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Lindi wrote: "My initial pick was going to be Us Against You, but I might not be able to wait for the New Year to start it. My Grandma reads quite a bit of Scandinavian literature so maybe I'll a..."

I'm going to read The One Hundred Year Old Man... as well.

jaadhimalli wrote: "I am going with 'Smilla's Sense of Snow' by Peter Hoeg. Its out of Copenhagen."

Good pick. I might use it for the "reread of a favorite" prompt. A good deal of the plot does take place in Copenhagen, so it definitely works for the Scandinavia prompt. The action then moves to Greenland: given the flamewar that errupted over Iceland's status, I'd say we're on pretty thin ice there, so to speak - but there's no reason to exclude books whose plot strays from Scandinavia at some point.

As far as I recall the first half of 'Smilla' take place in Copenhagen, so I'd count it. (And I am one of the literalists). My recollection may not be correct since I read it around the release in the 90'ies...

This is the easiest prompt for me! Since I’m swedish and most of the books I read have swedish authors and takes place in Sweden. 😄🇸🇪

I just read The Boy in the Suitcase. Great read!

Sofia wrote: "This is the easiest prompt for me! Since I’m swedish and most of the books I read have swedish authors and takes place in Sweden. 😄🇸🇪"

Yep easy for me too. For similar reasons. I picked Ewa Klingberg's Vaxade juveler och brända hjärtan simply because it's based partly in Huskvarna, where I used to work, and partly in Eksjö, where I currently work. Plus the Swedish is quite easy which is good as Swedish is my second language so it can be hard going to read novels in Swedish sometimes.

Any fantasy/sci-fi/speculative recs for this prompt? Modern-day fantasy is fine (I loved Let the Right One In).

Drakeryn wrote: "Any fantasy/sci-fi/speculative recs for this prompt? Modern-day fantasy is fine (I loved Let the Right One In)."

The Circle is a YA urban fantasty about young witches.

"In this gripping first installment of the Engelsfors Trilogy, a parallel world emerges in which teenage dreams, insanely annoying parents, bullying, revenge, and love collide with flirtation, dangerous forces, and ancient magic."

Takes place in a fictional town in Sweden.

Edit: It's not all that sugary and cutesy but pretty dark, overall, but in a subtle kinda way, if I remember correctly.

Kayla wrote: "this is mine
The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13..."


I'm reading the next one...The Accidental Further Adventures of the 100 year old Man!

After struggling to come up with any ideas that appealed to me for this category I completed it accidentally. This YA book is set in Denmark, a little mermaid/Ursula retelling and a thoroughly enjoyable read.

Sea Witch

I read "A Man Called Ove" by Fredrik Backman. I really liked it but I would never have picked it if I'd known it would make me cry. LOL. I don't do emotional tear jerkers. Just a thing for me.

I love all the different retellings of The Snow Queen. So I'll be reading that one for this prompt.

Do you think a fantasy version of a Scandinavian country fits this prompt? I was thinking of reading one (or more) of the Hilda books as I'm loving the Netflix show.

I just finished An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good. It is a little book which was both enjoyable and a quick read!

I just finished The Red Address Book set in Sweden and it was wonderful!

YA retellings of East of the Sun, West of the Moon set in Scandinavia:

East by Edith Pattou
Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George

Nicole wrote: "I just finished An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good. It is a little book which was both enjoyable and a quick read!"

Definitely putting this one on my list!

I'm doing My Cat Yugoslavia!

I'm really glad I read this thread, because my original plan for this prompt was Last Night in Nuuk, which is set in Greenland. I now know that definitely wouldn't count, and I'm blushing a little bit at my ignorance. I'm still stoked to experience Greenland lit, though, so I'll read that for something else (published in 2019? maybe I'll think it should be a movie?] and finally read my copy of Let the Right One In for this. Learn something new every day! :-)

Nicole wrote: "I just finished An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good. It is a little book which was both enjoyable and a quick read!"

After seeing this comment changing what I was going to read for this prompt Almost Autumn by Marianne Kaurin and see where I can fit this one in as it does sound good too.

I read a lot of a Scandinavian-set books, so I have a lot of recommendations!

For a non-fiction option: The Year of Living Danishly: My Twelve Months Unearthing the Secrets of the World's Happiest Country

Historical crime novel: The Wolf and the Watchman

Modern detective novel: The Department of Sensitive Crimes

And this one is a bit of a stretch since it's an epistolary novel and only one character is from Denmark, but for those looking for a bit of romance there is Meet Me at the Museum

I just realized that the Millennium series could work for three prompts:

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Over a Million Ratings on ŷ������)
The Girl Who Played with Fire (A book set in Scandinavia)
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (A book published posthumously)

In fact any one of the three can be used for either the Scandinavia prompt or the posthumous prompt.

Allie wrote: "I read a lot of a Scandinavian-set books, so I have a lot of recommendations!

For a non-fiction option: [book:The Year of Living Danishly: My Twelve Months Unearthing the Secrets of the World's Ha..."

I have this one on my list for this prompt. Looking forward to reading it

I read The White City by Karolina Ramqvist. Engrossing, but the ending left me wanting to know what happened next. It's winter in The White City, Karin has a week left in her mansion that is being seized by authorities. The money she thought John left her is gone. The heat has been shut off and Karin is left alone with her baby Dream. Karin is at the end of her rope and can't seem to keep herself clean or pull herself out of the despair she is in.

A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman - 5 stars as it is simply yet beautifully written, the story is funny and heartbreaking all at the same time, and it is set in Sweden so helps me out with this particular prompt ;)

Sophie wrote: "Do you think a fantasy version of a Scandinavian country fits this prompt? I was thinking of reading one (or more) of the Hilda books as I'm loving the Netflix show."

