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Miss Iceland
Miss Iceland | Audur Ava lafsdttir
Iceland in the 1960s. Hekla is a budding female novelist who was born in the remote district of Dalir. After packing her few belongings, including James Joycess Ulysses and a Remington typewriter, she heads for Reykjavik with a manuscript buried in her bags. There, she intends to become a writer. Sharing an apartment with her childhood and queer friend Jn John, Hekla comes to learn that she will have to stand alone in a small male dominated community that would rather see her win a pageant than be a professional artist. As the two friends find themselves increasingly on the outside, their bond shapes and strengthens them artistically in the most moving of ways.
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Centique
Miss Iceland | Audur Ava lafsdttir
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Pickpick

Hekla is a young woman in 1960s Iceland. She is named after a volcano, and like her namesake so much is going on under the calm surface. Hekla is a writer but it seems only men can be? Olafsdottir writes in an observational way - we hear what people say to Hekla, see what she sees and we notice the hypocrisy, but we are left to imagine what Hekla is thinking. I like this style of writing and the way it makes the reader try to figure out Hekla. ⬇️

Centique But i would have liked a little more to dig into and the abrupt ending left me wanting more. Still i think i will remember this book - particularly the friends Isey and Jon John. 4mo
53 likes1 comment
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yourfavouritemixtape
Miss Iceland | Audur Ava lafsdttir
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Pickpick

A woman who doesn‘t want to accept what society in Iceland in the 60s wants her to be. A man who doesn‘t want to be different just because he‘s gay.

This book has heavy undertones but it still manages to have a tenderness, that‘s delightful. Read for this month‘s #foodandlit

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Roary47
Miss Iceland | Audur Ava lafsdttir
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Mehso-so

3✨ While the title is pretty misleading I was invested in the characters. It is really a story about trying to overcoming division of different segregation. Hekla is named after one of the many volcanos in Iceland. She is a bit of a misfit in being a woman that is writing several novels. This is in a time period where that would not be accepted. Her room mate and best friend fights injustice because he loves men. ⬇️ #FoodandLit 🇮🇸

Roary47 While I did enjoy the story and how strong the characters needed to be, it seemed very choppy. I believe the writing style was because it was originally written in another language and caused a loss in translation. 5mo
Catsandbooks 🇮🇸👏🏼 5mo
23 likes2 comments
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Jeg
Miss Iceland | Audur Ava lafsdttir
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Pickpick

A delight. Set in one of my favourite places. Set in the 60s, a budding female writer in a very male dominated time, a close gay friend also in a difficult time for gay men. I read it in a few hours. A perfect way to spend inside time as we are having much warmer weather than usual for this time of year.

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Hooked_on_books
Miss Iceland | Audur Ava lafsdttir
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Mehso-so

I liked the story of a woman in 1960s Iceland who wants to be a writer, but faces oppression and sexism at every step. Her good friend is a gay man who faces similar prejudice. But I didn‘t like the writing and felt the depiction of the main character diminished her, in a way that felt like just another example of sexism. Plus, the cover doesn‘t work for this book at all—it‘s cute, but doesn‘t fit the content.

ShelleyBooksie Adorable doggo! 2y
59 likes1 comment
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Karisa
Miss Iceland | Audur Ava lafsdttir
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Pickpick

Great companion piece to Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Lessons in Chemistry! It was so interesting to have a feel for what Iceland would have been like in the early 1960s. Somethings were pleasant surprises like love of literature and nature. Other things sounded quite familiar with the times it is set in (treatment of women and homosexuals). All in all a good read, but that ending left me shaking my head! 🤷🏻‍♀️

63 likes2 stack adds
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alysonimagines
Miss Iceland | Audur Ava lafsdttir
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This slim novel, written as a collection of vignettes, follows the story of two friends in 1960s Reykjavík, Iceland: an aspiring writer working as a waitress and a gay aspiring theater costume designer working as a sailor. Both struggle to be socially accepted as their true selves. I loved and hated the bittersweet ending.?#decemberreads2021

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Oryx
Miss Iceland | Audur Ava lafsdttir
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Pickpick

