A Scandinavian Christmas: Festive Tales for a Nordic Noel by Various authors
Blurb
Have yourself a very hygge Christmas with some of the best Christmas stories from across Scandinavia – old and new
This collection brings together the best Scandinavian Christmas stories including classics by Hans Christian Andersen of Denmark, Nobel Prize winner Selma Lagerlof, as well as the popular contemporary Karl Ove Knausgard. These Nordic tales convey a festive and contemplative spirit laden with lingonberries, elks, gnomes, Sami trolls, candles, church spires, gingerbread and aquavit in abundance.
A smorgasbord of unexpected literary gifts which make up a vibrant, elegant hardcover volume sure to provide plenty of pleasure and hygge, that specifically Scandinavian blend of cosiness and contentment.
Review
As regular readers of my blog you will probably have noticed I love a Christmas book. So when I saw this book, I bought it for my Christmas 2021 reading (the review is rather late, apologies) because it looked like a good read. The book is made up of short stories which I thought would be perfect for dipping into over the Christmas period.
I will be honest this book was rather surprising to me and at times I almost gave up with it. The reason for this was because at times the stories could be quite depressing and not something I really wanted to read about over Christmas. Yes, I know it is Scandinavian and sometimes their work can be on the depressing side. I have read a lot of Hans Christian Andersen and know that he can be on the bleak side at times but I wasn’t expecting so much bleakness in this Christmas book. The other reason I almost gave up was because certain stories didn’t make much sense to me and felt incomplete or because they didn’t have anything to do with Christmas.
My favourite stories were the ones by Hans Christian Andersen but I didn’t enjoy the more modern stories. Overall, for me the most Christmassy thing about the book is the beautiful cover. I had high hopes for this book and hoped the stories would have a bit of flare but overall I found the book rather flat and disappointing. I give this book 3 out 5 Dragons because there were a few stories I did enjoy.
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I hope everyone has exciting plans for the weekend.
My chosen poem this week is by Robert Louis Stevenson and the poem explores how imagination creates a whole new world for a child to play in.
The Land of Story Books
At evening when the lamp is lit,
Around the fire my parents sit;
They sit at home and talk and sing,
And do not play at anything.
Now, with my little gun, I crawl
All in the dark along the wall,
And follow round the forest track
Away behind the sofa back.
There, in the night, where none can spy,
All in my hunter's camp I lie,
And play at books that I have read
Till it is time to go to bed.
These are the hills, these are the woods,
These are my starry solitudes;
And where the river by whose brink
The roaring lions come to drink.
I see the others far away
As if in firelit camp they lay,
And I, like an Indian scout,
Around their party prowled about.
So, when my nurse comes in for me,
Home I return across the sea,
And go to bed with backward looks
At my dear land of Story Books.
Robert Louis Stevenson
Happy Reading
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Village Christmas and Other Notes on the English Year by Laurie Lee
Blurb
From the author of Cider With Rosie, Village Christmas is a moving, lyrical portrait of England through the changing years and seasons.
Laurie Lee left his childhood home in the Cotswolds when he was nineteen, but it remained with him throughout his life until, many years later, he returned for good. This collection brings to life the sights, sounds, landscapes and traditions of his home – from centuries-old May Day rituals to his own patch of garden, from carol singing in crunching snow to pub conversations and songs. Here too he writes about the mysteries of love, living in wartime Chelsea, Winston Churchill’s wintry funeral and his battle, in old age, to save his beloved Slad Valley from developers.
Told with a warm sense of humour and a powerful sense of history, Village Christmas brings us a picture of a vanished world.
Review
I ordered this book in November to read in December but sadly it didn’t arrive until the beginning of January but once I saw it only had a few Christmas stories and the rest were all based on the rest of the year I decided to read it straight away. This is my first Laurie Lee book and I really enjoyed it.
The book is divided into the seasons and each season has lots of reflections from Lee’s past. The stories range from when he was a young boy growing up in his beloved village in the Cotswolds to when he was living in London. Lee also writes about some of his memories of when he returned to live in the Cotswolds and his fight to save the beauty of his village.
