78 books like The Ládjogahpir – The Foremothers` Hat of Pride

By Outi Pieski, Eeva-Kristiina Harlin,

Here are 78 books that The Ládjogahpir – The Foremothers` Hat of Pride fans have personally recommended if you like The Ládjogahpir – The Foremothers` Hat of Pride. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of With the Lapps in the High Mountains: A Woman Among the Sami, 1907a 1908

Barbara Sjoholm Author Of By the Fire: Sami Folktales and Legends

From my list on the Sami and Sápmi.

Why am I passionate about this?

Although I’d been to Scandinavia many times as a translator and travel writer, it wasn’t until about twenty years ago that I spent significant time above the Arctic Circle, writing my travel book, The Palace of the Snow Queen. Over the course of three different winters spent in Lapland, I discovered a world of Sami history, politics, culture, and literature. I was particularly interested in the friendship between Emilie Demant Hatt and Johan Turi. It’s been inspiring over the past years to see a new generation of artists and activists shaping and sharing their culture and resisting continued efforts to exploit natural resources in territories long used by the Sami for herding and fishing. 

Barbara's book list on the Sami and Sápmi

Barbara Sjoholm Why did Barbara love this book?

If you’re curious about the woman who collected the Sami folktales, you’ll want to read Emilie Demant Hatt’s story of living in a tent with a Sami family in a community in Northern Sweden. You’ll be fascinated by her grueling journey with a group of Sami herders and their hundreds of reindeer over the icy mountains in the spring of 1908 to find summer pastures on the Norwegian coast. I’ve long loved the adventure, humor, and visual feast in this book, first published in 1913, and was eager to translate it and share it with readers curious about the high north of Scandinavia. Demant Hatt was a brilliant observer and an early immersive journalist who didn’t shy away from hard work, rough conditions, and learning the Sami language. 

By Emilie Demant Hatt, Barbara Sjoholm (translator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked With the Lapps in the High Mountains as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

With the Lapps in the High Mountains is an entrancing true account, a classic of travel literature, and a work that deserves wider recognition as an early contribution to ethnographic writing. Published in 1913 and available here in its first English translation, With the Lapps is the narrative of Emilie Demant Hatt's nine-month stay in the tent of a Sami family in northern Sweden in 1907-8 and her participation in a dramatic reindeer migration over snow-packed mountains to Norway with another Sami community in 1908. A single woman in her thirties, Demant Hatt immersed herself in the Sami language and…


Book cover of An Account of the Sámi

Barbara Sjoholm Author Of By the Fire: Sami Folktales and Legends

From my list on the Sami and Sápmi.

Why am I passionate about this?

Although I’d been to Scandinavia many times as a translator and travel writer, it wasn’t until about twenty years ago that I spent significant time above the Arctic Circle, writing my travel book, The Palace of the Snow Queen. Over the course of three different winters spent in Lapland, I discovered a world of Sami history, politics, culture, and literature. I was particularly interested in the friendship between Emilie Demant Hatt and Johan Turi. It’s been inspiring over the past years to see a new generation of artists and activists shaping and sharing their culture and resisting continued efforts to exploit natural resources in territories long used by the Sami for herding and fishing. 

Barbara's book list on the Sami and Sápmi

Barbara Sjoholm Why did Barbara love this book?

Johan Turi was a herder and hunter when he first met Emilie Demant Hatt on a train in Northern Sweden in 1904. He confided that he wanted to tell the story of the indigenous Sami, and she encouraged him to write what became the landmark text, Muitalus Sámiid birra, the first secular book in the Sami language. She translated it into Danish and it was published in a bilingual edition with his drawings in 1910. Combining history, folktales, explanations, and poetry, it’s a humorous, sometimes poignant, and remarkable compendium of Sami life a hundred years ago. I’ve enjoyed this book since I first read it in an earlier translation. This version, translated with care by noted scholar Thomas A. DuBois, has an excellent introduction to Turi’s life and work. 

