December in the Library: Scandinavian Noir and More
by Anne Newins
Last December, we set up our usual holiday book display and snuck in a few Scandinavian Noir (aka Scandinoir) novels. Somewhat to our surprise, they were more popular than the traditional holiday tales. So, this year we are reversing the subjects and placing the major focus on Scandinavia, including Iceland. Many thanks to Janice Williams for compiling the bibliography.
Scandinavian mysteries are popular year round at RVM, so we will be including books by Jo Nesbo, Helen Tursten, Arnaldur Indridason, Henning Mankell, David Lagercrantz, and others. But Scandinavian literature is more than dark drama. Some other books that may interest you include:
Only in Iceland: a quirky chronicle, by RVM resident Asifa Kanji
Asifa describes her trip to Iceland, including hikes from ice caps to volcanoes, and noting many unexpected and curious details of Icelandic life, folklore, culture, and history.
The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, by Margareta Magnusson
Magnusson uses Scandinavian humor to help the process of cleaning out unnecessary belongings and encourages readers to embrace minimalism.
The Spectator Bird, by Wallace Stegner
Stegner’s revered novel recounts the life of a retired literary agent who is “just killing time until time gets around to killing me” and then returns to the journals of a trip to his Danish mother’s birthplace.
The Man with the Silver Saab, by Alexander McCall Smith
No book by McCall Smith will ever fall into a noir category. In this one Ulf Varg and the other Swedish detectives in the Malmo’s Department of Sensitive Crimes investigate a series of crimes against an art historian.
For traditionalists, a few books about the holidays will be on the table.
From all the volunteers at the library, best wishes for a happy holiday season and good new year!
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