Tuesday, 22 August 2023

Top Ten Tuesday ~ Top Ten Plus Genre Freebie ~ Top Thirteen Scandinavian Books

 

 

"Top Ten Tuesday" is an original feature/weekly meme created on the blog "The Broke and the Bookish". This feature was created because they are particularly fond of lists at "The Broke and the Bookish". It is now hosted by Jana from That Artsy Reader Girl.

Since I am just as fond of them as they are, I jump at the chance to share my lists with them! Have a look at their page, there are lots of other bloggers who share their lists here.

This week, our topic is a Genre Freebie.

We have had many opportunities to share our favourite genres and I have taken plenty advantage of that. I have done Bookshop books, Classics (here, here, here, and here). Can you tell it's my favourite genre?), Dystopian literature, Epistolary novels, Love books (here and here), Nobel Prize winners, Travel literature (here and here). So, I was thinking to do travel books again, I have plenty of new ones. On the other hand, there are also many other genres or other types of books I love and then I was thinking about the next trip we plan, going to Sweden to visit Göteborg where my son studied. So, in the end, I decided to do Scandinavian literature.

I have read many books about Scandinavia (as you can see here) and so I had quite a choice. In the end, I decided to take the books that are written by a Scandinavian and take place in Scandinavia, though I had to omit one of my favourite books,
"Out of Africa" by Karen Blixen (or Isak Dinesen).

So, here are my top thirteen Scandinavian books:

Fredriksson, Marianne "Hanna's Daughters" (S: Anna, Hanna og Johanna) - 1994
Gaarder, Jostein "Sophie's World" (NO: Sofies verden) - 1991
Gulbranssen, Trygve "Beyond Sing the Woods" (NO: Og bakom synger skogene) - 1933
- "The Wind from the Mountains" (NO: Det blåser fra Dauingfjell/Ingen vei går utenom) - 1934/35
Hamsun, Knut "Pan" (NO: Pan) - 1894
Høeg, Peter "Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow" (DK: Frøken Smillas fornemmelse for sne) - 1992
Ibsen, Henrik "Peer Gynt" (NO: Peer Gynt) - 1867 
Jacobsen, Roy "The Burnt-Out Town of Miracles" (NO: Hoggerne) - 2005 
Lagerlöf, Selma "Sancta Lucia. Weihnachtliche Geschichten" [Christmas Stories] (S: Kristuslegender) - 1893-1917
Lindgren, Astrid "The Six Bullerby Children" (SW: Barnen i Bullerbyn) - 1947
Mankell, Henning "Daniel" (SW: Vindens son) - 2000
Petterson, Per "Out Stealing Horses" (NO: Ut og stjæle hester) - 2003
Sturluson, Snorri "Egil's Saga" (Icel: Egils saga Skallagrímssonar) - 1240
Undset, Sigrid "Kristin Lavransdatter" (NO: Kristin Lavransdatter) - 1920-22

I hope you can enjoy some Scandinavian stories.

🇩🇰 🇮🇸 🇳🇴 🇸🇪

30 comments:

  1. This is a fun list, Marianne! You always introduce us to such interesting books.

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    1. Thanks, Lydia. That is so nice of you to say. We all benefit from each other's read and I am sure I found interesting books on your page.

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  2. Kristin Lavransdatter is high on my list of books I want to read.

    Great list!

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    1. Such an interesting read, Deb. No wonder the author received the Nobel Prize for Literature.

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  3. I haven't tried Undset's epic, but I am looking forward to tackling her "Ida Elizabeth".

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    1. I haven't read that one, Stephen, but I'm sure it's also great.

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  4. Great list! I know of Peer Gynt from the music, but I hadn't realized it was also a story. I'll have to see if I can get a copy!

    My TTT: https://bookwyrmknits.com/2023/08/22/top-ten-tuesday-urban-fantasy-thats-not-secretly-pnr/

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    1. You'll be in for a great experience there, Nicole. When you've read the book, you will understand the music even better. And vice versa. The music was written as part of the play, a so-called incidental music and they are great addition one to the other.
      If you're into reading online, I'm sure it's on Gutenberg.

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  5. Oooo Kristin Lavransdatter has been on my list, I've heard great things about it!

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    1. It is a wonderful story, Gabby. I could hardly put it down.

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  6. Fun list! I have not read or heard of many of these.

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    1. Thanks, Deanna. I suppose many haven't, Scandinavia is not high on the list of translations into English. But these are absolute gems.

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  7. Great list! I don't think I have read any Scandinavian stories.

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    1. Thanks, Cindy. As I just mentioned to Deanna ^^, Scandinavia is not high on the list of translations into English. I hope I can persuade some more readers of becoming fans.

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  8. I really like Peter Hoeg! The Quiet Girl is probably my favorite of his books, but I also liked Smilla's Sense of Snow. :D Fun TTT list.

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    1. Oh, thanks for that, Lark. I have only read Smilla, so I will have to get onto some of the others.

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  9. I don't think I've heard of any of these books. Though I have read a few books set in Scandinavia that were written by a Scandinavian author.

    Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
    https://readbakecreate.com/visit-michigan-in-ten-books/

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    1. I said it above ^^, Pam, Scandinavia is not high on the list of translations into English. So, I'm not surprised so many of you have not heard of any of those. I am sure there are some on the list that you would enjoy.

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  10. My husband has a lot of Swedish ancestry, so Sweden is on his travel bucket list. One of these days, we'll get there. Hopefully!

    Happy TTT!

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    1. Oh, you will enjoy that, Susan. Sweden is an absolutely beautiful country. And I will surely talk about it more after we've been again.

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  11. Oooh! Scandanavian books! I rarely see these types of books, but these books sound interesting! Great list!

    Here’s my Top Ten Tuesday

    Rabbit Ears Book Blog: WORLD’S WEIRDEST BOOK BLOG!

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    1. Thanks, Ronyell, I'm glad so many approve of my choice since it's not really a "genre" but I thought it might be interesting.

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  12. Interesting coincident--I just read a middle grade book that was translated from Norwegian called Adventures with Waffles. It would not normally have been something on my radar, but my sister recommended it, and it makes me curious about other books from the same region. Great list!

    My TTT

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    1. That is interesting indeed, Kristi. I have never heard of that one. But it has been written even after my children were in middle school, so I'm not surprised. Sounds like a good book. Thanks.

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  13. I haven't read many Scandinavian books. I should change that because it's a fascinating part of the world.

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    1. It is a great part of the world, AJ. The most happy people live there, that must mean something.

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  14. I so want to read Kristin Lavransdatter... I understand it's a trilogy, right? The author won the Nobel Prize for Literature from what I recall.

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    1. You are right on both accounts, Lisa. It is indeed a trilogy which might make it easier for some to read it because it doesn't look like one big tome. Needless to say, I read it in one go because I liked it so much. And she totally deserved the Nobel Prize for that.

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    2. Good to know that you loved the trilogy! I think one of the reasons I may have put off reading it is the length of the series and time commitment it would take to read it. I am still wading through Anna Karenina and I started that in March of this year!

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    3. I absolutely love those tomes, LIsa, but I understand that not many people do. Russian authors are well known for large books and that might be one of the reasons why I think they are so great.

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