Welcome to the 2022 Scandinavian Reading Challenge

This is the 5th year of my Scandinavian Reading Challenge to motivate and inspire me to read a variety of books by authors from the Scandinavian countries of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark or books having to do with those countries. Usually, I create open-ended prompts and sometimes even expand the scope to Nordic books for some prompts to include Iceland and Finland. However, 2022 will be different.

Instead of creating my own prompts for the 2022 challenge, I am participating in The Book Girls’ Decades Reading Challenge and reading a Scandinavian book that takes place in each of the decades from the 1910s through the 2010s and finishing with a book spanning multiple decades – 12 books in total. The books can be historical fiction, contemporary fiction written during the decade, or non-fiction about the decade.

For me, the challenge will consist mostly of books related to Norway, but I will offer suggestions for Sweden and Denmark as much as I can. I am excited about this new version of my yearly Scandinavian Reading Challenge and look forward to seeing how Norway changes over time as I read through the decades.

Does this sound interesting to you? Join me for all or some of the decades or consider choosing your own Scandinavian or Nordic country of focus.

As every month approaches, I will update this page with links to provide historical highlights for each of the decades and include some reading ideas. Are you familiar with any Scandinavian books that take place in a decade from the last 100 years? Leave a comment below or email me any suggestions. I’d love to hear them.

Feel free to download a printable PDF to keep track of your reading for the challenge.

• January: 1900/1910s
• February: 1920s
• March: 1930s
• April: 1940s
• May: Postwar and 1950s
• June: 1960s
• July: 1970s
• August: 1980s
• September: 1990s
• October: 2000s
• November: 2010s
• December: Spanning multiple decades or places

Happy reading! I would love to hear if you read anything of interest for the 2022 Scandinavian Reading Challenge.