6) The Summer Book, by Tove Jansson

I have been a fan of Tove Jansson's Moomin books for as long as I can remember being able to read, an enthusiasm which once contributed to a minor diplomatic embarrassment. This, however, is one of her novels for adults. Though to say it's a novel is perhaps stretching it a bit; it's more a series of vignettes ( Read more... )

So I've been trying to call the European Commission's representative office in Helsinki. When I finally get through, the guy at the other end seems to be speaking not Finnish, nor even Swedish, but a Slavic language of some kind. After some negotiation he goes off to find a colleague who speaks English. At this point it occurs to me that while +358 ( Read more... )

By request from minny:

Finland is a more interesting country than you might think. It has a Swedish-speaking minority of around 5.5%, and I've got to know several of them through living in Brussels, particularly since the Swedish People's Party in Finland is a rare example of a political party representing a minority which has decided that it is ( Read more... )