Jørn Lier Horst & Hans Jørgen Sandnes’ Detective Agency No. 2 series once again tops the monthly bestseller list for childrens’ books in Norway. Operation Shipwreck – the thirteenth book in the series – is No. 1, and The Search for the Castle’s Secret comes in at No. 2.

The SKAM books are the original scripts of the worldwide hit web drama series of the same name, just as they were written.

Each SKAM book contains one of the four seasons that aired between 2015 and 2017. The scripts have never recorded scenes, lines that were later cut, newly written prologues and epilogues, and Julie Andem’s own comments and unique mind maps.

SKAM Season 1: Eva follows the main character Eva Kviig Mohn as she starts high school. Eva has just begun dating Jonas, but the new relationship is putting a strain on her friendship with Jonas’ ex. Unable to trust her boyfriend and reconcile with her old friends, Eva’s first year at the Hartvig Nissen school (“Nissen”) becomes a turbulent one filled with love, betrayal, and broken friendships – but also new ones as she finds and connects with Noora, Chris, Vilde and Sana.

The SKAM books are the ultimate key to the universe that absorbed an entire generation of viewers. Get ready to get to know Eva, Noora, Isak and Sana like never before.

Julie Andem (b. 1982) is the world-renowned Norwegian screenwriter and director of SKAM, the teen drama web series that became an unprecedented national and international success upon airing in 2015. The series, which follows a new main protagonist in each of the four seasons, utilized a unique approach where social media posts, texts and clips were released in real time while it aired. The innovative concept won Andem the prestigious Norwegian Golden Screen award for “Best Innovation” as well as “Best Writing for a Drama” and “Best Directing for a Drama.” Andem has also directed the American remake, SKAM Austin, a Facebook Watch web series.

One stormy night in Eldsala a giant sinkhole opens up right in the middle of the meadow. The hole reveals an old cellar, but Herbert can’t recall there ever being a building there. At the same time, a horrible stench spreads throughout the small town, and in the graveyard one of the plots has been dug up. All that is left is two empty coffins. Where have the bodies gone? And what terrible things have been done in the cellar? Herbert and his best friend Sally quickly realize that they’re all in grave danger: the supernatural is back to haunt little Eldsala. Will they succeed in saving their hometown one last time – or is it already too late?

The Mummy’s Riddle is the third book in Kristina Ohlsson’s bestselling Monster Trilogy about the small town Eldsala, a place with deep ties to the paranormal, and the two friends Herbert and Sally.

Jørn Lier Horst & Hans Jørgen Sandnes dominate the June/July bestseller list for Norwegian children’s fiction, claiming a staggering thirteen out of fifteen spots on Bok og samfunn’s list. The bestselling titles are, in order, Operation Pirate at No. 1, Operation Mummy at No. 2, Operation Summer Island at No. 3, The Search for the Castle’s Secret at No. 5, Operation Shipwreck at No. 6, Operation Ghost at No. 7, The Search for the Queen of the Jungle at No. 8, Operation Circus at No. 9, Operation Shadowman at No. 11, Operation Thundercloud at No. 12, Operation Windblast at No. 13, Operation Sunset at No. 14, and Operation Bronze Square at No. 15.

This week’s official bestseller lists from Sweden see Jonas Gardell at No. 3 on the hardcover fiction list with his just published In Memory of an Unconditional Love.

The paperback list is meanwhile topped by Anders de la Motte’s Deeds of Fall, coming in at No. 1. De la Motte is joined by Niklas Natt och Dag who places No. 4 with 1793.

Leif GW Persson makes a repeat appearance on the lists with his Master Detective Willy: the Story of My Career, which claims the No. 4 position on the nonfiction list and the No. 5 on the audio list. Arne Dahl’s Turmoil comes in at No. 4 on the same audio list, and No. 3 on the e-book one. Jørn Lier Horst’s just published The Katharina Code is No. 2 on the e-book list.

Elin Boals has the perfect life. A successful photographer in New York, she’s married to the wonderful Sam and together they have a seventeen-year-old daughter, Alice. But something has always been missing in the picture of their perfect family.

One day, Elin receives a letter from her childhood friend Fredrik, her one true friend and lifeline during her poverty-stricken childhood on the island of Gotland outside Sweden. It’s a voice from the past that Elin has done everything in her power to forget and hide from everyone, even those closest to her. Memories and thoughts come flooding back with this unexpected sign of life. It drives a wedge between Elin and her family and fills her with shame over what she once did, the secret that made her run away from the island and never return.

In the end, Elin realizes that she must face her past to become whole again, and save the family she has now. She sets out on a journey to another continent, but also to another time and another life.

A Question Mark Is Half a Heart is a captivating story about overcoming shame and guilt, about finding oneself and the truth. And in doing so, learning how to love. A Question Mark Is Half a Heart is Sofia Lundberg’s second novel to date.

In Memory of an Unconditional Love is the story of the (in fiction) late author Jonas Gardell and his family. A family that is much like any other, except perhaps for the creative way in which it handles weakness. In the Gardell family, secrets and unwanted truths have a tendency to change shape, transforming into legends that – much like a skillfully executed magic trick – dazzle the eye with a prettier truth.

The best teller of such legends was without a doubt Ingegärd Rasmussen, Jonas’ loving mother. The eccentric Free Church-raised Ingegärd, born in the not-so-roaring Swedish twenties, was a woman surrounded on all sides by obstacles dictating what a woman should be. The intrepid Ingegärd took on these ideas, and indeed the world, with the fierce battle cry, “I must be free!”

Ingegärd joins forces with Bertil, a man of the future. Together the two dreamers will face twentieth century Sweden, a rapidly changing nation. But their life together nearly comes to an end when Ingegärd almost dies while giving birth to their youngest child, Jonas. Looking down at the helpless bundle in her arms, she realizes that she must survive for the poor child’s sake. Then and there, mother and son form a pact that’s never to be broken.

In Memory of an Unconditional Love is a novel of epic love, solidarity and betrayal as much as it is a portrait of a bewildering yet endlessly charming woman. Written with an irrepressible joy and humor, it sparkles even as it cuts deep into life’s most painful moments.