By Johan Turi, Thomas A. DuBois (translator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked An Account of the Sámi as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.


Book cover of Liberating Sápmi: Indigenous Resistance in Europe's Far North

Barbara Sjoholm Author Of By the Fire: Sami Folktales and Legends

From my list on the Sami and Sápmi.

Why am I passionate about this?

Although I’d been to Scandinavia many times as a translator and travel writer, it wasn’t until about twenty years ago that I spent significant time above the Arctic Circle, writing my travel book, The Palace of the Snow Queen. Over the course of three different winters spent in Lapland, I discovered a world of Sami history, politics, culture, and literature. I was particularly interested in the friendship between Emilie Demant Hatt and Johan Turi. It’s been inspiring over the past years to see a new generation of artists and activists shaping and sharing their culture and resisting continued efforts to exploit natural resources in territories long used by the Sami for herding and fishing. 

Barbara's book list on the Sami and Sápmi

Barbara Sjoholm Why did Barbara love this book?

A lot of books about the Sami people ignore the fact that the discrimination and territorial colonization they faced in the past is still ongoing, though it takes shape in new ways. This succinct book of interviews with twelve engaging and thoughtful activists from Sápmi is proceeded by a “short political history of Sápmi” by Gabriel Kuhn. In addition to history, we get personal observations from, among others, the artist/poet Synnøve Persson, the filmmaker Suvi West, the politician/ fisherman Aslak Holmberg and the rapper Maxida Märak. I find this book a superb source for Sami voices and perspectives, as well as for the images and English-language resources at the end. 

By Gabriel Kuhn,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Liberating Sápmi as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Sámi, who have inhabited Europe’s far north for thousands of years, are often referred to as the continent’s “forgotten people.” With Sápmi, their traditional homeland, divided between four nation-states—Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia—the Sámi have experienced the profound oppression and discrimination that characterize the fate of indigenous people worldwide: their lands have been confiscated, their beliefs and values attacked, their communities and families torn apart. Yet the Sámi have shown incredible resilience, defending their identity and their territories and retaining an important social and ecological voice—even if many, progressives and leftists included, refuse to listen.

Liberating Sápmi is a…


Book cover of Sámi Media and Indigenous Agency in the Arctic North

Barbara Sjoholm Author Of By the Fire: Sami Folktales and Legends

From my list on the Sami and Sápmi.

Why am I passionate about this?

Although I’d been to Scandinavia many times as a translator and travel writer, it wasn’t until about twenty years ago that I spent significant time above the Arctic Circle, writing my travel book, The Palace of the Snow Queen. Over the course of three different winters spent in Lapland, I discovered a world of Sami history, politics, culture, and literature. I was particularly interested in the friendship between Emilie Demant Hatt and Johan Turi. It’s been inspiring over the past years to see a new generation of artists and activists shaping and sharing their culture and resisting continued efforts to exploit natural resources in territories long used by the Sami for herding and fishing. 

Barbara's book list on the Sami and Sápmi

Barbara Sjoholm Why did Barbara love this book?

Another new book by two scholars who work with Sami linguistics and folklore, this volume is a must-read account of how, beginning in the 1970s, the Sami began to employ Sami-language media, from recordings, books, and periodicals to films, tweets, and YouTube recordings, to maintain and create social and political awareness and art. I loved reading about the work of filmmakers and musicians in a way that respects their innovative work in the context of Sápmi’s long-standing indigenous culture. I only wish that more Sámi films and art exhibits were available for viewing in North America. Luckily we have YouTube and music streaming services to accompany our reading!

