A Bunch of Useful Idiots.

Book Review for “Anxious People” by Fredrik Backman. Summary: “Viewing an apartment normally doesn’t turn into a life-or-death situation, but this particular open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes everyone in the apartment hostage. As the pressure mounts, the eight strangers begin slowly opening up to one another … Continue reading A Bunch of Useful Idiots. →

Storms and Longings

Book Review of "Us Against You" by Fredrik Backman Goodreads summarizes Backman’s sequel to his 2017 novel Beartown, saying “After everything that the citizens of Beartown have gone through, they are struck yet another blow when they hear that their beloved local hockey team will soon be disbanded. What makes it worse is the obvious … Continue reading Storms and Longings →

A New Christmas Carol

Review of The Deal of a Lifetime: A Novella by Fredrik Backman The protagonist of this novella is a father who is wealthy, successful and famous. He also has cancer, but so does the adorable five-year-old girl he meets in the hospital. Both of them are going to die eventually. The question is, does it … Continue reading A New Christmas Carol →

Ice and Cracks

Book Review of "Beartown: A Novel" by Fredrik Backman Except for hockey, there's almost nothing left in Beartown, and it is only going to get worse, unless something changes. That something could be coming this year, since their junior team is finally good enough. If they succeed, who knows what that fame could bring? Maybe … Continue reading Ice and Cracks →

Perfecting your Good-bye

Book Review of "And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer" by Fredrik Backman. Stock up on tissues folks, because Fredrik Backman is BACK! This time, Backman gives us a perfectly formed, exquisitely developed novella (whose title is almost longer than the book itself) about a man slowly succumbing to dementia and his … Continue reading Perfecting your Good-bye →

Baking Soda and Soccer

Book Review for "Britt-Marie Was Here" by Fredrik Backman. Every so often, a writer comes along who can write a story with characters that touch you to your very core. Fredrik Backman is one of those writers - he did it with his first novel A Man Called Ove, repeated this with his second novel … Continue reading Baking Soda and Soccer →

What is your superpower?

Book Review for "My Grandmother Sends her Regrets and Apologises (aka "My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry"), by Fredrik Backman. Anyone who has been reading my reviews will know that my favorite book of 2014 was Backman's, "A Man Called Ove." This Swedish author took the world by storm with his poignant … Continue reading What is your superpower? →

Conditions of the Heart

Book Review of "A Man Called Ove" by Fredrik Backman. They don't make men like Ove anymore. He's just a man who worked at his job and loved his wife. Now at 59, forced into early retirement not long after his wife died, there nothing left to live for. That's when Ove decides to do … Continue reading Conditions of the Heart →