life an existential void?

✓  The book to address our turbulent times, by the eminent Finnish happiness researcher Frank Martela, from the happiest country in the world!

✓  An international bestseller with the rights sold to 30 countries and counting!

Frank Martela answers these questions and more in a relaxed, conversational tone and with a wry sense of humor, placing some of life’s greatest philosophical concerns and quandaries into a modern-day context. Martela quickly and concisely gets to the heart of the matter – your place in the world and how to find meaning in life – yet the emphasis here is on what we do with the life we have and how we can make it more meaningful.

The search for life’s meaning is perhaps the most important quest we can undertake. And for any quest, it’s essential to have a guide. Philosophically probing yet eminently readable, A Wonderful Life is a book you can refer to again and again on your journey toward purpose.

THE MEANING MANIFESTO. Why Work Needs to Have a Purpose.

Reading material:
English proposal and sample chapters

The Meaning Manifesto
Why Work Needs to Have a Purpose

Frank Martela

Are you ready to experience meaningful work and make it possible? Start your journey with this book!  

✓  A revolutionary, mind-blowing book by Finland’s #1 internationally bestselling non-fiction author!

✓  Martela’s previous title, A WONDERFUL LIFE, has been sold to 30 countries!

✓  Making work meaningful is a moral issue, a well-being issue, and a performance issue!

Work occupies a more central role in our lives than just a way of making ends meet. At best, work fills our lives with meaningfulness, making our whole existence more worth living. At worst, it is a desperate toil that alienates us from who we are and what’s good in life. In modern knowledge work requiring expertise and self-management, innovativeness and productivity require commitment and high-quality motivation – key benefits that meaningfulness can offer.

How, then, can we make work more meaningful? In principle, the recipe for meaningful work is surprisingly simple: do personally interesting and engaging things, while making a positive contribution to other people. However, making that into reality is the tough part. Here, the book will offer you key tools, mindsets, and strategies to make both your own work and the work of those around you more meaningful.

The book relies on the author’s extensive research into meaningful work combined with examples of vanguard individuals and companies around the world that are making a new, more meaningful world of work a reality. Along the way we meet entrepreneurs, CEOs, investors, and politicians making their mark as forerunners of work with a purpose.

MINÄ, KOIRA JA IHMISKUNTA
Lajien välisen yhteiselon historia
Otava/Like, February 2022, 317 pp.

Reading material:
English sample and synopsis

Me, My Dog and Humanity
A History of Coexistence Between Species

Tiina Raevaara

Has humanity become so powerful through its own merits alone? Or do other species deserve a thanks as well?

✓  An entertaining and narrative deep dive into the shared history of humans and animals

✓  The Finnish answer to Yuval Noah Harari and Rutger Bregman! 

✓  Now a longer, nearly 100-page English sample is available!

In the Autumn of 2018, biologist and award-winning author Tiina Raevaara found herself exhausted and anguished, with her mind dark like a Finland November. She did, however, find comfort in the company of her dog, Igor. She started pondering the reasons for her exhaustion and, simultaneously, the evolution of the human species and its relation to other animals.

The current ascendancy of mankind is, according to Raevaara, not a result of humanity’s innate superiority, but, in fact, a result of its connections and relationships to other species. Ours is not a story of a purpose-driven humankind achieving its predominance in grand solitude, but of a humanity which has striven for connections with other animals.

In her book ME, MY DOG AND HUMANITY, Raevaara compellingly describes the coexistence between humans and animals, both personally and from the perspective of humankind, and seeks answers to a number of questions:

• Why does an exhausted person prefer to spend time with their dog than other people? 
• Why do animals arouse such strong empathy in us?
• What does the human-animal connection mean from the perspective of evolution and humanity?

The domesticated dog is a much older creation of humankind than agriculture, religion or even writing. Mapping out the mutual journey between humans and dogs, Raevaara sheds light on the most fundamental essences of humanity and its relationship with nature.

Reading material:
English PDF

Back to Nature Finland
Explore Nature, Myths, and Ancient Wisdom

Reetta Ranta and Antti Huttunen

Back to Nature Finland is a calming, relaxing experience that takes you on a journey throughout Finnish nature, with a touch of ancient wisdom, mythology and local history. Based on the internationally acclaimed TV show!

✓  A visually stunning slow travel guidebook that introduces Finland’s enchanting nature to an international audience!

✓  Reconnect with nature and learn about the mythology and tradition connected to the most breathtaking places in Finland

✓  English PDF available!