By Coppélie Cocq, Thomas A. DuBois,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Sámi Media and Indigenous Agency in the Arctic North as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Digital media-GIFs, films, TED Talks, tweets, and more-have become integral to daily life and, unsurprisingly, to Indigenous people's strategies for addressing the historical and ongoing effects of colonization. In Sami Media and Indigenous Agency in the Arctic North, Thomas DuBois and Coppelie Cocq examine how Sami people of Norway, Finland, and Sweden use media to advance a social, cultural, and political agenda anchored in notions of cultural continuity and self-determination. Beginning in the 1970s, Sami have used Sami-language media-including commercially produced musical recordings, feature and documentary films, books of literature and poetry, and magazines-to communicate a sense of identity both…


Book cover of The Good Bear

Violet Plum Author Of Little Chicken Classic - Luke Walker: animal stick up for-er

From my list on for children which are also loved by adults.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love writing and illustrating all sorts of children's stories. The only thing my stories have in common is that none of their heroes eat meat, drink milk, or take part in the egg and spoon race. I write the kind of stories I want to read. I don't want to read about sex or violence. And I don't want to read foul language. I want something meaningful, something with a concluding note of optimism. Consequently, well-written children's stories often appeal to me. In fact, I've come to the conclusion that these are not just children's stories, they're good stories that anyone can enjoy.

Violet's book list on for children which are also loved by adults

Violet Plum Why did Violet love this book?

Thea's Christmas visit to her estranged father and his new family in Norway is disappointing and infuriating, until she meets the bear. In this fiction, Sarah Lean conveys so much truth. Her beautiful, mistreated, hungry, lonely bear is so real, he brings tears to my eyes. Thea tries desperately to protect her new best friend from the locals who consider him a threat, because she knows “They would not take the time to look into his eyes, to question and discover what he was really like." I wish everyone would take the time to look into animals' eyes, to see who they really are, and let them be.

By Sarah Lean,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Good Bear as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A story of friendship to treasure this Christmas . . .

From the bestselling author of A DOG CALLED HOMELESS, this is the perfect Christmas gift for fans of Michael Morpurgo, Lauren St John and Sara Pennypacker's PAX.

It's the Christmas holidays and Thea is looking forward to spending them with her father. She can tell him all about her plans to become a writer, and maybe he'll buy her the typewriter she's been dreaming of.

But when Thea arrives in snowy Norway, everything feels . . . wrong. Her father is as distant as ever and now she has…


Book cover of Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube: Chasing Fear and Finding Home in the Great White North

Maggie Shipstead Author Of Great Circle

From my list on female adventurers.

Why am I passionate about this?

In my third novel, Great Circle, a fictional aviator named Marian Graves disappears while trying to fly around the world north-south in 1950. While researching and writing, I became a travel journalist, partly so I could follow my character into far-flung, rugged corners of the world. Traveling, I encountered people who lead truly adventurous lives, and I started to seek out riskier experiences myself. I swam with humpback whales, tracked snow leopards in the Himalayas, and journeyed across huge seas to Antarctica’s Ross Ice Shelf. I still don’t consider myself a full-fledged adventurer, but I love reading about women contending with the challenges of wild places and their own internal landscapes.

Maggie's book list on female adventurers

Maggie Shipstead Why did Maggie love this book?

I love cold, northern places and dogs, and, if you haven’t already noticed, warts-and-all stories about women finding strength they didn’t know they had in the wilderness. Blair Braverman’s memoir checks all these boxes. As a teenager, she goes to a folk school in the Norwegian Arctic and learns to work with sled dogs, something she later continues as a guide in Alaska. (Braverman is now a professional musher and has run the Iditarod.) The book’s subtitle is Chasing Fear and Finding Home In the Great White North, and Braverman is unsparing in her exploration of fear rooted in both the human and natural world. I read this book on a series of airplanes in one long travel day, and I’m still reminded of it every time I see Braverman’s delightful Twitter stories about her dogs.

By Blair Braverman,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A rich and revelatory memoir of a young woman reclaiming her courage in the stark landscapes of the north.

By the time Blair Braverman was eighteen, she had left her home in California, moved to arctic Norway to learn to drive sled dogs, and found work as a tour guide on a glacier in Alaska. Determined to carve out a life as a “tough girl”—a young woman who confronts danger without apology—she slowly developed the strength and resilience the landscape demanded of her. 

