For the eighth and final book of the History & Heritage Book Club for 2025, we will be reading The Palace of the Snow Queen – Winter Travels in Lapland and Sápmi by Barbara Sjoholm.
After many years of travel in the Nordic countries—usually preferring to visit during the warmer months—Barbara Sjoholm found herself drawn to Lapland and Sápmi one winter just as mørketid, the dark time, set in. What ensued was a wide-ranging journey that eventually spanned three winters, captivatingly recounted in The Palace of the Snow Queen.
From observing the annual construction of the Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden, to crossing the storied Finnmark Plateau in Norway, to attending a Sámi film festival in Finland, Sjoholm dives deep into the rich traditions and vibrant creative communities of the North. She writes of past travelers to Lapland and contemporary tourists in Sápmi, as well as of her encounters with Indigenous reindeer herders, activists, and change-makers. Her new afterword bears witness to the perseverance of the Sámi in the face of tourism, development, and climate change.
Written with keen insight and humor, The Palace of the Snow Queen is a vivid account of Sjoholm’s adventures and a timely investigation of how ice and snow shape our imaginations and create a vision that continues to draw visitors to the North.
*********************************************************
Gammelgården Museum is launching a new program in 2025, History & Heritage Book Club!
From May through December 2025, we will be exploring 8 books related to Nordic history and heritage; and Swedish lifestyles and traditions. There are both fiction and non-fiction books; and authors from the United States and Sweden.
Join others book lovers every first Friday of the month from 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM. (Note: July’s book club meeting will be held on the second Friday of July due to the 4th of July holiday.)
The History & Heritage Book Club will be held at Gammelgården Museum at 20880 Olinda Trail North, Scandia, MN 55073. Don’t miss this opportunity to connect with others in the community who love to read and want to discover some great books!
2025 Book List:
May – Swede Hollow by Ola Larsmo - *F
June – The Open-Air Life by Linda Åkeson McGurk - *N
July – The Lagom Life – A Swedish Way of Living by Elisabeth Carlsson - *N
August – The Sisterhood of the Enchanted Forest by Naomi Moriyama and William Doyle - N
September – Giants in the Earth – A Saga of the Prairie by O.E. Rölvaag - F
October – My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman - *F
November - The Rocks Will Echo Our Sorrow – The Forced Displacement of the Northern Sámi by Elin Anna Labba - *N
December – The Palace of the Snow Queen – Winter Travels in Lapland and Sápmi by Barbara Sjoholm - N
* - Swedish, Sámi, or Swedish-American author
F – Fiction
N – Non-Fiction
Email:
ZGlyZWN0b3IgfCBnYW1tZWxnYXJkZW5tdXNldW0gISBvcmc=
Phone: (651) 433-5053
Facebook Group: History & Heritage Book Club
You may also like the following events from Gammelgården Museum of Scandia:
Also check out other
Arts events in Scandia,
Literary Art events in Scandia,
Trips & Adventurous Activities in Scandia.
