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More Book Reviews:
3.12.2010
A Novel, A Translation and Unapologetic Plagiarisms
Who’s not afraid of the big bad wolf of plagiarism? The poet and central character in Bragi Ólafsson’s second novel to come out in English, ‘The Ambassador’, that’s who.
21.10.2010
antennae scratch sky by Þórunn Erla Valdimarsdóttir
Divided into sections (‘Intro’, ‘Death and Life’, ‘Cosmic Dreams’, ‘Day to Day’) with colour-coded titles, ‘antennae scratch sky’ touches on life cycles, animal instincts, sexuality, cosmos, fruit and the meaning of the word “motherfucker”.
15.10.2010
This Was The Real Iceland
It is a little difficult to decide which of two ways to describe Sigurður Gylfi Magnússon's new book ‘Wasteland With Words’.
4.10.2010
Heaven and Hell by Jón Kalman Stefánsson
Jón Kalman Stefánsson’s first work in English translation, ‘Heaven and Hell’ (‘Himnaríki og helvíti’, Bjartur, October 2007), was released on September 2 by MacLehose Press (an imprint of Quercus).
3.9.2010
Book Review: 25 Beautiful Walks Walking Trails of the Greater Reykjavik Area
With author Reynir Ingibjartsson’s interest in his subject and sense of humour coming through every entry, 25 Beautiful Walks is a nature-walk-lover’s ode to Reykjavík.
3.8.2010
Vikings in America
By now we all know that Scandinavian settlers reached Greenland in the late 900s and built settlements there that endured for more than four hundred years.
8.12.2009
Two New Guidebooks To Iceland
Need to buy a guidebook to Iceland? You can choose from Lonely Planet, the Rough Guides, Frommer’s, Insight Guides, and the Bradt Guides.
12.11.2009
Absolutely Fable-ous!
Twelve volumes and counting, with no end in sight, Fables by Bill Willingham is probably Vertigo’s finest on-going series.
27.10.2009
Dungeon (The Series)
French humour has sometimes been described as “not funny” or “weird”. Lewis Trondheim is both French and funny.
1.10.2009
The Far Traveler: Voyages of a Viking Woman
The title and blurb of this book leads you to think it’s about Guðríður Þorbjarnardóttir, the wife of Þorfinnur Karlsefni and mother of Snorri Þorfinnsson, the first European child to be born on the North American continent.
28.9.2009
Frank Castle, The Punisher: Six Hours to Kill
Like so many readers and writers of this beloved mag, you're probably a bleeding heart liberal. You're against whale hunting and capital punishment. That's okay, this reviewer is too. Kinda.
23.9.2009
Funny, Colourful Filth
The comic strips in “The Trial of Colonel Sweeto” are hilarious and multicoloured and filthy like uhm.... like rainbow poop.
21.9.2009
The Blue Fox (Skuggabaldur)
In his 2003 novel, writer/poet Sjón takes the reader on to a journey to provincial Iceland of the 19th century and the life of two men, Pastor Baldur and the farmer Friðrik Friðriksson.
18.9.2009
A Traveler's Guide to Icelandic Folk Tales
While traveling around Iceland, tourists will often hear stories of Icelandic folk legends.
4.9.2009
Troll's Cathedral
Trolls´Cathedral (original Icelandic title Tröllakirkja) is the first part of an acclaimed trilogy by author Ólafur Gunnarsson
3.9.2009
Children's Reykjavík
By the time adults have children, they’re often out of touch with kid culture and need help figuring out what to do all day with their three-foot wonders. Even once things get going reasonably well, it’s easy to get into a rut
1.9.2009
Must Love Zombies
There is something very addictive in this ongoing, apparently non-stop series. What can it be?
20.8.2009
The Travels of Reverend Ólafur Egilsson
On a summer day in 1627, pirates landed on Heimaey, the largest of the Westmann Islands. They swarmed over the island’s farms and houses, killed thirty-four of its residents and forced 242 men, women, and children onto their ships.
18.8.2009
100 Crazy Things (Apparently)
A far cry from Icelandair’s notorious ‘Dirty Weekend in Reykjavík’ ad campaign a few years back and the Bangkok of the North label Iceland has received in the past, this book is sweet and romantic rather than sex-oriented.
18.8.2009
100 Crazy Things (Apparently)
50 Crazy Things to Taste in Iceland lists, well, fifty crazy things to taste in Iceland. It is obviously aimed at tourists, and with me being an Icelandic native myself, I didn’t expect to find the foods listed here so crazy.
17.8.2009
Two Collections Of Comics By Fletcher
Recently rediscovered and dubbed "the Ed Wood of comics", the late Fletcher Hanks was a cartoonist from the golden age of comic books (late 1930s – late 40s).
