READING MATERIAL:
English proposal and sample chapters

Gentle Power:

A Revolution in How We Think, Lead and Succeed

by Emilia Lahti

At once inspirational and abundantly informative, GENTLE POWER has the polish and investigative curiosity of Angela Duckworth’s GRIT, as well as the compassion and universality of Brené Brown’s DARING GREATLY.

• “Leaders should use ‘gentle power’ to better unite and encourage their teams during uncertain times…” – Business Insider, by Emilia Lahti

Emilia Lahti, is the first academic researcher to examine the relationship between human fortitude and business and leadership. Her research begins with examining the Finnish concept of sisu, an untranslatable term that refers to a particular kind of inner strength, and expands to create what she has termed as “gentle power.” Emilia Lahti is an international keynote speaker and human rights activist and ultra-runner.

GENTLE POWER is a universal strategy showing how integrity-fueled fortitude is the key to restoring balance to a globalized capitalist world where it seems the value of true human connection is becoming less of a priority every day. It starts first with personal transformation, but leads to better business practices, a stronger sense of self, and a deeper connection to the world and to others.  

Based on her pioneering research at University of Pennsylvania on the Finnish concept of sisu, Lahti’s work proves that true success cannot be achieved or sustained by measuring profits and keeping track of “wins.” Instead, success in all areas of life is deeply rooted in the qualities of gentleness and grounded, rooted strength. Lahti shows that we all have access to deep reserves of this gentle power, ingrained in our biology and in our cultural origins, it simply needs to be embraced and nurtured in order to access its transformative power. 

TarcherPerigee /
Penguin Random House, 2022
250 pp.

READING MATERIAL:
English proposal & sample chapters
English manuscript May 2021

Daily Sisu: 

How to tap into Finnish fortitude for a more resilient life. 

by Katja Pantzar

Daily Sisu is a hands-on guide on how to use sisu – the unique Finnish concept of fortitude in the face of challenges – in your everyday life. 

• By the author of The Finnish Way – rights sold to 22 territories!

Inspired by sisu, the unique form of Finnish resilience and courage in the face of all sorts of challenges, journalist and writer Katja Pantzar embarks on a journey to uncover practical sisu-inspired ways of coping with tough times. Whether that means dealing with the everyday issues facing us all ranging from wellbeing and health concerns to relationship and work-career dilemmas or bigger picture social and sustainability issues, Daily Sisu offers inspiration, hope, action and motivation.

Through captivating stories and well-researched information from regular people and experts alike in the small Nordic country of Finland, which routinely tops international quality of life indexes such as the UN’s World Happiness Report (Finland has nabbed top spot for three years running 2018-2020), Daily Sisu will help you even when you’re feeling tired, weak or hopeless.

TULEVAISUUDEN IDENTITEETIT
Otava, January 2021, 192 pp.

READING MATERIAL:
English sample coming soon

Future Identities

by Perttu Pölönen

Are you an expander, inspirer, crystallizer, or enlightener?

The years and decades to come will force each of us to rethink our place in this world. Traditionally, identity has been based on a profession, for example, but in the future it is worth building on skills.

Future Identities is an immersive book on identifying one’s own strengths and verbalizing them. If you were a colorer, extender, linker or cross-pollinator, what could you do in the future?

TULEVAISUUDEN LUKUJÄRJESTYS
Otava 2020, 192 pp.

READING MATERIAL:
Full English ms.

Future Skills

by Perttu Pölönen

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

• US Debut in Fall 2021!

The next revolution is a human revolution, according to Perttu Pölönen, a futurist, inventor and an 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. Pölönen will explain how. 

Future skills is an essential book for parents, educators and everybody who wants to prepare themselves for an uncertain future. The book challenges assumptions about the future and provides insightful and thought-provoking observations – there’s a lot to digest. When the world is 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. The book gives hope. Pölönen is a bright young mind who’s personal experiences and stories make it lively and engaging and you will find yourself laughing and sobbing. When nothing is certain, everything is possible. 