By turns funny and sobering, bold and tender, Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube brilliantly recounts Braverman’s…


Book cover of Gold Run: The Rescue of Norway's Gold Bullion from the Nazis, April 1940

J.L. Oakley Author Of The Jossing Affair

From my list on Norway during WWII.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a trained historian and past educator at a historical museum. I fell into my passion for Norway during WWII after I dreamed about a man in the snow surrounded by German soldiers. I was encouraged to write the scene down. That scene became the prologue to The Jøssing Affair, but not before going to libraries and reading countless secondary and primary resources, interviewing numbers of Norwegian-Americans who settled in my area in the 1950s, and eating a lot of lefse. This passion of over 28 years has taken me to Norway to walk Trondheim where my novels take place and forge friendships with local historians and experts.

J.L.'s book list on Norway during WWII

J.L. Oakley Why did J.L. love this book?

The German invasion of Norway was sudden and thorough, capturing major ports from Oslo to Bergen and Trondheim on a single day in April. Their only failure was not capturing King Haakon, the cabinet, and Norway’s gold bullion. Robert Pearson’s Gold Run is a thrilling account of the efforts of “a visionary bank chief,” loyal Norwegians, and ships and men of the British Royal Navy. While under bombardment, immense courage was displayed as 50 tons of gold were moved by road, rail, and fishing boats. Pearson provides documents, photos, and personal accounts as well as a great narrative. If you don’t know anything about Norway during WWII, this book is a great way to understand the history of the invasion, how it unfolded and what was at stake. 

By Robert Pearson,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Gold Run as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Gold Run is the true story of arguably one of the greatest gold snatches in history. It is a tale of immense bravery, endurance and great leadership of loyal Norwegians, plus a little good fortune and help from the British against intrigue and overwhelming odds.
The German invasion of Norway on the night of April 8th/9th, 1940 almost took Norway completely unawares; had it not been for the defiance of one small coastal battery, the Norwegian royal family, government, and nearly 50 tons of gold bullion would have had no chance of escape. In desperate haste the royal family fled…


Book cover of The 12th Man: A WWII Epic of Escape and Endurance

J.L. Oakley Author Of The Jossing Affair

From my list on Norway during WWII.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a trained historian and past educator at a historical museum. I fell into my passion for Norway during WWII after I dreamed about a man in the snow surrounded by German soldiers. I was encouraged to write the scene down. That scene became the prologue to The Jøssing Affair, but not before going to libraries and reading countless secondary and primary resources, interviewing numbers of Norwegian-Americans who settled in my area in the 1950s, and eating a lot of lefse. This passion of over 28 years has taken me to Norway to walk Trondheim where my novels take place and forge friendships with local historians and experts.

J.L.'s book list on Norway during WWII

J.L. Oakley Why did J.L. love this book?

The Twelfth Man by Norwegian-American writer Astrid Karlsen Scott is the dramatic story of Norwegian agent Jan Baalsrud’s survival after a SOE mission gone wrong. A first account of his ordeal was published in 1955, but this is a more accurate telling. I like her in-depth approach to uncovering the true facts. On one of her research trips to Norway, she teamed up with Dr. Tore Haug who was also investigating Baalsrud’s story of survival. They were able to meet and interview all the survivors who helped the agent or who were indirectly involved and had knowledge of his story. You not only see what is at stake for the hero of the story, but for the people who are helping him escape the Nazis’ search for him. 

By Astrid Karlsen Scott, Tore Haug,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The 12th Man as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A stunning story of heroism and survival during World War II. The book that inspired the international film of the same name. "A must-read .... Intrigue, suspense, and adventure."-The Norwegian American

"I remember reading We Die Alone in 1970 and I could never forget it. Then when we went to Norway to do a docudrama, people told us again and again that certain parts were pure fiction. Since I was a Norwegian that was not good enough; I had to find the truth. I sincerely believe we did," writes author Astrid Karlsen Scott.

