Nordic FINDS – Jan 2022-23

FINDS – stands for Finland, Iceland, Norway, Denmark and Sweden, the five Nordic countries. For me, reading Nordic literature really began in the 1990s, when a few modern novels began to appear in translation in English and became bestsellers. In the first #NordicFINDS I spent one week per country, revisiting those gateway books that led me into Nordic lit, and as many others from each country as I had time for (concentrating on Nordic Noir and contemporary lit). Then in January 2023 we had a casual Nordic reading month with no set themes for each week.

In Jan 2024, I didn’t formally run Nordic FINDS inviting others to join in and collating reviews (although some still did – thank you!), but still had a Nordic focus to my reading. I continue to add my reviews to the list below.

The list below contains all the books I and other contributors read during #NordicFINDS in 2022-23, plus all the Nordic books I’ve previously reviewed on my blog, as a resource for inspiration.

I’m hoping to make #NordicFINDS an annual event in January!

---

#NordicFINDS – The 2022-23+ Reading List

DENMARK

Andersen, Hans Christian – Fairy Tales and Stories – Calmgrove

Ditlevsen, Tuve

• The Copenhagen Trilogy – You Might as Well Read
  • Childhood (#1) – Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings
  • Youth (#2) – Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings

Helle Helle – This Should be Written in the Present Tense – AnnaBookBel

Høeg, Peter – Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow – AnnaBookBel

Holm, Sven – Termush – AnnaBookBel

Jacobsen, Siri Ranva Hjelm – Island – Lizzy’s LIterary LIfe

Jessen, Ida – A Change of Time – Julé Cunningham

Juul, Pia – The Murder of Halland – AnnaBookBel

Kazinski, AJ – The Last Good Man – The Content Reader

Kristenson, Tom – Havoc – Thoughts on Papyrus

Madsen, Jenny Lund – Thirty Days of Darkness – AnnaBookBel

Nors, Dorthe

• A Line in the World: A Year on the North Sea Coast (NF) – Nancy Elin
• Minna Needs Rehearsal Space – AnnaBookBel
• Mirror Shoulder Signal – AnnaBookBel

Ravn, Olga – The Employees – AnnaBookBel

Riel, Ane – Resin – Nancy Elin

Sviestrup, Søren – The Chestnut Man – AnnaBookBel, Hopewell’s Library of Life

FINLAND

Carlson, Kristina – Mr Darwin’s Gardener – AnnaBookBel

Ivar, Katja – Trouble (Hella Mauzer 3) – Lizzy’s Literary Life, AnnaBookBel

Jansson, Tove

• Finn Family Moomintroll – Brona’s Books.
• Moominland Midwinter – Dolce Belezza
• Moominsummer Madness  – Calmgrove
• Notes from an Island with Tuulikki Pietila – Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings
• The Summer Book – AnnaBookBel, Lisa Hill
• The True Deceiver – AnnaBookBel
• The Winter Book – Bookish Beck

Jääskeläinen, Pasi Ilmari – The Rabbit Back Literature Society – AnnaBookBel

Kajermo, Arja – The Iron Age – Lizzy’s Literary Life

Karila, Juhani – Summer Fishing in Lapland – AnnaBookBel

Paasilinna, Arto – Year of the Hare – AnnaBookBel

Rautianen, Petra – Land of Snow and Ice – Lizzy’s Literary LIfe

Tuominen, Arttu – The Oath – Emma (in French only)

Tuomainen, Antti

• Dark as My Heart  – You May As Well Read
• The Healer – AnnaBookBel
• The Rabbit Factor – Lizzy’s LIterary Life, AnnaBookBel, Nancy Elin
• The Moose Paradox – AnnaBookBel
• The Beaver Problem – AnnaBookBel

Valtonen, Jussi – They Know Not What They Do – The Content Reader

ICELAND

Blómkvist, Stella – Murder at the Residence – AnnaBookBel

Davidsdottir, Villborg – On the Cold Coasts – AnnaBookBel

Eir, Oddný – Land of Love and Ruins – You Might As Well Read

Gislason, Kari – The Promise of Iceland (NF) – Liz Dexter

Greene, A Kendra – The Museum of Whales You Will Never See (NF) – Liz Dexter

Guðmundsson, Óskar – The Dancer – AnnaBookBel

Hjörleifsdóttir, Thora – Magma – Reading Matters

Indriðason, Arnuldur – Jar City – Annabookbel

Jónasson, Ragnar

• Snowblind (Dark Iceland 1) – BookerTalk
• Winterkill (Dark Iceland 6) – AnnaBookBel

Júlíusdóttir, Katrín – Dead Sweet – AnnaBooKBel

Laxness, Haldor – Under the Glacier – AnnaBookBel

Leósdóttir, Jónína – Deceit – AnnaBookBel

Moss, Sarah – Names for the Sea (NF) – AnnaBookBel

Ólafsdóttir, Auður Ava

• Animal Life – HeavenAli, AnnaBookBel
• Butterflies in November – AnnaBookBel

Olafsson, Bragi – The Pets – AnnaBookBel

Pálsdóttir, Sólveig – Harm – AnnaBookBel

Sigurðardóttir, Lilja – Cold as Hell – The Content Reader

Sjón

• Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was – Calmgrove
• Red Milk – Lizzy’s Literary Life
• The Blue Fox (a lost post from 2009) – AnnaBookBel

Stefánsson, Jón Kalman

• The Heaven and Hell Trilogy – Liz Dexter

Thorsson, Guðmundur Andri – And the Wind Sees All – Reading Matters , AnnaBookBel

Various / Misc

• The Book of Reykjavik by various authors – Lizzy’s Literary Life, Liz Dexter
• The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki – Calmgrove.

