The Little Book of Icelandic: On the idiosyncrasies, delights, and sheer tyranny of the Icelandic language

This enjoyable quick read is a great little adjunct for anyone wanting to visit Iceland. I’m trying to get a feel for the language before I go. It’s not designed to teach you Icelandic, just to get a better feel for how it developed and some of the background of it. I already sent a gift copy to a friend also traveling there.

Well written and a good introduction to the challenges of learning this unique language.

I am a brazilian who have held a love for Iceland from as far as I can remember. The amazing landscapes, the culture, the traditions always amazed me, as well as the language (so distant from my own "beloved and gentle" mother tongue). Alda's book is a fun and well written firsthand account of the latter. My dream of one day visiting Iceland just increased, and I can't wait to read Alda's other works.

I'm a bit biased because I'm Icelandic myself, but regardless, the book is cleverly written, funny, and informative.

I’ve been trying to learn Icelandic for a little while now and this has been a fun supplement to my study. It can sometimes be tricky to find resources where there are simple translations between Icelandic and English that are accurate, but Alda mentions her time abroad and is clearly exceptionally fluent in both English and Icelandic to be able to translate not just literally but also the intended meaning. It’s been quite helpful to have some lighthearted reading along with my more rigid study.