Norwegian Wood: Chopping, Stacking, and Drying Wood in the Scandinavian Way

Norwegian Wood: Chopping, Stacking, and Drying Wood in the Scandinavian Way by Lars Mytting is a complete guide to firewood.

As someone who just purchased a wood stove insert, I wanted a book to teach me about firewood. This one comes highly recommended.

Mytting first became interested in the Norwegian national obsession with firewood when saw a neighbor receive an enormous pile of wood. After spending the winter mostly huddled in the house, his older neighbor Ottar, spent weeks moving the pile of wood from his front yard to the back, stacked as insurance against the next winter.

Mytting then traveled around Scandinavia and spoke to others who seem obsessed with collecting wood in early Spring - spending time drying it correctly, and then stacking it in various ways for the winter.

This is an informative, light look at the relationship wood plays in our lives. It is focused on types of wood found in Norway, but can be applied to trees in the US as well.

Mytting, Lars. (2015). Norwegian Wood: Chopping, Stacking, and Drying Wood in the Scandinavian Way. New York: Abrams.