The Ritual of Comfort : cosy living in March
I don’t know about you, but coming out of winter and slowly back into the sunlight makes me both happy to be out and about, but also craving the comfort of my cocoon. To be fair, I have been spending…
A Winter-to-Spring Transition: February’s Floral Reading Ritual
Cultivating Quiet Joy & Bringing the Garden Indoors
The World of Mihail Sebastian
Diaries, Biographies, and the Soundtrack of a Literary Life This is my oldest memory of classical music, Mozart’s piano concerto No 20 that became one of the soundtracks of my childhood. Music is a fascinating topic for me. There are…
January Ritual : starting the year with mindful reading
Hello friends, and welcome to the first video of 2023 here on The Ritual of Reading. I often find that January is a strange time for many of us. The holidays take the excitement levels so high, we are at…
Copenhagen Christmas: A Guide to Tivoli Gardens Holiday Season
Scandinavian Advent Calendar Day 24 Welcome to Christmas in the heart of Copenhagen, dear friends. Before you lies Tivoli Gardens dressed in its finest party attire, transformed into something that exists halfway between dream and reality—a place where the boundary…
Danish Risalamande Recipe: Christmas Rice Pudding for Nisser (Christmas Elves)
Scandinavian Advent Calendar Day 23 We’ve nearly reached the end of our Advent journey together, dear friends, and so I’ve saved one of the most endearing Scandinavian Christmas traditions for these final days. The quintessential Christmas dessert throughout Denmark, Sweden,…
Scandinavian Advent Calendar DAY 22 : A doll’s house, by Henrik Ibsen
It’s been a while since I last read drama, but I couldn’t let my Scandinavian Advent Calendar finish without diving into the work of Norwegian writer Henrik Ibsen. A major figure of universal drama writing, and one of the most…
Hygge Winter Solstice with delicious Swedish Nöttoppar Cookies
Scandinavian Advent Calendar Day 21 Hello, dear friends! Today is December 21st—the winter solstice, the longest night of the year, when darkness reaches its fullest expression before beginning its slow retreat toward spring. Up north in the lands of the…
Icelandic Literature: Jón Kalman Stefánsson’s Poetic Novel of Arctic Life
Scandinavian Advent Calendar Day 20 Light or darkness—do you value them equally? Are you drawn to the ethereal strangeness of the midnight sun, that disorienting season when day refuses to end? Or does your soul lean toward the polar night,…
Scandinavian Advent Calendar DAY 19 : Finnish salmon soup / Lohikeitto
Hello my friends ! And welcome to day 19 of our Scandinavian Advent Calendar ! Dreaming of a fish menu for this year’s festive meal, I went in the direction of Finland for this traditional salmon soup. Lohikeitto is prepared…