Always nice when you pick a book without knowing anything about it or the author, and it turns out to be a good one. It's set in 1960s Iceland, and it's about a young woman who wants to become a writer. The writing is beautiful. I loved it's exploration of what it was like to be a woman at that time in Iceland. And what daily life in Iceland was like. Definitely will seek out more by this author. And also makes me want to go back to Iceland

TrishB That sounds good 👍🏻 3y
squirrelbrain I‘ve heard good things about this one before…. 3y
55 likes6 stack adds2 comments
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Tamra
Miss Iceland | Audur Ava lafsdttir
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Mehso-so

Hmmmmmm 🤔 A rather melancholic short novel about a young Icelandic female writer in the ‘60s who can‘t get published, her friend who is relegated to being a wife and mother too early, and her best friend who is homosexual and can‘t live an open life. All rather unhappy and unsatisfied souls.

Rather incongruent novel with my Nebraska prairie setting. We‘ve begun our annual trek west and love it!

BookishMarginalia Beautiful photo! 3y
batsy What a beautiful sight 💚 3y
BarbaraBB Wonderful view! Have a great trek! 3y
Cathythoughts Beautiful! Enjoy friend 👍🏻❤️ 3y
65 likes4 comments
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rachelsbrittain
Miss Iceland | Audur Ava lafsdttir
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Pickpick

In 1960s Iceland, an unconventional woman pursues her writing despite antiquated views on women alongside her gay best friend. The style of this novel in translation was really interesting and I enjoyed did overall despite a bummer of an ending (which, yes, was kind of the point but still).

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Tamra
Miss Iceland | Audur Ava lafsdttir
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Started this one yesterday!

Switching to Kindle in prep for camping vacation. I miss paper, but the convenience of ebooks is hard to beat.

Cathythoughts Great for traveling & perfect for camping 👍🏻 3y
62 likes1 comment
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jenniferw88
Miss Iceland | Audur Ava lafsdttir
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The two books I bought today with my Waterstones points - plus I still have £7 on there! 😊😍

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Oryx
Miss Iceland | Audur Ava lafsdttir
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First real life in person book shopping since... September? I'm excited for both of these. Miss Iceland was picked quite randomly (as the bookshop seemed really well curated, I thought it was a safe place for a random selection) and sounds really good. And the other one got positive reviews from @squirrelbrain and I like the sound of it.

charl08 Sounds good, adding to the wishlist. 4y
squirrelbrain Miss Iceland sounds interesting.... hope you like One-Armed Sister! 4y
Oryx @squirrelbrain thanks! I don't think I've read any books set in Barbados, so I'm just really interested in that perspective. Think I'll like. 🤞 4y
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rockpools I really liked this by the same author: 4y
Oryx @rockpools thanks - just stacked that one now too ❤️ 4y
rockpools @Oryx 😁 You‘ve reminded me just how many unread Icelandic books I have on my shelves 😱 4y
squirrelbrain It‘s not glamorous, touristic Barbados though.... 😁 4y
Oryx @squirrelbrain yeah, exactly. Potentially much more interesting. Never been to the touristy side anyway 😁 4y
Oryx @rockpools did you have an Iceland phase? 4y
vlwelser I bought this one by this same author because I love the cover. Not that it compelled me to read it yet. Lol. 4y
rockpools @Oryx My SIL comes from a family of Icelandic writers. I think they‘re trying to educate me! 4y
59 likes2 stack adds11 comments
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mhillis
Miss Iceland | Audur Ava lafsdttir
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Pickpick

Miss Iceland is so good, and it will likely be one of my favorites this year! Hekla is a writer in 1960s Iceland, publishing under pseudonyms and working part-time at a hotel, all while avoiding a customer who tries to get her to participate in a beauty contest. As a volcano erupts, Hekla and those near her experience the pressures of society, causing the landscape of their relationships to shift.

CoffeeAndABook Great review 👌🏼 that book sounds fun & unique in its setting and plot. Stacked 📚😁 4y
55 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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vlwelser
Miss Iceland | Audur Ava lafsdttir
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Pickpick

I have no idea how to explain this book. A girl moves from rural Iceland to the capitol, moves in with her bff, and tries to write and get a novel published. But there's so much more. She and her friends struggle to fit into society. I discovered this author in the airport in Iceland but this is the first of her books that I actually read. I really like the covers.