A WONDERFUL LIFE

HarperCollins, March 2020, 200 pp.

READING MATERIAL:
English edition

A Wonderful Life:
Insights on Finding a Meaningful Existence 

by Frank Martela

Stop seeking for meaning of life, the search will only make you unhappy. Frank Martela is here to help you find meaning in life instead! 

• International bestseller. Rights sold in 27 territories and counting!

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

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.

PRAISE:

”Frank Martela has written an essential primer for making sense of the absurdities of modern life. Philosophically probing yet eminently readable, ”A Wonderful Life” is a book you can refer again and again on your journey towards purpose. ”

– Daniel H. Pink, author of the New York Times bestsellers ”When”, ”Drive”, ”To sell is Human”

RAKASTAN SINUSSA IHMISTÄ – AINO JA ALVAR AALLON TARINA

Otava, September 2021, 450 pp.

Approx. 50-80 photographs & drawings

READING MATERIAL:
English sample

The Story of Aino and Alvar Aalto

by Heikki Aalto-Alanen

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

• Includes previously unpublished correspondence from 1921-1949, photography and drawings

Alvar Aalto and his wife Aino 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, contains photos, sketches, and personal letters between Aino and Alvar beautifully illustrating how inseparable this couple was both in work and love. 

“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 in the rise of Alvar Aalto 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 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 and Alvar’s drawings of each other and of their children, as well as landscape drawings made while traveling, along with other architectural drawings and photographs. 

SUURIN NIISTÄ ON RAKKAUS. KIRSTI PAAKKASEN TARINA

Otava, April 2020, 346 pp.

READING MATERIAL:
English sample & synopsis

The Marimekko Story: The Greatest of All is Love.

by Ulla-Maija Paavilainen

The breath-taking rags-to-riches story of Marimekko’s former owner and CEO Kirsti Paakkanen who took over the Finnish design house and turned Marimekko into a successful worldwide brand name.

• Finland’s Bestseller #1 in Non-Fiction: over 30,000 copies sold in all formats!
• Feature film in development by Aurora Studios

Kirsti Paakkanen was born into a family who wished for a boy. She left home at the age of 16, carrying only a cardboard box containing her clothes, a vast amount of self-confidence and a dream to make use of her talent to create something new. At the age of 62 she was on the verge of retiring when she bought Marimekko – an almost bankrupt design house, which she transformed. And the rest is history. This charismatic businesswoman has had it all. Never forgetting where she came from, in this book Kirsti Paakkanen openly shares the ups and downs of her life and her incredible journey from the small rural district of Saarijärvi in the middle of Finland to the French Riviera.

PRAISE:

”Japan needs to know about the Finnish social environment, and the energy, lifestyle and story of Ms. Kirsti Paakkanen. Not only is it a business book, but also it will become a book to give inspiration to and encourage readers here to give the gender gap serious thought.” – Yumi Numaguchi, Editor, Shodensha, Japan.

TOVE JANSSON – TEE TYÖTÄ JA RAKASTA
Tammi 2013, 300 pp.

READING MATERIAL:
English edition

Tove Jansson: Work and Love 

by Tuula Karjalainen

The definitive biography of one of the most unique and beloved children’s authors of the 20th century, the creator of the Moomins.  

Tove Jansson (1914-2001) led a long, colorful and productive life, impacting significantly the political, social and cultural history of 20th-century Finland. While millions of children have grown up with Little My, Snufkin, Moomintroll and the many creatures of Moominvalley, the life of Jansson – daughter, friend and companion – is more touching still.

This book weaves together the myriad qualities of a painter, author, illustrator, scriptwriter and lyricist from fraught beginnings through fame, war and heartbreak and ultimately to a peaceful end.

NAISET JOITA AJATTELEN ÖISIN
Otava 2018, 448 pp.

