Literally everything by Backman is worth your time. I started with My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry.
But I think his best work, which also feels like a bit of a departure for him, is the Beartown trilogy.
this post was submitted on 05 Jan 2025
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Came here to say this!
There is a trilogy about hockey (forget the name) that's at the top of my list. My wife and I have read everything he's written and I think we love them all.
Yeah there is something in his writing that often overwhelms me. I found his books by accident, and now I'm thinking I should change my reading habits towards his kind of books (I'm usually a Stephen King kind of person)
Backman is not my wheelhouse. Ludlum, or MacLean, or Weber are. We had a friend from Sweden visit us and he left us "Grandmother." I of course told him "thank you" and never expected to read it.
And then I did. And then I introduced it to my wife. And since then we've read it all.
I can honestly say more tears have been shed, and more feelings felt over Backman than any other writer. He has extraordinary insight into humans and how complicated we, and the relationships we form are.
I read Anxious People right after or before and liked that one too. I was also on a wholesome book kick for a while. It was closest thing to Man Called Ove that I read maybe because same author.
A Psalm for the Wild Built was very different but great short novella. Her wayfarer series is more sci fi but I loved the adventure through the characters.
Another simple but wholesome read, sort of YA, is The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune.
Nice, I'll add these to the list, thank you!
I don't really read literature often, but out of the few I did read, 'A Man called Ove' was one I really enjoyed. The one book I enjoyed even more than this was 'Wonder' by R. J. Palacio. It has an interesting style of storytelling and I could argue it to be even more touching, which is why it is my all-time favourite.
It was surprising yet joyous to see someone having read the exact same book as I in this space. I couldn't imagine giving anyone book suggestions anytime soon considering how little books I have read myself, but finally having the opportunity to do so has really lifted my mood today. Thank you kind stranger for making my day.
Thank you. I've heard good things about wonder in the past. I'll try that next. I usually read action and horror, but the few times I read books like these, I feel like may be I should read more of these and less of those.