While I haven’t formally run my Nordic reading month this year keeping it casual, I offer many thanks to those blog friends who have still included it in their own reading plans (Chris reviewed The Silence of the Sea by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir and Lizzy reviewed Hunter in Huskvarna and other stories by Sara Stridsberg. Do let Read More
Category: Translated: Icelandic
The Dancer by Óskar Guðmundsson
Translated by Quentin Bates Corylus Books are certainly keeping Icelandic translator Quentin Bates busy. There’s another Stella Blómkvist in the works soon after last year’s Murder at the Residence, amongst others he has translated for Corylus and other publishers. This novel is Guðmundsson’s fifth, the second to be translated, and the first in a new Read More
Dead Sweet by Katrín Júlíusdóttir
Translated by Quentin Bates I’m delighted to be today’s stop on the blog tour for the debut novel by a former Icelandic politician. Katrín Júlíusdóttir served as Minister of Industry, Energy and Tourism and Minister of Finance and Economy, and as such she is well placed to give the inside view to the political and Read More
Murder at the Residence by Stella Blómkvist – blog tour
Translated by Quentin Bates The identity of Stella Blómkvist is a secret – she/he/they are the Icelandic equivalent of Elena Ferrante – and has been publishing crime novels in Iceland since 1997 featuring the maverick lawyer Stella Blómkvist in a long-running series of Icelandic bestsellers. Two seasons of TV adaptations have appeared in Iceland too. Read More
And the Wind Sees All by Guðmundur Andri Thorsson, #NordicFINDS23
Translated by Andrew Cauthery and Björg Árnadóttir I come in off the sea and slide along the spit, and soon I will have vanished with the mist. I am the afternoon breeze; I visit at around half past four and an hour later slip away to my dwelling, made of the past: of the grass that stirred a Read More
Animal Life by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir – blog tour
Translated by Brian Fitzgibbon One of the highlights of my Nordic reading back at the beginning of the year was discovering new to me authors, of whom Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir was one. Her first novel to be translated into English, Butterflies in November was quirky and delightful; an episodic road trip with added recipes. She’s Read More
NORDIC FINDS is back for Jan 2023
After the success of my first Nordic FINDS Reading Project this January (wrap-up post here, dedicated page here), I’ve been asked if I was bringing it back to make it a regular reading month. Well, I couldn’t resist! This year I dedicated the first five weeks of 2022 to one of the five countries per Read More
Deceit by Jónína Leósdóttir
Translated by Sylvia and Quentin Bates I’m delighted to be today’s stop on the blogtour for yet another new to me Icelandic author. Deceit is the first of Jónína Leósdóttir’s books to be translated into English, brought to us by Corylus Books and translated by veteran Icelandic translator Quentin Bates with Sylvia Bates. Deceit is Read More
Harm by Sólveig Pálsdóttir – blog tour
Translated by Quentin Bates Nordic Noir fan that I am, it’s a delight to be today’s stop on the blog tour for Harm – the third book in Pálsdóttir’s Ice and Crime series published by Corylus Books who are specialising in Euro crime. Corylus’s list is small but growing with three Icelandic authors on their Read More
Looking forward to #WITMonth 2022
August is #WITMonth – celebrating Women in Translation, hosted by Meytal, who has been flying the flag for WIT for many years now. It has a dedicated website HERE. Traditionally, in preparation I look back at my reading of books by Women in Translation since the end of last summer, and I was surprised that even without Read More
#NordicFINDS – It’s a wrap!
Phew! What a great start to the reading year I’ve had. Dedicating one week per Nordic country has been fascinating and I’ve been astounded by the variety of books covered between us – a huge thank you, (but especially to Lizzy and Liz who’ve read loads each). Thank you also to those who visited and Read More
#NordicFINDS – Iceland Week – a final quirky novel
Butterflies in November by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir Translated by Brian Fitzgibbon My final read of #NordicFINDS is a quirky novel that slightly took me back to nearly the beginning of my project this year, for Butterflies in November has some similarities in its narrator with Bess in The Murder of Halland, except that this time Read More
#NordicFINDS – Iceland Week – My Gateway Book
Jar City by Arnaldur Indriðason Translated by Bernard Scudder Arnaldur Indriðason is one of Iceland’s foremost crime authors, having a background in journalism and freelance writing. His first novel was published in 1997, which features Detective Erlendur, in what is now a long running series. However, his first two Erlendur novels remain untranslated into English. Read More
#NordicFINDS is here!
NB: The wrap post for #NordicFINDS with the full list of all books reviewed can be seen here. Finally, my project for five weeks of reading Nordic literature is here. ‘FINDS’ – stands for Finland, Iceland, Norway, Denmark & Sweden. For me, reading Nordic literature really began in the 1990s, when a few modern novels began Read More
Planning Ahead!
Last week on Twitter I posed a question. I asked: Hi my bookish Twitter friends. Just wondering… There are reading months for French, German, Spanish/Portuguese lit in translation. Does anyone host an Italian or Nordic/Scandi one. If not, I’d be willing, which would you prefer? I got a good response, but predictably, it was divided! Read More
Winterkill (Dark Iceland 6) by Ragnar Jónasson
Today, it’s my turn on the blog tour for Winterkill. Sometimes it’s good to come in at the end of a series of books. If you enjoy that final volume, it makes you want to go back and explore all the others. This was definitely the case with Icelandic police procedural Winterkill for me, although Read More
Some good reads from pre-blog days, and what I thought about them then… #10
While I recover from my Auster-thon and finish some more books by other authors, here’s yet another selection from my master spreadsheet of capsule reviews of books I read pre-blog – this batch is from 2007, and there’s still plenty more where these came from! (Buy at Amazon links are all affiliate links, I’ll earn Read More
Medieval Iceland – a place of cod wars even then…
On the Cold Coasts by Vilborg Davidsdottir Transl Alda Sigmundsdottir At the heart of this novel is the tale of Ragna, a young Icelandic woman from a family with property in Greenland which she will inherit. Still a young teenager, yet betrothed to Thorkell, Ragna becomes unmarriageable when she becomes pregnant by an English sailor Read More
The Pets by Bragi Olafsson
Translated by Janice Balfour Last year I read some Halldor Laxness, and found the Icelandic humour distinctly hard to get. This contemporary novel by Bragi Olafsson (formerly in the Sugarcubes with Björk) was much less oblique, but despite its relative brevity took some time to get going. When it did though, it became the stuff Read More