17.8.2009
European Champions
The only negative thing to say about this book and these series of Tove Janssons's comic strips is that they make you jealous.
5.8.2009
Angels of the Universe
This is the story of Paul. He was born in 1949, on the day that Iceland joined the NATO alliance. And he believes that being welcomed into this world by protests and tear gas must mean something.
5.8.2009
Stumble, an Icelandic Troll Story
Brian Pilkington, a Liverpool native living in Iceland since 1977, is one of the country's most beloved children books' illustrators.
5.8.2009
The Windows of Brimnes
In 1998, Minnesotan writer and teacher Bill Holm bought himself a house called Brimnes in Hofsós, a small village a half-hour's drive from the town of Sauðárkrókur in northern Iceland.
5.8.2009
Reviewing Comix
20.7.2009
Speechless By The Mountain
This short philosophical essay evokes the question of the existence of the human being and his relations to the outside world. Standing at the foot of the Askja, in awe of its raw and majestic appearance, Páll Skúlason – Icelandic philosopher and writer – searches for his place in the world as an entity.
20.7.2009
A (Slightly Outdated) History of Iceland
As the title clearly states, this book is a very brief account of the history of our small nation and country. And the first thing I noticed is that it is in fact very small, making it quite handy for travellers.
19.6.2009
“Xenophobe’s guide to the Icelanders”
Here’s a book about the Icelander and his or her true self – told from the foreigner’s point of view. The author, Richard Sale from the UK, mocks Icelanders in every respect. Nothing that foreigners consider odd, special or different about Icelanders remains untouched.
8.6.2009
Magic Lore
Legends and Lanscape [Ed. Terry Gunnell, 2009]
A full moon glimmers across snow-laden fields. Somewhere in the distance a wolf howls. Noiselessly, through a strange mist, a shadow emerges. The last thing you see is the flash of two swollen, white canines. Sound familiar? Stories of vampires, like all legends, tell us something innate about ourselves: where we have been and where we might go from here.
25.5.2009
Focus on Iceland
This travel book from 2008 is built around 600 photographs by Rafn Hafnfjörð, a well-established Icelandic photographer known for his photographs of Icelandic landscape and sceneries. The text is supplied by Ari Trausti, a poet and geophysicist, whose works concern geology and volcanology, as well as environmental science. Therefore, he is certainly an eligible co-author for a travel book about Iceland.
8.5.2009
"A promise was made somewhere"
Promising Genomics - Iceland and deCODE Genetics in a World of Speculation
"Hereby we formally request an answer from the Independence Party and the Centrist Party regarding the truth of the claim that these parties have accepted a large sum of money, a contribution worth as much as half a million US dollars, from deCODE Genetics, the parent company of Íslensk erfðagreining, or from related parties.
21.4.2009
Svalbard – A Woman in the Polar Night
By Christiane Ritter (1938)
21.4.2009
Ireland – The Island of the White Cow
By Deborah Tall (1986)
21.4.2009
Inside Reykjavík: The Grapevine Guide
By Bart Cameron (2006)
21.4.2009
Iceland – Ripples from Iceland
By Amalia Líndal (1962)
21.4.2009
Faroe Islands - Far Afield
By Susanna Kaysen (1990)
21.4.2009
An African in Greenland
By Tété-Michel Kpomassie (1981)
2.3.2009
The English Dane
The English Dane By Sarah Bakewell
2.3.2009
Dreaming of Iceland: The Lure of a Family Legend
Dreaming of Iceland: The Lure of a Family Legend By Sally Magnusson.
2.3.2009
The Killer’s Guide to Iceland
The Killer’s Guide to Iceland By Bane Radcliffe
2.3.2009
The Ice Museum: In Search of the Lost Land of Thule
The Ice Museum: In Search of the Lost Land of Thule By Joanna Kavenna
4.9.2008
The Xenophobes Guide To The Icelanders
It’s a must read, and a good bit of fun if you are new to the country or otherwise, and it’s at least worth putting in your bathroom.
4.9.2008
Waking Up In Iceland
From the picture to the page, this is a more traditional sort of guide.
4.9.2008
Reykjavik 64...
Reykjavik 64°08N 21°54W
23.7.2004
Northern Delights
This time of the year the bookshops are full of illustrated books directed at the tourist market. In them, the sky is blue, the moss is green, the lava is black and the horses manes trail in the breeze. Not many of us who live here have actually witnessed much of this particlular scene, but the books sell well and do a fine job in promoting the flora and fauna of Iceland to those who see them on the coffe tables of returning visitors.
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