For Finland, I read Fishing for the Little Pike by Juhani Karila, translated from the Finnish by Lola Rogers. This novel was my introduction to the Finnish Weird genre and here’s the description on the back of my edition:

In this utterly original, genre-defying, English-language debut from Finnish author Juhani Karila, a young woman’s annual pilgrimage to her home in Lapland to catch an elusive pike in three days is complicated by a host of mythical creatures, a murder detective hot on her trail, and a deadly curse hanging over her head.

If that description sounds intriguing, then this book is probably your jam. If not, move along. (If you are my cousin Julie, then you should read this. If you are my ninth grade English teacher Jill, definitely not.)

As the title suggests, this story has a major fishing storyline, and fishing is not something that I find interesting. I can usually summon at least a spark of curiosity for most subjects, but not fishing unless it’s part of a true crime story but then, let’s be honest: my curiosity is 100% about the true crime, and 0% about the bait or tackle or whatever that crap is called. The author’s passion for fishing, however, had me “hooked” and I was allowed to understand why some folks are intensely passionate about this sport. (And no, I will not apologize for that shameless pun.)

The author has a matter-of-fact writing style that sometimes veers into the poetic and is generously seasoned with dark humor. For example:

From the time she was in diapers, Young Lady Ylijaako always had her nose in a book. That oughta’ve been a red flag that the Filthy One had been having his way with her soul. No normal person reads that much.

Fishing for the Little Pike by Juhani Karila, pg. 136.

I don’t want to spoil the story, but there were a ton of delightfully quirky human characters having hilarious encounters with equally weird mythic characters. Over in the comments section of my video review for this book, I was told that the mythological characters (the knacky, a raskel that wants to go fishing, stripe foots, a wraith, and the fracas) are part of Finnish mythology, and now, I must make an embarrassing confession. Before my Read Around the World quest, I honestly thought I knew a lot about world mythology, but actually, I was really only familiar with Greek gods and heroes, a little bit of Viking lore, and Paul Bunyan of blue ox fame. How silly of me. My inner mythological landscape has been changing with this quest, adding in the likes of Baba Yaga and scheming talking animals from Bhutan. Thank god I have now met some of the mythological monsters of Lapland.

My life definitely needs a lot more Finnish Weird.