✓  The concept is based on a successful TV show that aired/will be aired in Finland (YLE TV1), Sweden (SVT), Czech Republic (Prima), Slovakia (RTVS), Italy (RAI), China (CBM), Japan (WOWOW), Thailand (Truevisions), and Finnair in-flight entertainment

The book presents 24 beautiful travel locations in Finnish nature. It reveals stories about Finnish mythology related to those locations, and provides delicious local food tips to enjoy when visiting. Learn the secrets of the Archipelago Sea, discover Lohja’s groves and caves, and meet the most beautiful tree in Finland. Travel with us from the Åland Islands, across the Nordic archipelago’s seashores and dunes, to the mysteries of lake Saimaa. Join us as we follow the origins of the Finnish national epic, Kalevala; climb to the top of Pyhä-Nattanen, the Mountain of the Gods; and explore some of the many sacred sites of Finnish Lapland.

The original Finnish book titled Metsien Kätkemä (‘Hidden in the Forests’) was based on the TV series by the same name. The series first format localization, Back to Nature Australia Season 1 (8 x 30-mins) is live now in ABC TV and has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from the Australian viewers. The format has also been optioned by producers in New Zealand, UK and South Africa. The completed series (Finnish or Australian versions) have been sold to or broadcasted in Sweden, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Italy, China, Japan, Thailand, India, and Finnair in-flight entertainment. Negotiations are ongoing with several other territories.

Reading material:
English edition

The Women I Think About at Night

Mia Kankimäki

What can a 40-something childless woman do with her life?  Hop on a plane and follow the footsteps of the historical female heroes of their time! 

✓ Picked for the 2023 CHANEL campaign “Summer readings by Charlotte Casiraghi”

✓  Over 55,000 copies sold in Finland and over 12,000 copies sold in Sweden!

✓  An international hit sold to 21 territories, published in the US by Simon & Schuster, and recently in Italy, France, Germany, and Sweden to raving reviews!

✓  A TV series based on the book in development by napafilms!

Have you heard about Artemisia Gentileschi, Lavinia Fontana or Nellie Bly? What about Karen Blixen? The Women I Think About at Night follows in the footsteps of 10 historical women, who did what was impossible for women to do in their own times: travel the world or create a career as an artist. And these women were quite successful – some of them actually became celebrities of their own time! So why have they been forgotten by the history books?

Finnish writer Mia Kankimäki sold her house, packed her suitcase and traveled the world to find out. Part biography, part travelogue, this book takes you from Karen Blixen’s farm in Kenya to Renaissance artists’ Florence and modern-day Japan.

Warning: May cause strong case of wanderlust!

A publishing sensation in Finland with over tens of thousands of copies sold, The Women I Think About at Night solidifies Kankimäki’s standing as one of Finland’s leading new authors. Her book was translated by Douglas Robinson and published by Simon & Schuster, one of the four largest English-language publishers in the world. Her book has received positive reviews in Publisher’s Weekly, Library Journal, Travel & Leisure, and Kirkus Review, along with Fortune magazine.

ASIOITA JOTKA SAAVAT SYDÄMEN LYÖMÄÄN NOPEAMMIN
Otava, November 2013, 380 pp.

Reading material:
English sample & synopsis
German and Italian editions

Things That Make One’s Heart Beat Faster

Mia Kankimäki

A nonfiction narrative about a Finnish writer’s trip to Japan to look for her soulmate – who lived more than 1000 years ago

✓  More than 47,000 copies sold in Finland!

✓  Rights sold recently in the Netherlands, published in Japan and Germany to excellent reviews!

Mia Kankimäki quits her job and embarks on an adventure. She travels to Kyoto to research Sei Shonagon, a Japanese writer and lady-in-waiting who wrote about her life in the court of Heian era Japan. Mia doesn’t speak a word of Japanese, and isn’t quite accustomed to scientific research, but her endeavor produces the most wonderful book about Japan, Sei Shonagon, and a middle-aged woman’s solo travels.

Despite her struggles and initial culture shock, Mia finds herself mesmerized by temples, cherry blossoms, kabuki theater, Zen meditation and tearooms. She reads ‘The Pillow Book‘ of Sei Shonagon and finds a soul sister – a modern woman who loves making lists of all things charming, annoying, elegant and things that make one’s heart beat faster.

RAKASTAN SINUSSA IHMISTÄ
Aino ja Alvar Aallon tarina
Otava, September 2021, 450 pp.
Approx. 50-80 photographs & drawings

Reading material:
English manuscript

The Story of Aino and Alvar Aalto

Heikki Aalto-Alanen

The love story of the world-famous, pioneering design couple Aino and Alvar Aalto, written by the Aaltos’ grandson

✓  2023 is Alvar Aalto’s 125th Anniversary!

✓  World’s most prestigious art publisher Phaidon Press will launch the book in October 2023 for the English-speaking world and for the French-speaking world!

✓  Rights sold to 7 territories, most recently to France and Italy!

✓  Based on Aino and Alvar Aalto’s previously unpublished correspondence, photography, and drawings from 1921 to 1949

✓  Full English manuscript available!

