Sjón has been one of my favourite icelandic writers. The blue fox is an amazing novel.

The Saga of Grettir the Strong. If you're going to read anything medieval, Icelandic sagas are the way to go.

I read Egil's Saga while touring Iceland a couple years ago. There's a nice museum in Borgarnes which has an exhibition on Egil's adventures. I picked up a copy of the book and finished it on my flight home.

For more modern, I like the crime/mystery series -

• Ragnar Jónasson
• Yrsa Sigurðardóttir
• Arnaldur Indriðason

Gunnlaðarsaga by Svava Jakobsdóttir has always been one of my favorite Icelandic books. More info: https://bokmenntaborgin.is/en/literature-web/books/gunnloths-tale

Dear bot. Wifes da was feb 19th

Everything published after Njála is unnecessary. It is the perfect book.

How about a weird Icelandic translation of Dracula which is almost akin to a fanfiction?

http://powersofdarkness.com/

"The resulting narrative is one that is shorter, punchier, more erotic, and perhaps even more suspenseful than Stoker's Dracula. Incredibly, Makt Myrkranna has never been translated or even read outside of Iceland until now."

After having a holiday in Iceland a few years ago, we binged on Icelandic detective novels

I can really recommend Yrsa Sigurðardóttir: She has a great series of books, some of them kind of spooky and dark

We also loved Arnaldur Indriðason: We found his Detective Erlendur books compared to Ian Rankin's Rebus series

I also loved reading through all the Sagas. Penguin has a big compendium called Sagas of Icelanders which has a good cross section

I think I’ve only read two books by Icelandic authors.

Butterflies in November by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir. Charming road-trip novel, I don’t remember much of the plot but I recall enjoying it. It has a section at the end with recipes for all the food mentioned throughout the story.

Snowblind by Ragnar Jónasson. Nordic noir/crime novel set in an isolated northern coast town. First in a series. Didn’t grab me, felt more shallow and less fleshed-out than some of the better works from this subgenre.

I admire anyone who translates novels from Icelandic into English, given how tricky Icelandic is, especially for non native speakers.

Oh I love this!

Adding Woman at 1,000 Degrees by Hallgrimur Helgason! It's a fascinating read. Told from the point of view of a spirited, but dying 80 year-old Icelandic woman recounting her exploits across Iceland and Europe through WWII, Iceland's independence, and other major 20th century events.

I'm surprised Independent People by Halldor Laxness hasn't been mentioned yet! It's pretty grim, but excellent.

Yep. Very worth reading: a grim but evocative encapsulation of a landscape and the people who lived there. It reads like something out of pre-history, but it takes place about 100 years ago.

I bought a copy ahead of a trip to Iceland in 2018. Thought to start it at home then read on the trip. We had such a whirlwind, jam-packed 6 days there I never had a chance! Still lingers on my TBR pile.

I really enjoy his writing, but I feel in each book I've read that there are subtle cultural and political themes or undercurrents that are lost to those of us who are not Icelandic. I just feel like I miss some things that probably lend understanding or depth to the story because of not being familiar with the political climates at the time of the writing. Also he had a political arc himself, and I've read others express how this manifests in his writing. But again, an Iceland-centric arc, a context that many don't have access to.

That being said I think his writing is still worth reading even when it's weird (parts of The Atom Station) for example. The Fish Can Sing is actually my favorite, the breadths of characters and all of their personalities are impressive. I spend a lot of time in Iceland and so in some ways the characters feel familiar to me, composites of people I've met and even Icelandic friends and their families. So this makes this book more understandable.

i've been slowwwwwly making my way through Independent People by Halldór Laxness since august. currently a 3rd of the way through.

i know i can love this novel if im at the right place when i pick it up but i hardly ever find myself at that place. some of it has been absolutely incredible, most of it has been a struggle.

Lilja Sigurðardóttir: Betrayal; Reykjavík Noir Trilogy

Ragnar Jónasson: Hidden Iceland series

Eva Björg Ægisdóttir: Forbidden Iceland series

Yrsa Sigurðardóttir: Why Did You Lie?; I Remember You

Havent seen Angels of the universe yet. it is written by Einar Már Guðmundsson and based on his brother who suffered from schizophrenia. The mark left on popular culture by this book is still felt today especially since mental health is more talked about now than ever before. In 2000 a movie was made based on the book and while it stars legendary Icelandic actor Ingvar E. Sigurðsson it also features Baltasar Kormákur who is now a very successful director.

Laxness has already been mentioned but i want to recommend my favorite book of his: Salka Valka. Written in the 1920's it features a unique look into the struggles of the icelandic proletariat in a fictional town called Óseyri.

I’ve been hearing good things about Jón Kalman Stefánsson - has anyone read his work?

Just read this, the main character is such a horrible human, yet the story is compelling.

Such a memorable book

I also like the atom station

Michael Ridpath isn’t an Icelandic author but he has a mystery series set primarily in Iceland.

The first one in his series involves a murder and the chase for a legendary ring, I’d give it about 7/10 stars. Not at all bad, but a bit generic and easily breezed through. It was about 352 pages, but to me it felt very short.

big ups auđur ava olafsdottir and kirstin omarsdottir

I just read and loved Miss Iceland by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir and now I want to read everything she’s written

My great grandfathers biography Nú brosir nóttin is a good book but sadly has not been translated yet

Thanks for the rec, will add to my to-read list!

Can you tell a little about it? I’d be so interested in this, I love biographies and memoirs.

If you want some grim multi-generational blood feuds, there's always Njal's Saga. Stupid and petty spats drive reasonable friends into into murders and pitched battles, and for poignancy, there's evidence that at least some of this stuff really did happen, around the year 1000.

He was a fox hunter and still holds the record for most foxes he was born 1870s and spent a lot of time on the highlands hunting foxes.

Brennu-Njal (The Story of Burnt Njal) is a near-perfect novel - balanced twisted, winds to an end and an epilogue that are complete and satisfying. I read it to my younger sister, to my son, and to my mother, and my copy is worn, and I still tear up at a few moments.

Grettir and Egil are excellent adventure stories, and Egil is a wonderfully complex character - a violent psycho, a great poet and occasional hero.

Agreed. Have you read Moonstone – The Boy Who Never Was?

No. I haven't. It's hard to find his books in spanish and I haven't search for them in english.

I agree. I read The Atom Station and it was very good, but I felt like I was missing a lot of historical context.

Rosa Candida is so beautiful, it’s a book I will never stop recommending

I’ll have to check it out next! Thanks!

That's awesome. I hope this is translated one day!

Maybe I'll have the time to

I’ll read it if you do!