#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 commented.

Yes, there has been a good deal of Scandi-crime and Nordic-noir, but the reading list has also featured some quirky contemporary novels, scary black metal, Neo-Nazis, protagonists both young and old, plus Ditlevsen’s memoirs and some fascinating non-fiction about these countries by non-Nordic authors.

One thread that pulls many of these books together for me was that where they’re set in a specific locale, those places do come to life in the writing. As for country differences, that’s more difficult – world-weary or grumpy detectives are the norm, not the exception. But I would say that the quirkiest books tend to come from Finland, and naturally Denmark and Iceland are closer to each other in character than the others. Those are of course sweeping generalisations that would undubitably not hold water in a larger sample of reading, just my gut feeling. What is clear is that I’ve enjoyed reading from all five countries and while have found new favourite authors, they’re spread around.

The books I read, and the films I watched for #NordicFINDS

I have enjoyed every single book I read, even the black metal one from Norway in parts! My biggest discovery however was the gorgeous novella that is The Ice Palace by Targei Vesaas, closely followed by Tove Jansson’s The Summer Book, and reaffirming that Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow was still brilliant (I’ve now seen the film and added a bit to my review of the book here).

If I were to repeat #NordicFINDS, which I might just do as I’ve added quite a few books to my TBR. In which case, I’ll probably make it a week or fortnight with a personal goal of reading one book from each country.

The books (well the ones that have arrived!) that I’ve added to my Nordic TBR for next time?

And here are the links to all the books reviewed by those who took part (do let me know if I’ve left yours off).

DENMARK

FINLAND

ICELAND

NORWAY

SWEDEN

MULTIPLE COUNTRIES

26 thoughts on “#NordicFINDS – It’s a wrap!

  1. madamebibilophile says:

    It’s been a wonderful event Annabel! I wish I could have joined in more but it wasn’t possible this year. I’ll keep my fingers crossed you repeat it. The Ice Palace is a stunning novel, so pleased to hear it stood out for you.

    • AnnaBookBel says:

      Thank you! I’ll definitely repeat a shorter version next year. I’ve now bought two more Vesaas novellas, Lizzy liked The Birds even more than the Ice Palace.

  2. Liz Dexter says:

    What a triumph this was and thank you for the shout-out – I really enjoyed picking all the Nordic books off my shelf and especially getting round to four books that were among the oldest. Well done to everyone who participated, and you for your reading and watching and your highly efficient adding of reviews to your master list!

    • AnnaBookBel says:

      Thanks Liz – your support has been so appreciated, especially all the non-fiction. In terms of reading in translation, for me, the Nordic countries are certainly giving France a run for its money as favourites now. A much shorter version of #NordicFINDS will probably return next year.

  3. A Life in Books says:

    I’ve enjoyed cheering this one on from the sidelines, Annabel, and have added a few titles to my TBR list. Only to be expected! I spotted Often I Am Happy and This Should be written in the Present Tense in your pile, both of which I loved.

  4. Rebecca Foster says:

    Well done, Annabel (and the other participants) — you’ve read so much towards this! I wish I’d had time to get more Scandi reads down from my shelves. I’d been forgetting a Per Petterson novel I own, for instance. Next year!

    • AnnaBookBel says:

      I’m definitely going to do a shorter version next Jan I think, because I’ve enjoyed the books I read so much.

    • AnnaBookBel says:

      Thanks Rebecca. You don’t have to wait until next yr to read your Per Petterson, but I will definitely do a shorter event next Jan.

  5. Janakay | YouMightAsWellRead says:

    This has been fun and a great way to get some books off the TBR. Of course, for every book taken off I’ve added a couple! (The Ice Palace; Jar City & Buttereflies in November most notably). I notice you have Often I am Happy on your own TBR; I read it fairly recently and thought it was great.
    I do hope you repeat the event next year.

  6. Calmgrove says:

    Thank you so much for running this, Annabel, a chance for me to read stuff I may not have got round to in a while! And I’ve a few authors ready for the next time you care to run NordicFINDS — works by Jostein Gaarder, Yrsa Sigurðardóttir, Ragnar Jonásson and Jo Nesbø, for example.

  7. BookerTalk says:

    I wish I could have joined in but I did enjoy reading lots of the reviews and yes, the variety was a surprise. I’d expected a whole load of Nordic noir but was pleasantly surprised to find many other genres featured

  8. thecontentreader says:

    Thank you Annabel for this challenges. It has been so interesting to read the reviews. You really read a lot of books, I am impressed. My own contribution was meagre, and I only managed one from each country. Although, I have to confess, I am still on the Swedish one (being a nonfiction and rather dense, it takes time to read) and the Finnish I could not finish.
    I have got a lot of tips for authors from all countries I have never heard about. I have heard, also from other sources, that The Ice Palace is something special, so I will probably start with that one.

Leave a Reply to A Life in BooksCancel reply