Alvar and Aino Aalto are internationally celebrated for their architecture, furniture, glassware, and other interior design, but their personal lives have been relatively unknown – until now. This book, written by the Aaltos’ grandson, stands apart from countless other works on the Aalto’s lives and careers. It contains photos, sketches, and personal letters between Aino and Alvar, beautifully illustrating how inseparable this couple was both in work and love, and bringing a deeply human element to their story.

“Countless books have been written about Alvar Aalto’s architecture and other works. Recently, Aino Marsio-Aalto has also received the recognition she deserves in her own right as well as in her role as the partner of Alvar Aalto in his rise as one of the leading architects of the 20th century,” says Heikki Aalto-Alanen. “The voice in this book is personal. I want to tell the story of Aino’s and Alvar’s unique partnership, relationship, and their joint life work from the perspective of a family member. I also want their own voices to be heard.”

In addition to the photographs from the family archive, the book is illustrated with Aino’s and Alvar’s drawings of each other and of their children, along with architectural drawings and photographs.

ELLA
Helene Schjerfbeck
Otava, September 2022, 270 pp.

Reading material:
English sample & synopsis

Ella – Helene Schjerfbeck

Mari Tossavainen

The story of the most well-known Finnish artist in the world, supplemented by previously unpublished correspondence

✓  A pioneering insight into the life and artistic work of one of Finland’s most beloved artists!

Helene Schjerfbeck (1862–1946) is one of the most well-known Finnish artists in the world. Her modernist and realist works have been on display in galleries all over Europe, North America and Asia, a biographical film based on her life was released in 2020, and her birthday, July 10th, is a national day for the painted arts in Finland.

This innovative and fascinating book, drawing on previously unpublished correspondence and archival materials, paints a far more multithreaded picture of the life and artistic work of Helene Schjerfbeck and brings into light the significance of previously forgotten people in her creative work. 

In her letters, Schjerfbeck divulged both her works and her thoughts not only to fellow artists, but also to her art dealer Gösta Stenman and people outside the artistic world. Among others, this book elucidates the friendship between Schjerfbeck and her childhood governess, Lina Ingman. The letters Schjerfbeck wrote to Ingman during the 1920s and 1930s show a different side to the artist, and Schjerfbeck signed them with her beloved childhood nickname, Ella

Reading material:
English sample
German abridged edition

Extraordinary Women of History
Pirates, Psychics, Priestesses and Princess Spies

Maria Pettersson

Extraordinary, “bad-ass” women of history – meet pirates, psychics, priestesses, princess spies and dozens of other women whose stories your history teacher never told you

✓  A bestselling, nonfiction book in Finland with over 40,000 copies sold!

✓  Publication in Germany by Droemer Knaur! Rights sold to 4 territories!

✓  Now also available – an abridged version with a selection of 49 extraordinary women from history!

The captain who ruled the biggest pirate fleet in history. The scientist who changed our understanding of physics, while taking the most famous geniuses of her time as her lovers, and getting in trouble for gambling. The con artist who could fool any jeweler in Europe. The baseball star who played wearing a fake beard. Teenagers recruited by the Resistance because of their innocent looks, who learned to blow up railways and shoot Nazis from their bicycles. The master of Jujutsu who taught the Suffragettes to fight back. The cult leader who made her followers undergo cosmetic surgery to look more like her. The kidnapped girl who ended up ruling the biggest empire that had ever existed, with her female lover as her queen.

EXTRAORDINARY WOMEN OF HISTORY introduces over a hundred exceptional women from different periods of history and from all corners of the world. It is a veritable treasury of captivating stories and unsung ballads about the exciting women in history. Outrageous, amazing, terrible, heroic, thrilling and above all extraordinary; their life stories make the reader gasp and ask: “Why haven’t I heard of them before?”

Reading material:
Finnish edition
English sample and synopsis

Whale in a Glass Bowl

Maria Katajavuori

Join the journey of a whale and a woman and uncover the keys to sustainability – the Earth can be saved with tools of human behavioral biology. Humans are like a whale in a glass bowl, trapped despite our big brains.

✓  Nominated for the Finlandia Prize in Non-Fiction 2022!

✓  Her previous book A Matter of Death and Life won the State Award for Public Information!

✓  Find out why the environmental crisis continues to worsen, although we know more about it with each passing day, and what can we do to break ourselves out of this vicious and destructive cycle

Humans are the most intelligent of animals. We know the effects of environmental degradation, but when we have to make a living or go on a vacation, our environmental awareness is suddenly forgotten.

The intriguing book reveals the paradoxes of environmental crisis and uncovers biological and cultural patterns that lead to overconsumption. Humans are like a beluga whale in a glass bowl, trapped despite our big brains. The whale’s story does, however, offer solutions as well. In addition to information, we need incentives that appeal to our natural selfishness and reward sustainable choices. By reshaping our glass bowl, the structures of our society, we can swim to freedom, away from the destructive whirlpool.