READING MATERIAL:
English edition

The Women I Think About at Night

by 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!  

• US debut in November 2020
• Over 40 000 copies sold in FinlandI
• International hit! Rights sold into 17 territories and counting!

Have you heard about Artemisia Gentilleschi, 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 already received positive reviews In Publisher’s Weekly, Library Journal, Travel & Leisure, and Kirkus Review, along with Fortune magazine.

PRAISE:

“Fortysomething, childless, and feeling stuck, Finnish author Mia Kankimäki takes that big leap we all fantasize about but never have the guts to do: She quits her job, sells her apartment, and travels the world. In a blend of travelogue, memoir, and biography, Kankimäki recounts her travels through Japan, Kenya, and Italy, while retracing the steps of 10 remarkable female pioneers from history.” – Fortune Magazine

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

READING MATERIAL:
English sample & synopsis

Things That Make One’s Heart Beat Faster

by Mia Kankimäki

A narrative non-fiction about a Finnish writer’s trip to Japan to look for her soul mate – who lived over 1000 years ago. 

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.

MAAILMAN 50 VAARALLISINTA YHTIÖTÄ
Otava/Nemo, January 2021, 528 pp.

READING MATERIAL:
English sample coming soon

The 50 Most Dangerous Companies in the World

by Juha-Pekka Raeste & Hannu Sokala

He who controls technology and our data rules the world.

Large multinational corporations influence how we think, what we eat, who we meet, how we spend our time and even who we vote for. As those businesses grow, their influence and power over people and governments also grows. To make sure that the future is not dictated by corporations, but by people, we need to know more about them.

This exciting non-fiction title by experienced financial journalists Hannu Sokala and Juha-Pekka covers 50 companies that comprise a large part of global market forces. They determine what kind of a world we all live in.

Some of the companies in the book are relatively unknown (Zhōngguó Yāncǎo Zǒnggōngsī and BlackRock) some predictable (Google, Amazon), some may seem surprising (Ikea and Disney) and some inevitable (Gazprom and Chevron). Some of the companies benefit from our everyday needs (Cargill, Coca-Cola), some from our vanity (Bytedance, Facebook), and some from our greed (Goldman Sachs, Berkshire Hathaway).

The book reads like a thriller, but it is non-fiction. It offers a comprehensive and often a startling perspective on the most important, and dangerous, companies in the world.

HISTORIAN JÄNNÄT NAISET
Atena, August  2020, 503 pp.

READING MATERIAL:
English sample

Extraordinary Women of History

Pirates, Psychics, Priestesses and Princess Spies

by Maria Pettersson

Extraordinary “Badass” Women of History – meet Pirates, Psychics, Priestesses and Princess Spies and 96 other women whose stories your history teacher never told you.

• Finland’s Bestseller #2 in Non-Fiction: over 20,000 copies sold

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?”

PUTININ TROLLIT
Johnny Kniga 2019, 453 pp.

READING MATERIAL:
English manuscript

Putin’s Trolls

by Jessikka Aro

Journalistic non-fiction reads like a real-life spy thriller and reveals the methods of the Kremlin’s modern information warfare.

• US debut in Fall 2021
• Rights sold in 9 langauges
• Over 22,000 copies sold in Finland
• Jessikka Aro won the International Women’s Media Foundation’s Courage of Journalism Award for her investigation!

Putin’s Trolls will be published in the U.S in Fall 2021 by prestigious New York -based award-winning independent press Ig Publishing. This is a first-hand memoir/reportage account by award-winning 
Finnish journalist Jessikka Aro who was bullied out of her country by Putin’s internet trolls, revealing the true face of an invisible threat that is only growing in power. Russia wages war against civilians online. Every critical voice is an enemy. This book presents criminal smearing campaign, launched and approved by the Kremlin against private individuals around Western countries.

