I finished A Man Called Ove by Frederick Backman in time for a book club discussion on Sunday, and I can't tell you how much I loved it. Quirky and charming and heartfelt, sad but never dismally so, it reminded me a bit of The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry and a bit of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and a bit of Where'd You Go Bernadette, all the while standing completely on its own. I also started--and finished--The Beautiful Bureaucrat (not what I expected; super weird; very excellent; review to come) and No House to Call My Home (a nonfiction account of eight LGBTQ youth in the foster system, and all of the trials they face, it's a great book but not exactly uplifting).
This week, I'm turning my attention to SuperBetter: A Revolutionary Approach to Getting Stronger, Happier, Braver and More Resilient--Powered by the Science of Games. Though I remain slightly skeptical of the promise that games can help improve the ails of our lives, I'm 50 pages in an intrigued thus far, so will keep going. I'm also diving into Americanah by Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie and starting Bittersweet by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore on audio.
What are you reading to beat the heat this week?
It sounds like you had a lovely weekend and did some great reading! I hope you love Americanah.
ReplyDeleteI'm about 60 pages in so far and really, really liking it. And kicking myself for setting it aside for so long, of course.
ReplyDeleteI've had my eye on A Man Called Ove and your'e the second person that I've seen that's raved about it today! Glad you loved TBB...so did I!
ReplyDeleteAnd - I also loved Bittersweet last summer...awesome, twisty beach read!
It was one of those books I kept hearing about but just never really knew much about... but it's SO good. The perfect mix of emotions without ever being bleak (though I did cry--more than once!).
ReplyDeleteI'm reading a book set in a sort of Polish mythology kind of world, where the trees are evil and malicious. It's a good way to remind myself that as much as it feels like the natural world is trying to kill me with this 100-degree bullshit, it could be way worse. It could be actually literally trying to kill me.
ReplyDeleteA Man Called Ove - adding to my book club list, since apparently I'm in charge of choosing *all* the books now!
ReplyDeleteAmericanah is a great book! Hope you love it.
ReplyDeleteMan Called Ove and Americanah are on my list! I'm currently reading Rainbow Valley by L.M. Montgomery for a Green Gables Read-Along and Gone With the Wind, also for a Read-Along! Anxious for two mysteries I ordered to arrive as I plan to meet the author, Lori Rader-Day, on July 30th! She grew up in the local area and now resides in Chicago. And trying to catch up on my reviews! :)
ReplyDeleteYou gotta love a weekend like that :D Hooray for Ove! Goodness I loved that book. It's getting all sorts of love lately, which is great. Maybe because the author has a new one out this week? Anyway, I love your description of it!
ReplyDeleteI'm really hoping to get to Bureaucrat very soon...this week? Right now I'm reading Did You Ever Have a Family by Bill Clegg. Wowza, heavy duty awesomeness.
I'm racing toward the end of Bittersweet currently- it's everything I hoped it would be in a dreamy, hazy summer read. Hope you enjoy!
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy you liked A Man Called Ove (and I need to read it soon!)
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, OVE! I loved it so much. I was wondering too why it started getting a bit of buzz this week, but I didn't realize his new one had just come out. That makes sense.
ReplyDeleteBureaucrat was a one-sitting read for me, so it's easy to get to. And I just started Did You Ever Have a Family last night as well bc the local bookstore in town recommended it! Are we secretly spying on each other's reading lists?