NORWAY

Flatland, Helga – One Last Time – AnnaBookBel

Dahl, Kjell Ola

• The Assistant – AnnaBookBel
• Little Drummer – AnnaBookBel

Gaarder, Jostein

• Sophie’s World – The Content Reader AnnaBookBel, Bookish Beck
• The World According to Anna – Calmgrove

Harstad, Johan – Buzz Aldrin, What Happened to You in All the Confusion? – AnnaBookBel

Heyerdahl, Thor – The Kon-Tiki Expedition – AnnaBookBel

Holt, Anne – 1222 – AnnaBookBel

Houm, Nicolai – The Gradual Disappearance of Jane Ashland – AnnaBookBel

Hval, Jenny – Girls Against God – AnnaBookBel

Lahlum, Hans Olav – The Human Flies – AnnaBookBel

Loe, Erlend – Lazy Days – AnnaBookBel

Nesbo, Jo

• Midnight Sun – Calmgrove
• The Snowman – AnnaBookBel

Ørestavik, Hanna – Love – Reading and Watching the World

Petterson, Per – Out Stealing Horses – AnnaBookBel

Ravatn, Agnes – The Guests – AnnaBookBel

Ritter, Christiane – A Woman in the Polar Night (NF) – Liz Dexter

Skomsvold , Kjersti A – The Faster I Walk, the Smaller I Am – Cathy at 746 Books

Solstad, Dag

• Novel 11, Book 18 – You Might as Well Read
• Professor Andersen’s Night – Madame Bibi Ophile Recommends, AnnaBookBel

Vesaas, Tarjei

• The Birds by Targei Vesaas – Lizzy’s Literary Life, AnnaBookBel
• The Ice Palace   AnnaBookBel, Winston’s Dad, Cathy at 746 Books, The Content Reader

SWEDEN

Åkerström, Lola A – Lagom –AnnaBookBel

Alsterdal, Tove

• We Know You Remember – AnnaBookBel
• You Will Never Be Found – AnnaBookBel

Backman, Frederick – Beartown – Nancy Elin

Berg, Mattias – The Carrier – AnnaBookBel

Börjlind, Cilla and Rolf

• Spring Tide (Ronning & Stilton 1) – AnnaBookBel
• Third Voice (Ronning & Stilton 2) – AnnaBookBel

Dagerman, Stig – A Moth to a Flame – Imogen

Dahl, Arne – The Blinded Man – 746 Books.

Enquist, Per Olov – The Visit of the Royal Physician – Madam Bibliophile

Ingelman-Sundberg, Catharine – The Little Old Lady who Broke All the Rules – AnnaBookBel

Jonasson, Jonas – The Hundred Year Old Man who Climbed Out of a Window and Disappeared – AnnaBookBel

Karlsson, Jonas – The Room – AnnaBookBel

Knausgård, Linda Boström – The Helios Disaster – AnnaBookBel

Lagerlöf, Selma – The Wonderful Adventures of Nils Holgersson – AnnaBookBel

Lindqvist, John Ajvide

• Harbour – Cathy at 746 Books
• Let the Right One In – AnnaBookBel (plus Films vs Book)

Lundgren, Astrid – Ronia, the Robber’s Daughter – Calmgrove

Magnusson, Margareta

• Döstädning: The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning – Bookish Beck
• The Swedish Art of Ageing Well – Bookish Beck

Mankell, Henning

• Faceless Killers(Wallander #1) (Pre-blog) – AnnaBookBel
• The Dogs of Riga (Wallander #2) – AnnaBookBel
• When the Snow Fell  by Henning Mankell (YA) – AnnaBookBel

Mazetti, Katerina – Benny and Shrimp – AnnaBookBel

Nesser, Håkan – The Mind’s Eye – AnnaBookBel

Östman, Nan – Some Kind of Company – AnnaBookBel

Sjöwall, Maj & Wahlöö, Per

• Roseanna (Martin Beck #1)Cathy at 746 Books, AnnaBookBel
• The Man Who Went Up in Smoke (Martin Beck #2) – Lizzy’s Literary LIfe
• The Man on the Balcony (Martin Beck #3) – Lizzy’s LIterary Life

Tursten, Helene

• An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good – You Might as Well Read
• An Elderly Lady Must Not be Pressed – You Might as Well Read

MULTIPLE COUNTRIES

Jarman, Kat – River Kings: The Vikings from Scandinavia to the Silk Roads (NF) – Liz Dexter

Wheeler, Sara – Magnetic North (NF) – Liz Dexter