These terrific books set in Iceland are sure to transport you to the land of fire and ice, one of my top countries we’ve visited to date.
While Tom and I never pick an all-time favorite travel destination, Iceland captured our hearts. Those gorgeous Elvis-like horses. Black sand beaches and rainbows over waterfalls. The otherworldly Northern Lights. Seals playing among white and blue diamond glaciers. The soothing waters of the Blue Lagoon. Hot dogs. Not to mention their famous Christmas Book Flood.
Many readers are already familiar with The Sagas of Icelanders, one of the greatest literary treasures, following explorers like Leif Eiriksson and the Vikings to the New World. So, what else can you read?
Whether you wish to travel to Iceland via armchair or enhance your trip, discover chilling spinster tales based loosely on facts, along with love stories and social engineering science fiction. Learn more about humanity, grief, love, and Icelandic history and culture. Meet your new favorite Icelandic author, too! 💜 Christine
You may also enjoy these Icelandic movies.
Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was by Sjón
- Translated by Victoria Cribb
- LGBTQ+ Magical Realism blended with Historical Fiction
Plot
Teenage Máni Steinn is trying to find his place in the world. Yet, Iceland – Reykjavík, especially – is under attack. Katla erupts, and the Spanish flu is killing thousands of people. WWI promises invasion.
To make matters even more complicated, Máni is gay in a society that punishes same-sex relationships. How does a young boy escape? With the movies, of course! Yet, politicians and residents scapegoat pictures as indulgent and corrupt. Máni must persevere to help and work in a culture that wishes he’d disappear.
Why Christine Recommends Moonstone
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Fevered dreams, magical realism, and history intersect to create a beautifully written and artistic Icelandic novella. Sjón’s Moonstone is an allegorical, intense, and compelling work, offering readers a powerful statement on prejudice and misconception. Award-winning Sjón is also famous for The Whispering Muse and The Blue Fox.
Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
- Historical Fiction
- Based On A True Story
- Reading Lists You May Also Enjoy: Strong Women in Historical Fiction
Plot
Kent imbues humanity into the accused murderess, Agnes Magnúsdóttir, the last person executed in Iceland. Caught up in a deadly love story, Agnes is convicted for her role in the savage murders of Natan Ketilsson and Pétur Jónsson at Illugastaðir in 1828. Set in a harsh and frigid Icelandic backdrop, Agnes must await her beheading in a family home at Kornsá.
Why Christine Recommends Burial Rites
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Live the mundane repetition of farm life as we watch the downfall of an intelligent, intimidating woman. We know this spinster tale all too well.
As the Northern Lights ignite the sky, Agnes gains empathy from unlikely characters. The assistant priest and her now familial wardens care for her. Discover Agnes’s side of the story amidst illegitimacy, child mortality, and wandering eyes. Extremely atmospheric, Burial Rites is one of those Icelandic novels that will keep you thinking long after you close the cover.
For more Icelandic historical fiction, read Hallgrímur Helgason’s Woman at 1,000 Degrees. A 3-star read for me, Herra is a fictionalized version of the granddaughter of Iceland’s first president. Check the trigger warnings; this is an intense one.
Independent People by Halldór Laxness
- Translated by James Anderson Thompson
- 1955 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Classic Literary Saga
Plot
After years as a servant, Bjartur wishes to raise his sheep in simple peace. Meanwhile, his daughter would like to live unchained from Bjartur. A darkly comedic novel about love, independence, and family, Independent People is both touching and telling.
Why Dagney Recommends Independent People
Halldór is a Nobel Prize-winning Icelandic author with a funny yet intellectual historical flair. Independent People is nostalgic of both Iceland’s Sagas as well as Sigrid Undset’s Kristin Lavransdatter, a trilogy of historical novels about Northern life in the Middle Ages.
You May Also Like The Fish Can Sing
If you like Independent People, read Halldór’s The Fish Can Sing, a slow burn that follows Álfgrímur, an orphan raised by a kind elderly couple in a rural Icelandic village. Like his grandfather, Álfgrímur wants to become a fisherman until world-famous Icelandic singer, Gardar Holm, recognizes his musical talents. The prose is as alluring as Álfgrímur’s voice in this well-crafted portrait of rural Iceland set against the stark modernity of Reykjavik and beyond.
The Greenhouse by Audur Ava Olafsdottir
- Translated by Brian FitzGibbon
- Contemporary Literary Fiction
Plot
Meet twenty-two-year-old Lobbi, who is facing his own quarter-life crisis. Having lost his mother in a tragic car accident, Lobbi is obsessed with death and the carnal body. With a devastated father and an autistic twin brother, Lobbi learns he is a father. Flóra Sól is the product of a one-night stand.
Fleeing to find himself, Lobbi leaves behind his mother’s beloved Icelandic greenhouse. His new life’s mission is to tend to a dead monastic garden in an unknown country. Making friends with a monk, Lobbi learns about grief, life, and love through movies.
Why Christine Recommends The Greenhouse
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Quiet but poetic, The Greenhouse is a meditation on finding oneself. Characters grow and overcome in numerous ‘religious’ forms. Mundane life in the form of flowers and household chores defines Lobbi’s familial role. Finding solace in discomfort heals.
