The 2019 Scandinavian Reading Challenge is underway! Today I’m sharing books I’m thinking of reading for each of the prompts in the challenge.
I’m listing more than one book for each prompt. I want to give myself some choice depending on mood, availability, and book club reads and also give readers some ideas for their own reading. Even though a book may be listed under more than one prompt, I will only count it for one. That’s just my personal rule for this particular challenge. You do whatever works for you. (For other reading challenges, I may double up and count a book for more than one prompt.)
If you would still like to join, it’s not too late. It won’t be too late until the year is over. Just visit 2019 Scandinavian Reading Challenge and let me know in the comments there.
Do you need more ideas of books to read? Ask in the comments or send me an email and I’ll see what I can suggest. I’ve read many that would be good options.
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Now, without further ado…
A book set in a Scandinavian capital:
- Stockholm, Sweden: Quicksand by Malin Persson Giolito (tr. Rachel Willson-Broyles)
- Oslo, Norway: Seven Days in August by Brit Bildøen (tr. Becky L. Crook)
- Copenhagen, Denmark: Mirror, Shoulder, Signal by Dorthe Nors (tr. Misha Hoekstra)
A Nordic Noir novel:
- The Legacy: A Thriller (Children’s House Book 1) by Yrsa Sigurdardottir (tr. from the Icelandic by Victoria Cribb)
- Blind Goddess (Hanne Wilhelmsen Book 1) by Anne Holt (tr. from the Norwegian by Tom Geddes)
- The Keeper of Lost Causes (The First Department Q Novel) by Jussi Adler-Olsen (tr. from the Danish by Lisa Hartford)
- The Redbreast by Jo Nesbø (tr. from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett)
- I’m Traveling Alone by Samuel Bjork (tr. from the Norwegian by Charlotte Barslund)
A Scandinavian book published in the last year (either in original language or in translation):
- Wait, Blink: A Novel by Gunnhild Øyehaug (tr. from the Norwegian by Kari Dickson) – June 2018
- The Boy at the Door by Alex Dahl
- Dødevaskeren (Dead Washer) by Sara Omar (Danish-Kurdish) – 2018 in Norwegian (not yet available in English)
A book by a non-native Scandinavian author:
- Demian Vitanza (Norwegian/Italian) – This Life or the Next: A Novel (tr. Tanya Thresher)
- Berit Ellingsen (Korean-Norwegian) – Not Dark Yet
- Sara Omar (Danish-Kurdish) – Dead Washer (not yet available in English)
A nonfiction book about Scandinavian culture:
- North Wild Kitchen: Home Cooking from the Heart of Norway by Nevada Berg
- There’s No Such Thing as Bad Weather by Linda Åkeson McGurk
A winner of the Nordic Council Literature Prize:
- Hotel Silence by Audur Ava Olafsdottir (tr. Brian FitzGibbon, Iceland, 2018)
- Days in the History of Silence by Merethe Lindstrom (tr. Anne Bruce, Norway, 2012)
- The Ice Palace by Tarjei Vesaas (tr. Elizabeth Rokkan, Norway, 1964)
- A list of Nordic Council Literature Prize winners available in English
A historical fiction book set in Scandinavia:
- Simon’s Family (aka Simon and the Oaks) by Marianne Fredriksson (tr. from the Swedish by Joan Tate)
- Kristin Lavransdatter 2: The Wife by Sigrid Undset (tr. from the Norwegian by Tiina Nunnally)
A Scandinavian book recommended or gifted to you:
- Blå (Blue) by Maja Lunde (not yet available in English)
- En moderne familie (A Modern Family) by Helga Flatland (English translation coming April 13, 2019)
- Vær snill med dyrene (Be Kind to the Animals) by Monica Isakstuen (not yet available in English)
A Scandinavian book published before you were born:
- Kristin Lavransdatter 2: The Wife by Sigrid Undset (1921, tr. from the Norwegian by Tiina Nunnally)
- The Ice Palace by Tarjei Vesaas (1963, tr. from the Norwegian by Elizabeth Rokkan)
- Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen / Karen Blixen (1937)
A book written by a non-Scandinavian set in Scandinavia:
- Forty Days Without Shadow: An Arctic Thriller by Oliver Truc
- Norwegian by Night by Derek B. Miller
A Scandinavian book you’ve been meaning to read:
- The Bird Tribunal by Agnes Ravatn (tr. from the Norwegian by Rosie Hedger)
- Dina’s Book by Herbjorg Wassmo (tr. from the Norwegian by Nadia Christensen)
- Two Sisters: A Father, His Daughters, and Their Journey into the Syrian Jihad by Åsne Seierstad (tr. from the Norwegian by Seán Kinsella)
- Arv og miljø (Will and Testament) by Vigdis Hjorth (English translation coming September 10, 2019)
- Tante Ulrikkes vei (Our Street) by Zeshan Shakar (not yet available in English)
A book from a favorite or unread category from last year’s reading challenge:
- This one I’ll probably decide later in the year when I see what I’ve already read and what I still want to read, but I’m considering a crime novel by a female author, another book about Scandinavia during WWII, or an immigrant story.
If you’re participating in the challenge, I’d love to read in the comments what books you’re considering to read. And if you have suggestions for me, I’d love to hear those, too!
I read There’s No Such Thing as Bad Weather just a couple months ago and loved it! I found it a bit life-changing, to be honest–I hadn’t realized how little outdoors time my kids got during certain parts of the year until I read this and realized that I had fallen into the exact same trap so many parents in the U.S. fall into (thinking that we shouldn’t send our kids out in certain kinds of weather, no matter what). I’ll be curious to read your thoughts if you end up picking it!
I have that book on my bookshelf. Another reader of the blog read it and loved it, too. I’m almost afraid to read it now that my kids are tween and teen! Did I miss my window of opportunity with them?