Scandinavia is witches' country. [The Little Book of Scandi Living by Brontë Aurell]
There's about 4 days and few hours left in 2019. Previously I'd set an arbitrary goal of one, trying to finish all the books from my NetGalley shelf with 2019 publishing dates, and two, trying to read as many books as possible before the new year is here. Finishing my two reads, The Righteous One and Home Story, I apparently forget these goals and requested more books. Fine, that in itself is not an issue. I started reading all four and luckily they were all (as eBooks) less than 120 pages. Fantabulous, we stan a short length queen. But while I've made progress in reading the three 2019 NetGalley reads I still aim to finish, some of my new reads proved funner, more interesting reads.
Four of the books I haphazardly requested came from the Quarto Publishing Group (White Lion Publishing). Of those four two were highlighting specific cultures. One I started reading first, The Little Book of Japanese Living (still reading), and the other I'm highlighting here, The Little Book of Scandi Living (LBSL). Per the last page of the eBook I got to read this version, LBSL, is to be a 2020 edition of the book, originally published as North in 2017.
I started reading the two books simultaneously and very quickly Scandinavia won me over. Whereas with The Little Book of Japanese Living I was being introduced to Japanese history, geography, and the Japanese outlook on live and intercultural relations, the self-deprecating humorous approach to cultural presentation in LBSL was more entertaining. I've (self-congratulatory pat on back) completed the Duolingo Danish course so the increased familiarity with Danish culture was fun, but what was wild as I read was being informed on the degree to which pagan traditions persist in everyday Scandinavian culture. Every other tradition is pagan. How interesting. Learning how the Scandinavian nations seamlessly meld warding off witches and seeking supernatural assistance into their everyday lives was amusingly eye-opening.
As I read I saw the wonderfully painted scenes of togetherness and Scandinavian tradition. This being a book to promote and explain the idealized cultural standard of living in each of the three countries highlighted (Sweden, Norway, Denmark) LBSL was historic to the degree of roots and localized neighborly tensions, but not to the degree of ongoing politics and current respective domestic tensions. Not that that was something I expected or needed, but to not delve deep into the issues seemingly promotes a stereotype of who is Scandinavian, though the book does emphasis that there is no such thing, that Scandinavians come in all shapes and colors. Still, it's a little book. And I don't need a deep dive into what it means to be Scandinavian in the year XYZ. That's not what I expected or hoped for when I requested the book.
I enjoyed this read a great deal. I feel I learned a lot after reading the book through. I would like to go touring Scandinavia with this book on hand. I don't expect it would serve as a be-all-end-all guidebook but more so as a cultural segway. But I'd be remiss to omit the fact that the picture of Scandinavia painted freaks me out a bit. Being freaked out by the eerie part of Scandinavia was a surprise. Would recommend this book and I think I'll give it 5 stars.
Four of the books I haphazardly requested came from the Quarto Publishing Group (White Lion Publishing). Of those four two were highlighting specific cultures. One I started reading first, The Little Book of Japanese Living (still reading), and the other I'm highlighting here, The Little Book of Scandi Living (LBSL). Per the last page of the eBook I got to read this version, LBSL, is to be a 2020 edition of the book, originally published as North in 2017.
As I read I saw the wonderfully painted scenes of togetherness and Scandinavian tradition. This being a book to promote and explain the idealized cultural standard of living in each of the three countries highlighted (Sweden, Norway, Denmark) LBSL was historic to the degree of roots and localized neighborly tensions, but not to the degree of ongoing politics and current respective domestic tensions. Not that that was something I expected or needed, but to not delve deep into the issues seemingly promotes a stereotype of who is Scandinavian, though the book does emphasis that there is no such thing, that Scandinavians come in all shapes and colors. Still, it's a little book. And I don't need a deep dive into what it means to be Scandinavian in the year XYZ. That's not what I expected or hoped for when I requested the book.
I enjoyed this read a great deal. I feel I learned a lot after reading the book through. I would like to go touring Scandinavia with this book on hand. I don't expect it would serve as a be-all-end-all guidebook but more so as a cultural segway. But I'd be remiss to omit the fact that the picture of Scandinavia painted freaks me out a bit. Being freaked out by the eerie part of Scandinavia was a surprise. Would recommend this book and I think I'll give it 5 stars.
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