Nordic Book Club discussion

Dear fellow readers,

With the coronavirus crisis continuing to impact NYC, Scandinavia House is remaining closed. Therefore, all book talks and book groups will be postponed until further notice. If this gives you a chance to spend more time with your favorite Nordic literature, here is our end of March list of suggested reading from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. A recommended list of top Icelandic books is on the way. Stay tuned and as always please share your thoughts and reading suggestions or even a reading challenge!

1. “No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference” by Greta Thunberg

A New York Times bestseller by Time‘s 2019 Person of the Year — a collection of the Swedish climate activist’s speeches that ignited a global movement.

2. “The Way Through the Woods” by Litt Woon Long

This debut memoir artfully combines grief and the wonders of hunting mushrooms in the Norwegian woods through a tender and often anthropological lens.

3. “It” by Inger Christensen

Considered a classic of Scandinavian poetry by one of Denmark’s most revered writers, It is a collection of poems ruminating on the perceptions of nature and reality from sea urchins to mental institutions.

4. “The Maid Silja/ Nuorena nukkunut ” by Frans Eemil Sillanpää

Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature (1939), Frans Eemil Sillanpää is known for capturing the essence of Finnish history, as he does in this epic cross-generational tale and bildungsroman of a family’s last descendent, Silja.

5. “Naïve. Super” by Erlend Loe

The coming of age tale that inspired previous U.S. presidential candidate and Mayor Pete Buttigieg to learn Norwegian, just to read more of the author’s yet to be translated works.

Thanks for this list of suggestions. “Naïve. Super” by Erlend Loe in one I'm interested in reading.

You asked about sharing reading challenges. I've actually created a Scandinavian Reading Challenge for myself and anyone who is interested in joining me. Read about it here: http://www.avikinginla.com/scandinavi...

Happy reading!

The Nordic Book Club might want to consider reading my novel, The Immigrant's Journey. It is a Historical Biographical Fiction, based on true events about my grandfather. He immigrated for Norway to New York in 1906, alone and broke. It is a grand story and adventure about settling and exploring America, in search of a better life. It's earned a 4.7 star rating from over 70 people on Amazon and Goodreads. It got 5 star ratings from Reader's Favorite, Book Nerdection, Reader's Views, and was selected best new Historical Fiction novel by Reedsy. You will love it

Here is a picture of the cover