Seven Nordic book releases for your summer reading list

By Anders Lorenzen

Like with film and TV right now, the Nordic world of fiction is alive and kicking. We bring you the lowdown on some of the most exciting books released in 2025 – be sure to add these to your summer reading list.

Photo: Scribe

Colony by Annika Norlin

Originally published in Swedish in 2023, Colony has quickly become a bestseller. The novel, written by pop star Annika Norlin, was released to an English audience this year. The protagonist is burned out, in her job and life, to the extent that she tosses her iPhone into a lake and seeks solace in the northern Swedish countryside and forest. There, she encounters seven people who have adopted the commune lifestyle for some 15 years. There are three men, three women, and a teenage boy. In this mysterious group, each group member seems to maintain their individuality whilst living together in the communal setting out in the wilderness.

Photo: Simon and Schuster

Punished by Ann-Helén Laestadius

Staying in Sweden, another book has become a bestseller in the country. Punished, written by Ann-Helén Laestadius, is inspired by actual events in 1950s Sweden. The plot centres around five children of Sámi reindeer herders being taken from their families. The Swedish state has mandated they attend a nomad school, where they are forbidden to speak their native language. The storyline is rooted in the Sámi people’s historical discrimination by the Swedish government.

Photo: Corylus Books

Broken by Jon Atli Jonasson

With Broken, Icelandic screenwriter Jon Atli Jonasson makes his English debut. The story takes place in a dark corner of Reykjavík, the Icelandic capital. A troubled teenager goes missing from a school trip, and an unlikely duo teams up on a search mission, which follows a thread of corruption that goes on and on.

Photo: Orenda Books

Home Before Dark by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir

Eva Björg Ægisdóttir’s Home Before Dark plays out in 1967’s Iceland. The psychological thriller is a nerve-wrecking and horrendous missing-child mystery. The older sister of a 14-year-old girl goes missing the day before the younger sister, who had used her older sister’s identity, was due to meet a pen pal. Ten years later, in 1977, the disappearance remains unsolved. But a letter arrives for the now adult sister; it’s from that pen pal who is still out there. Desperate for news about her sister and worried if she could be next, she embarks on her own investigation.

Photo: Faber

On the Calculation of Volume by Solvej Balle

Shortlisted for the 2025 International Bookers Awards, Danish author Solvej Balle’s On the Calculation of Volume is a septology. The first volume was released in Denmark in 2020, and so far, five of the seven novels have been released. The English versions of volumes 1 and 2 came out in March this year, and the translation of the next volumes is in progress. They have already received global recognition and acknowledgement, with positive reviews in The Guardian, The New York Times, and other well-known publications.

Volume 1

In the first volume, we are introduced to the heroine who has involuntarily stepped off the train of time: 18 November repeats itself endlessly in her world. On her 122nd day, she no longer experiences the changes of days, weeks, months, or seasons, but finds herself in a lonely new reality without being able to explain why. How is it that she wakes every morning into the same day, knowing to the exact second when the blackbird will burst into song and when the rain will begin?

Photo: Faber

Volume 2

In volume 2, we are drawn further into the maze of time. Here, space yawns open, as if suddenly gaining a new dimension, extending into ever more fine-grained textures. Within this new reality, our senses and the tactility of things grow heightened: sounds, smells, sights, and objects suddenly come alive, as if the world has begun whispering to us in a new language.

The English release of volume 3 is planned for 18 November this year, and volume 4 for 7 April 2026.

Photo: Penguin Books

Money to Burn by Asta Olivia Nordenhof

Asta Olivia Nordenhof’s novel was first published in Denmark in 2020, and the English edition was released early this year. Money to Burn, the first novel in the Scandinavian Star series, shows that capitalism is not perfect, even in the Scandinavian societal model. Decades after one of the biggest disasters ever in Scandinavia, revelations have found that the fire on the Scandinavian Star ferry, which killed 159 people, might have more to it than initially believed. At the centre of this story is a couple who were brought together by the disaster and are now struggling to hold their marriage together. With the revelations that it was not an accident but an insurance scam gone wrong, what does it mean for the pair?

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