#BookSpinBingo square 19
@TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks I quite like that cover as well! 4y
37 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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mcctrish
Miss Iceland | Audur Ava lafsdttir
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Pickpick

This book is AWESOME!!! The story is about Hekla, named after a volcano, who wants and is compelled to be a writer in a time when women ( especially in Iceland) are not writers or poets. It follows her life and her close friends as they move forward. It‘s poetic and wonderful! I. Love. It.

TrishB Beautiful pic. 4y
54 likes1 comment
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mcctrish
Miss Iceland | Audur Ava lafsdttir
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Started this today and I‘m thinking all books should match the rosé and the sunset henceforth ✊? before I even started this I was thinking about the movie EuroVision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, have you watched it on Netflix? It‘s hilarious and awesome.

Josee.lit.a.lu.et.lira Have not watched it yet, but upon your comment, I will 🙂 4y
Trashcanman What a view!!! 4y
TEArificbooks That movie was the best. I still have the songs stuck in my head. Even though it has a bit of comedy in it, it is an ode to Eurovision. I had no idea Eurovision was a real thing but I live in a country that can‘t participate so I don‘t think it even plays here. 4y
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mcctrish @Josee.a.lu.lit.et.lira it is so good, cheesy and happy and funny 4y
mcctrish @Trashcanman it‘s worth stopping whatever you are doing to look 4y
mcctrish @mdm139 as a Canadian we aren‘t contenders, although Celine Dion competed for Switzerland once 🤷🏻‍♀️I wonder if old contests are on line somewhere ? 4y
Sleepswithbooks This view 🥰 4y
mcctrish @Stacypatrice I come down to the ‘perch‘ above the boat house every night to watch the show 4y
ReadingRachael Beautiful view! Looks so relaxing 😌 4y
mcctrish @ReadingRachael it‘s very easy to forget the world has gone to shit here 4y
Josee.lit.a.lu.et.lira @mcctrish@Josee.a.lu.lit.et.lira it is so good, cheesy and happy and funny” I just watched it! Thanks for the hint!!! Really enjoyed it. Ya-Ya Ding-Dong 🎶 😊 4y
mcctrish @Josee.a.lu.lit.et.lira I‘m so glad you liked it ❤️ 4y
57 likes1 stack add12 comments
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Mitch
Miss Iceland | Audur Ava lafsdttir
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This sounds great - and I could do with being transported somewhere soon - this might be my July #staycation choice!

62 likes2 stack adds
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ReadingEnvy
Miss Iceland | Audur Ava lafsdttir
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Pickpick

Hekla is a writer living in Iceland in the 1960s but because she is a woman, everyone around her keeps trying to tuck her back into more traditional roles of wife and mother. She is beautiful and pursued relentlessly by men who want her to compete to be Miss Iceland with somewhat questionable promises. ⤵️

ReadingEnvy The other key characters are her father, who is obsessed with volcanoes so much so that she is named after one and their conversations and gifts tend to revolve around whichever volcano is currently active; her close friend who is not straight and gets seasick, leaving him without a lot of options for work or relationships...⤵️ 4y
ReadingEnvy her other close friend who has her own writing muse but is trapped in a basement apartment (no sun, no room) as a housewife and seems destined to be the mother of many children, close together. ⤵️ 4y
ReadingEnvy Hekla has kept her writing life a secret and manages to do so even after moving in with her boyfriend who fancies himself a writer, a poet, and joins the other self-declared poets to have coffee and be seen writing in the cafes. In this way the author manages to capture the creative spirit of people living in Iceland but with a somewhat mocking way of revealing how people see themselves vs. where the true talent lies. ⤵️ 4y
ReadingEnvy This has a lot about the culture of Reykjavik in the 1960s, where whale carving would take place down the block from a bookstore. The post-war years play a role, for instance did you know that an entire island was created by a volcano around the same time JFK was assassinated? ⤵️ 4y
ReadingEnvy There are a lot of place names and it's clearly translated by a British-English speaker because of some of the word choices, but all these things just work together to make it feel more Icelandic, of a certain time and place. 4y
53 likes5 stack adds5 comments