I really loved Lee’s descriptions and his way with words in this book which meant that at times I could not put the book down. I particularly enjoyed his beautiful story called ‘The Shining Severn’ which describes the river Severn in all its glory. ‘Harvest Festival’ was also a favourite of mine but to be honest I loved all the stories and you could really appreciate the love Lee has for his country.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and hope to read ‘Cider with Rosie’ soon. I give this book 4 out of 5 Dragons.
(All purchases made using one of the above affiliate links gives a small percentage of money to myself with no extra cost to yourself. All proceeds go towards the upkeep of this blog. Thank you ever so much, your support is gratefully received.)
About the author
Laurence Edward Alan “Laurie” Lee, MBE, was an English poet, novelist, and screenwriter. His most famous work was an autobiographical trilogy which consisted of Cider with Rosie (1959), As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning (1969) and A Moment of War (1991). While the first volume famously recounts his childhood in the idyllic Slad Valley, the second deals with his leaving home for London and his first visit to Spain in 1934, and the third with his return in December 1937 to join the Republican International Brigade.
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The rules are answer the questions below and share a link to your blog in the comments section of Sam’s blog.
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you will read next?
Hello!
I hope everyone is having a good week so far. I am back to work fully now but I am making sure I make plenty of time for reading.
What I am Currently Reading
I have almost finished this and I must admit I can’t wait to read the next book. I had forgotten what a great book this is.
What I have Recently Finished Reading
This wasn’t really a Christmas book as it was stories from the different seasons and only a couple of the stories were about Christmas. This was my first book by Laurie Lee but will definitely not be my last.
What I Think I will Read Next
I can’t wait to start reading some of the books off my list for The Classics Club but I also have The Witcher series to start as well.
Please drop me a comment with your WWW Wednesday and I will head over for a visit.
Happy Reading
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So for quite a while now I thought about joining The Classics Club and this year I have decided to join up. I have chosen 50 books all published before 1900 and plan to complete the list in five years, so my deadline is 11th January 2027. I used to read a lot of classics so it will be good to get reading them again and tick off quite a few books on my TBR pile.
The list has mostly new reads for me but there are a few favourites on the list and ones that I can’t quite remember all the storyline of and would like to read again.
All books that I read and review will be linked back to this list.
In no particular order, here is the list…
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
Silas Marner by George Eliot
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
Clarissa by Samuel Richardson
Villette by Charlotte Brontë
The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas
Shirley by Charlotte Brontë
The Woodlanders by Thomas Hardy
The Red Sphinx by Alexandre Dumas
The Vicomte de Bragelonne by Alexandre Dumas
Ten Years Later by Alexandre Dumas
Louise de La Valliere by Alexandre Dumas
Lady Susan and other works by Jane Austen
Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
Evelina by Frances Burney
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
Rob Roy by Sir Walter Scott
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
Love in Excess by Eliza Haywood
Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
Candide by Voltaire
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
Scenes of Clerical Life by George Eliot
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Lorna Doone by R. D. Blackmore
The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope
The New Magdalen by Wilkie Collins
The Runaway by Elizabeth Anna hart
Tom Brown’s School Days by Thomas Hughes
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
Middlemarch by George Eliot
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
Under the Greenwood Tree by Thomas Hardy
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Bleak House by Charles Dickens
Cecilia by Frances Burney
Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan
Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe
Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome
The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith
Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne
Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Wish me luck!
Happy Reading
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It is time for my final update of my 2021 challenge. I had to change location of the book stack because I could no longer keep it upright without it leaning on against a wall.
Sadly, I failed the challenge. The final stack came to 64 inches and it needed to be 67 inches. I was so close but I just came short.
Here is the year in full.
Maybe, I will try the challenge again another year.
Happy Reading
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I ordered Village Christmas by Laurie Lee in November and it turned up a couple of days ago but being as it isn’t all about Christmas I decided to read it and so far I am loving it and finding it very funny.
Happy Reading
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Lady Book Dragon 