”Very happy and proud to bring this vitally important book to an American audience.”
– Robert Lasner, Editor-in-Chief, Ig Publishing

On December 2020, Jessikka Aro received the International Women’s Media Foundation Courage in Journalism Award. Jessikka was recognized for her award-winning investigative reporting of Russian information warfare.

VILLI ITÄ
Tammi 2019, 366 pp.

READING MATERIAL:
English sample & synopsis

Wild East

by Aapo Roselius & Oula Silvennoinen

In 1919, David meets Goliath in North Eastern Europe. Written by internationally acclaimed historians. 

• Nominated for the Finlandia Nonfiction Prize 2019

The First World War did not end in November 1918. With the collapse of the Russian Empire and the Bolshevik revolution, warfare in Eastern Europe continued for years. Revolutionary, counter-revolutionary and national armies of new nations struggled for the remnants of the destroyed empire. The lottery of war attracted also Finns to realize the greatest dream of Finnish nationalism: the creation of a Greater Finland.

The Wild East is a story of the year 1919 and the events known as the kindred nation wars that broke out in order to extend Finland’s borders far to the east. It is the story of Finland and the Finns in a violent, sad and almost tragicomic adventure where, for a moment, anything seemed possible.

RAUHANKONE
Gaudeamus 2017, 285 pp.

READING MATERIAL:
Full English manuscript

The Peace Machine

by Timo Honkela

Is world peace possible – or even inevitable? 

This important book explains how artificial intelligence and machine learning can be used to build a more peaceful and prosperous future for all of humanity.

Written by the late renowned professor Timo Honkela, The Peace Machine is a proposal for the application of AI, machine learning, language technology and pattern recognition to promote peace in the world. The book and Timo Honkela’s ideas have a following around the world.

PRAISE:

Finland’s Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto has said this about this book: “In the future, the peace machine might give advice to the UN Security Council to advance global security. But it can also be an app on our phones, solving and advising us in everyday conflicts.”

In the book, Professor Honkela explained how to leverage advances in artificial intelligence to promote mutual understanding between people, provide insights on our emotions and foster justice for all. He strongly believed that positive uses for artificial intelligence exist, but whether individuals and societies take advantage of them is a matter of choice.

RAKKAUS, ILO, ROHKEUS. SEKSUAALISUUDEN PORTAAT
Minerva 2019, 192 pp.

READING MATERIALS:
English sample & synopsis

Love, Joy and Courage: 

Steps Toward Sexual Maturity

by Raisa Cacciatore & Erja Korteniemi-Poikela

Finnish parenting is word-famous! How to support and protect sensitive early steps of your child’s growth and sexuality?

What to say to a young child who says they want to marry their parent or a kindergarten friend? How to talk respectfully to an adolescent about having a crush? Children show abundant feelings and tenderness openly toward those — peers and adults alike —whom they care for. Respect in relationships, trust, love and appreciating their own and others bodies are the basis for well-being, happy intimacy and happiness.
This book provides secure and easy keys to guiding children and young people with the help of a simple step-by-step model based on research and years of experience in Finland.

SISU, TAHTO, ITSETUNTO. PORTAAT ITKUPOTKURAIVAREISTA AGRESSION HALLINTAAN 
Minerva 2019, 200 pp.

READING MATERIALS:
English sample & synopsis

Willpower, Determination, Self-esteem: 

Turn your child’s anger into an asset.

by Raisa Cacciatore & Erja Korteniemi-Poikela

Finnish parenting is world-famous! How to turn strong will into self-esteem?

How do you turn attitude, strong will, and anger into independence and self-esteem? How to empower your child to manage challenging emotions? Aggression can be a positive driving force: all emotions are great resources if one learns to use them right. This is the Finnish “sisu” that is needed to change the world.

The book offers guidance and tips on how to prevent harm and to reinforce essential life skills and wellbeing. It features a comprehensive step-by-step model of a child’s development based on years of experience and research.