The ending is anything but perfect; Lobbi surprises even the reader in this gorgeously affecting Icelandic novel.
101 Reykjavik by Hallgrímur Helgason
- Translated by Brian FitzGibbon
- Literary Fiction
Plot
Protagonist Hlynur is a 30-something loner. He still lives at home with no intention of doing anything else. Soon, Hlynur’s mother comes out as a lesbian, and he falls in love with her new girlfriend.
Why Dagney Recommends 101 Reykjavik
For eccentric books set in Iceland, this black comedy will not be for everyone. For those who enjoy Irvine Welsh or Bret Easton Ellis, though, Helgason has created a novel sure to thrill. Because Hlynur never leaves his room, the book itself feels quite claustrophobic. Yet, the story is wildly unpredictable, good fun.
LoveStar by Andri Snaer Magnason
- Translated by Victoria Cribb
- Science Fiction
Plot
Indridi and Sigrid live in a cordless and wireless world where data is transmitted via birdwaves. Their entire lives are premeditated. The impersonal, borderline obsessed, and super genius, LoveStar is responsible. He has socially engineered society and its hidden miseries. Along with disintegrating bodies into shooting stars and rewinding bad children, LoveStar has calculated the perfect mate for each individual.
Madly in love, this new pairing tests Indridi and Sigrid’s relationship. Society and its not-so-subliminal messaging threaten to tear them apart. Whatever happened to free will?
Why Christine Recommends LoveStar
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Similar to M.T. Anderson’s Feed, Magnason questions the meaning of happiness and the effects of techie social engineering. For unique science fiction books set in Iceland, watch all-consuming love fall apart under the Northern Lights. Innovative and quirky, question how technology and consumerism play a role in our lives.
Names for the Sea: Strangers in Iceland by Sarah Moss
- Memoir & Travel Writing
- You Might Also Enjoy Our Reading List Of Island-Set Books
Plot
After road-tripping across Iceland in her youth, Sarah Moss moves her family back to the land of fire and ice. Hoping to recapture her romanticized version of the island, she instead learns what it means to be an expat.
As an academic and writer, Moss embraces Icelandic culture and traditions with curiosity. Her public servant’s salary as a teacher enforces a life of simplicity. Desiring to understand both Icelandic history and its present state during a financial crisis and volcanic eruption, Moss must push through the hardships of daily Icelandic life.
Why Christine Recommends Names For The Sea
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Beautifully written, Names for the Sea asks readers to consider how we travel and build community. Does our nationality define us? How so? Are we always outsiders? Exploring the meaning of identity and foreignness, Moss works hard to make Iceland her home. Plus, now I know what it feels like to walk through an infamous Bonus grocery store as well as live through fairly sunless days.
The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer by Ragnar Jónasson
- Translated by Victoria Cribb
- Detective mystery
- Second in the series
Plot
Upon finishing her 10th and final book, crime author Elín S. Jónsdóttir is missing, which isn’t a first… However, Detective Helgi is worried that something more sinister has happened. He interviews her three closest friends and associates while dealing with an ex who seems to be stalking his current girlfriend. Not to mention his newer office desk belongs to another missing person.
Why Christine Recommends The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer
⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ I don’t usually skip the first in the series and head straight to the second. However, I had to pick up this old school-style mystery for the missing author plot paired with Helgi’s love of reading. Uncorked Readers will appreciate the Agatha Christie references (Ragnar Jónasson translated 14 of her novels). While this isn’t my usual genre, I enjoyed reading across Iceland, especially seeing the more rural North against the Southern city.
I also want to read the internationally popular Jar City by Arnaldur Indridason, a police procedural and mystery set in Reykjavík, featuring Inspector Erlendur.
Snug in Iceland by Victoria Walker
- Cozy Romance
- First in the Icelandic Romance book series
Plot
Rachel heads to Iceland to open a new Snug store, relieved to have time off from her work-obsessed, possibly cheating boyfriend, Adam. As tour operator Jonas shows Rachel the country’s most popular and “must-see” Southern areas, she starts falling in love with Iceland and, well… But, she’s expected back in London to a life she isn’t sure she wants.
Why Christine Recommends Snug In Iceland
⭐️⭐️⭐️ While Snug in Iceland is not the most well-written or an incredibly original story, I quickly fell into the fluffy, escapist Hallmark vibe. For romance books set in Iceland, Snug in Iceland would make a great movie, and it is a fast half-day, Sunday read, perfect for a wintery day. Talk about inspiring wanderlust…
Even better, Rachel follows much of our own week-long, Iceland sightseeing itinerary, starting with a visit to the Blue Lagoon straight from the airport and continuing throughout to the Golden Circle, Harpa, glaciers, and Downtown Reykjavík. Like Rachel, we even got caught in a surprise and quickly moving snowstorm.
Let Us Know Your Iceland Favorites
Iceland captured our hearts and souls. The landscape is utterly breathtaking. Let me know in the comments if you’ve been to Iceland, along with your favorite itinerary stops. Be sure to share your favorite books from, about, and set there, too!
Before You Go: Read Across Europe
A few more reading lists to enhance your travels
🇳🇴 Norway Books To Read
📚 Books Set Across The Baltics
🇸🇪 Sweden Books
🇨🇭 Books About & Set In Switzerland