The 12th Man is the true story…


Book cover of Skis Against the Atom: The Exciting, First Hand Account of Heroism and Daring Sabotage During the Nazi Occupation of Norway

J.L. Oakley Author Of The Jossing Affair

From my list on Norway during WWII.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a trained historian and past educator at a historical museum. I fell into my passion for Norway during WWII after I dreamed about a man in the snow surrounded by German soldiers. I was encouraged to write the scene down. That scene became the prologue to The Jøssing Affair, but not before going to libraries and reading countless secondary and primary resources, interviewing numbers of Norwegian-Americans who settled in my area in the 1950s, and eating a lot of lefse. This passion of over 28 years has taken me to Norway to walk Trondheim where my novels take place and forge friendships with local historians and experts.

J.L.'s book list on Norway during WWII

J.L. Oakley Why did J.L. love this book?

Skis Against the Atom is a classic action story from WWII and about one of the most famous commando raids. It is the first-hand account of the heavy water raid by one of the men who was part of it, Knut Haukelid. First published in 1954, this book just pulled me into the dangerous and heroic actions of a group of young men who undertook the destruction of the heavily-guarded plant at Rjukan in Telemark. It gave me ideas for my own book concerning not only the planning and execution of missions, but the camaraderie of the men doing it. One of my favorite stories in the book happened after the plant was blown up. It’s almost as thrilling as the actual raid. It’s a great read and constantly in print.

By Knut Haukelid,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Skis Against the Atom as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The exciting, first-hand account of heroism and daring sabotage during the Nazi occupation of Norway. The outcome of World War II could very possibly have been much different if Knut Haukelid and his small, but courageous band of Norwegian soldiers had not been successful in sabotaging the Nazis supply of heavy water. The heavy water produced at a facility in occupied Norway was vital to Hitlers race with the United States to develop the atomic bomb. Knut Haukelids Skis Against The Atom gives the reader an intimate account of the valiant and self-sacrificing service that the not-to-be-subdued Norwegians performed for…


Book cover of Occupied: A Novel Based on a True Story

J.L. Oakley Author Of The Jossing Affair

From my list on Norway during WWII.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a trained historian and past educator at a historical museum. I fell into my passion for Norway during WWII after I dreamed about a man in the snow surrounded by German soldiers. I was encouraged to write the scene down. That scene became the prologue to The Jøssing Affair, but not before going to libraries and reading countless secondary and primary resources, interviewing numbers of Norwegian-Americans who settled in my area in the 1950s, and eating a lot of lefse. This passion of over 28 years has taken me to Norway to walk Trondheim where my novels take place and forge friendships with local historians and experts.

J.L.'s book list on Norway during WWII

J.L. Oakley Why did J.L. love this book?

Occupied is a fictionalized story of the author’s father, Trygve Borstad, during WWII. I recommend this book because I think the novel gives a realistic portrayal of ordinary life in occupied Norway as he tells the story of his family and their struggles to survive during the German occupation of their country. Trygve was only 7 years old in 1936 when he was living with his grandparents in Norway. His father had gone back to the States to find a place for the family to live and raise money for their passage for them to travel. Ten years will pass until he will see his father again. As he grows into a teenager, he is entrusted with a job that will protect a resistance group in the town. 

By Kurt Blorstad,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Occupied as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A world at war, a family kept apart and a young boy in the midst of it all. Will they all survive? As WW II breaks out, a father finds himself in the U.S. while his wife and sons are home in occupied Norway. Based on the son’s true-life journals from 1935-1945, this is the story of a family separated by war and uncertainty.


Book cover of With the Lapps in the High Mountains: A Woman Among the Sami, 1907a 1908
Book cover of An Account of the Sámi
Book cover of Liberating Sápmi: Indigenous Resistance in Europe's Far North

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Interested in the Sámi people, Norway, and Finland?

Norway 58 books
Finland 23 books