I think so because it just requires the story be set in that region and those definitely are. The prompt doesn't really specify that it has to be a realistic story.

Kelsey wrote: "Yay! Now I'm 3 books into the Steig Larsson Millenium series. I need to find somewhere to put the last one."

That is such a coincidence! I just saw a security guard reading The Girl in the Spider's Web, on an episode of the TV show, Ghosted (it first aired months ago, but I had it DVR'd), so I am going to put it under that prompt. I guess that won't work for everyone.

I've read only the first novel, so this means I have to read #2 & 3 first. I can use one for the Scandinavian prompt, but, having read those two books, do you have a suggestion of another prompt that one of those would fit?

ETA: I just realized I have a prompt to "read a book in translation", on the Modern Mrs. Darcy reading challenge that I'm concurrently working on. So, I'm all set!

My Danish friend recommended a new book to me The Almost Nearly Perfect People: Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia. Some others that I think would work for this prompt are Hornet Flight, Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube: Chasing Fear and Finding Home in the Great White North and Yes, Chef

Another book I found was The Nordic Theory of Everything: In Search of a Better Life which is on sale today for $1.99 on kindle.

Finished Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman

My Review:
/review/show...

Finished “A Man Called Ove�� (Sweden) - highly recommended for this challenge.

It's hard to top anything by Backman for this category. I read Things My Son Needs to Know about the World.

For those that like Vikings and fantasy books, Amazon has a kindle deal on The Half-Drowned King today. It's set in Viking-era Norway. It should also fit the based on myth and legend prompt.

I'm reading The Dark Heart: A True Story of Greed, Murder, and an Unlikely Investigator for this prompt. I got the kindle version free from Amazon along with several other translated books on World Book Day. I do believe this book is available on Kindle Unlimited for any members that are interested.

Alicia wrote: "Books set in Sweden /places/48-s...

Denmark /places/72-d...

Norway /places/19-n..."

Thanks for this list! I will definitely be reading The Witches

I also read "Britt-Marie Was Here". I enjoyed it so much that I recommended it to all my sisters. And then I read "My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry" which is also by Backman and has Britt-Marie as a character. Two great reads. Britt-Marie Was HereMy Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry
Also, I love the book covers.

Oops. There should be a comma between those two titles.

While I always love any excuse to read Frederick Backman, I went with The Accidental Further Adventures of the 100-year-old Man by Jonas Jonasson, although technically only some of it takes place in Scandinavia.

I started Jo Nesbø's Harry Hole series. Currently I've read the first 3 and the 3rd book, The Redbreast, was the first one set in Scandinavia.

Can anyone suggest a book of Scandinavian folktales?

Asbjørnsen and Moe collected folk tales in Norway (like the brothers Grimm in Germany). They are translated to English and really enjoyable.

I read Us Against You, which I loved although I still think I liked Beartown a bit more.

Becky - wrote: "Can anyone suggest a book of Scandinavian folktales?"

Not offhand, but you might enjoy Odd and the Frost Giants, which is set in Norway. It’s also a short, fast and easy read.

Johanne wrote: "Asbjørnsen and Moe collected folk tales in Norway (like the brothers Grimm in Germany). They are translated to English and really enjoyable."

Thanks!

Rachel wrote: "I read Us Against You, which I loved although I still think I liked Beartown a bit more."

I just purchased a copy of this for $5! I am anxious to read it! I loved Beartown!

Frederick Bachman’s “A Man Called Ove��

The only Scandinavian country I have left in my personal Around the World Challenge is Denmark, so I really wanted to read a Danish book for this one. I started the audiobook of We, the Drowned, and I was only sort of maybe ok with it until a scene indicated there was going to be violence against a dog and I was OUT. I wasn't enjoying the book nearly enough to put myself through that.
I did some poking around, and decided to give Smilla's Sense of Snow another try. I DNF'd it 15 years ago and remember hating it, but this time I'm fascinated! People change, you know?

Christy wrote: "The only Scandinavian country I have left in my personal Around the World Challenge is Denmark, so I really wanted to read a Danish book for this one. I started the audiobook of [book:We, the Drown..."

That is so interesting! Glad you found one!

I read The Orange Girl by Jostein Gaarder. This book disarmed me, I don't know what I expected going into it but I got something I hadn't anticipated. This is such a simple book - a son is given a letter written to him by his father in his final days when the boy was just a toddler, which contains the mystery of his father's first love. But the simplicity is deceptive. I had expected to read about loss and love, and there is certainly that. But this is almost a smoke screen to the core of this story, which is to ask a big question about the point of existence. Especially considering that I was initially uncomfortable with where this story was headed, given the father's obsessive tracking of a woman he'd barely met whom he'd decided was his soul mate, I'm glad I stuck with it. The themes of fairy tale and whether pleasure is worth the pain of inevitably having to lose it all transformed this from an unrealistic love story into something much deeper.

Christy wrote: "The only Scandinavian country I have left in my personal Around the World Challenge is Denmark, so I really wanted to read a Danish book for this one. I started the audiobook of We, the Drowned"

I also started but never got into Smilla's Sense of Snow a few years ago, and think I'll give it another go now, too. I've ended up with a few Scandi books so far this year, and haven't yet decided which one to use for the challenge.
The Killing by David Hewson 4* (Denmark)
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman 4* (Sweden)
The Girl in the Ice by Lotte Hammer 3* (Denmark, including Greenland)
Tell Me You're Mine by Elisabeth Norebäck 4* (Sweden)
I need to find something set in Norway!