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I have just sign for a new challenge hosted by Amy at The Black Sheep Dances.
The goal is to read 6 books by Scandinavian authors before December 31, 2010.
I take for granted that we can consider Scandinavian countries, for the purpose of this challenge, not only Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, but also Finland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands. (Wikipedia).
Paraphrasing Kerrie at Mysteries in Paradise, I’m also seriously addicted to crime fiction, therefore I’m restricting my participation in the 2010 Scandinavian Reading Challenge to crime fiction titles. I’m not sure whether participants can use books of any other genre.
Why? “Because Murder is More Fun Away From Home“, Peter Rozovsky dixit at Detectives Beyond Borders
To join this Challenge click here
I have so far in my TBR pile 4 books:
1) Silence of the Grave (2001) by Arnaldur Indriðason (Iceland)
2) Nemesis (2008) by Jo Nesbø (Norway)
3) Sun Storm (aka The Savage Altar) (2006) by Asa Larsson (Sweden)
4) The Fire Engine That Disappeared (2009) by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö (Sweden)
For the balance I was thinking to choose one book from Leif G.W. Persson and another one from Yrsa Sigurðardóttir.
Your suggestions are welcome.
Don’t know what to read? The following links will provide some useful tips.
Scandinavian Crime Fiction in English
Mystery Readers Journal Scandinavian Mysteries
Petrona: The enduring appeal of Nordic novels
A Crime is Afoot 
>I think they are very good choices, Jose. I enjoyed all those ones on your list. I haven't read any Lief Persson but if you want a bit of balance you could try a Danish one? I thought The Serbian Dane by Lief Davidsen is very good, it is a thriller. I've read Yrsa S's first novel and like it a lot – it is an "academic" mystery (murder at a university) but there is a great relationship between the two main characters, I don't know if you have read Dashiel Hammett but it reminded me a little of Nick and Nora Charles.Jose, do you ever visit the Friend feed crime fiction group? Do you want me to set your blog to post into there?
>Thanks very much for your advice Maxine. I was also considering to add some danish and finnish authors to keep it in balance.Thanks also for you kind proposal regarding the Friend feed crime fiction group. It will be just fine if you do so.
>OK, Jose I will set up your blog in the FF room….If you are interested in Finnish, the one I most enjoyed is called Ice Moon by Jan Costin Wagner. Although the author is German his wife is Finnish and they spend half their time in Finland, half in Germany. The novel is (mainly) set in Finland. It is very good I think, and short. There is quite a bit of humour in it, too, though it is a sad story.
>Thanks Maxine for all the trouble you are taking.I also found a Finnish author in International Noir Fiction that might be of interest, Matti Joensuu's To Steal Her Love.
>You have found some excellent novels to read! The only one I haven´t tried is Leif Persson, but the other five are brilliant authors. (To be honest I think they are better than the Danish authors that are translated into English, but some of Leif Davidsen´s are very good).
>Here is the link, Jose! Look forward to seeing you at Friend feed now and again. http://ff.im/iIn9OI read that Matti Joenesuu book and I quite liked it (my review is at Euro Crime). Unfortunately it is one of those that is in the middle of a series and only one other has been translated (about a serial killer priest, which I did not like the sound of!). I think it is a pity as you don't know much about what the characters have done in previous books. I liked the detective team, but not so much the baddies!The Jan Costin Wagner book is much shorter.Another one that some people have read recently, eg Dorte, is Snow Angels by James Thompson. It is a Finnish police procedural and pretty good. The author is American and the book was written in English, but he's lived in Finland for many years.
>Thanks for the promo Jose! Just to clarify, the challenge isn't limited to crime, it can be any Scandinavian author and genre. My personal favorite is Per Petterson but I also consider Knut Hamsun's Growth of the Soil and Hunger both epic classics.Enjoy and keep us posted on TBSD with your titles.Amyhttp://www.theblacksheepdances.blogspot.com