Does your reading stack reflect your travel itineraries?

[Liz Masterson]

[TayanaLorna]

Sure does!  Reading and movies/TV series too.

[geffric]

Yes..I always read about where I am visiting as it makes it more interesting to me..

although I looked at your book  stack first to say "yes I read that and then too look for some other books to read.."

[CCWineLover]

You bet!  Thanks for sharing some interesting books!

We are off to Iceland next June!  I just got "How Iceland Changed the World".

[Liz Masterson]

Suggestion…

don’t overlook “Children’s Literature” as you will often find their simplified descriptions of technical things… like the working of the Panama Canal… useful.

[Twitchly]

If anyone is going to Scandinavia, I highly recommend reading The Almost Nearly Perfect People by Michael Booth. Booth, an Englishman, is married to a Dane and lives in Denmark. He travels around the five countries of Scandinavia and shares some pithy insights along with a big helping of wit. 
 

From the book description:

 

“Why are the Danes so happy, despite having the highest taxes? Do the Finns really have the best education system? Are the Icelanders as feral as they sometimes appear? How are the Norwegians spending their fantastic oil wealth? And why do all of them hate the Swedes?”

[Twitchly]

And if you’re headed to the UK, don’t miss Bill Bryson’s Notes from a Small Island. I re-read it on our recent BIE cruise, and it was just perfect. 

 

For what it’s worth, I would skip Bryson’s followup sequel, The Road to Little Dribbling, written a couple of decades later. Mean-spirited, charmless, and dull. 

[OneSixtyToOne]

11 minutes ago, Twitchly said:

And why do all of them hate the Swedes?”

😂 Our tour guide in Denmark gave us many reasons why they hate the Swedes. It’s a running joke in Scandinavia. There is a movie called “The Bridge” about a body found right on the border of Sweden and Denmark that focuses on two detectives from each country forced to join forces to solve the case. The movie was remade in the US to be Mexico and Texas but it loses the original intent.

Edited October 4, 2022 by OneSixtyToOne

[janetcbl]

3 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

You bet!  Thanks for sharing some interesting books!

We are off to Iceland next June!  I just got "How Iceland Changed the World".

Fascinating book!

[CCWineLover]

31 minutes ago, janetcbl said:

Fascinating book!

Great!  Am starting to read it now.

Someone spoke of Bill Bryson.  this is a little off topic but since my dad's family is all in Iowa (Fairfield/Cedar Rapdis), I really enjoyed Bryson's memoir book on Iowa called "Thunderbolt Kid".  (and also The Lost Continent) 🙂

 

[Peregrina651]

7 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

You bet!  Thanks for sharing some interesting books!

We are off to Iceland next June!  I just got "How Iceland Changed the World".

 

I read it. Nicely, done. Good premise, lightly handled but chock full of history and information. Available on audio.

[jmfdr]

My Finnish friend recommended this book——THE NORDIC THEROY OF EVERYTHING by Ann Partenan.  I found it a really interesting comparison between life in Finland and the US.