January is the month of resolutions, though we tend, as a culture, to focus more on the physical than the psychological. In 2018 more than ever, it’s important to remember that mental health, mindfulness, and intention should be tended to just as much as your winter skin, or your beach body. And we’re lucky to have a wealth of new books to help focus the mind and bring some peace, clarity, and wisdom to our daily routines. Some of these works involve improving your material world through organization, or through lessening your dependence on it; some of them are more challenging, offering advice on confronting some of the toughest parts of our lives, like grief and injustice. All are intended to inspire change for the better, which is what a New Year is all about, right?

Photo: Courtesy of Simon & Schuster

The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter by Margareta Magnusson

January 2

Magnusson’s book is inspired by the latest Scandinavian lifestyle trend: döstädning, which is a decluttering or cleaning process that should be undertaken before others have to do it for us (that’s where the “death” part comes in). Not only does she give advice for what to keep and what to give or throw away, and how, the author also does her own death cleaning, with humor and empathy.