Welcome to Litsy!

Day 13 - Made you cry

What book(s) have made you cry?

#30junebooks

Thanks for the tag!
1. Curious, distracted, eclectic
2. On the couch with the cat on the arm of the couch and tolerating my presence
3. My step father was strictly a Volvo man, but in many other ways he reminds me of Ove.
4. Tagging some #whodunitbymail folks for old time‘s sake.
#wondrouswednesday

I‘ve been wanting to read this for a long, long while. I‘m already such a fan of Backman, and have heard so many wonderful things about this book.

This book is both heartwarming and funny however, if you do not get the certain brand of humor that this book offers then you will not get to the heartwarming part and actually feel it for what the author was trying to convey.
Ove reminds me a lot of Jack Nicholson's character from As Good As It Gets and TBH I tried three times to get through that movie and fell asleep all three times. (This is coming from a tremendous movie buff y'all).

Highly recommend. I loved this story of a grouchy old man in a small residential area. The characters are well written. The story is moving.

I adore Ove. But, I have a special place in my heart for curmudgeons 😂 he‘s like my spirit animal 😂

After hearing so much about this, I decided to give it a go

Have you guys read this? Have you read this gem?

I don't think I have liked a character as much as Ove in a long time. He is just so unlikeably likeable.

I picked this up after reading Harry Potter 5 which broke me again, just like it always does..and oh my God I'm such an emotional mess right now. I can't even begin to explain it properly.

All I can say is that you should pick this up if you need a beautiful story about a man with a big ❤

I failed to check-in for week 2 #BookFitnessChallenge. 🤫

Work travel, returned to WA on Thurs & caught a lovely cold on top of jet lag (so bad steps). 😑 I did get an urban hike in on Sun, but felt horrible again yesterday. Plus, was out of groceries, so not so great eating. 🤦🏼‍♀️ It‘s been a week.

I‘m 2/6 on audiobooks, finished the tagged (a reread & I happy cried again) & started The Magicians.

Focusing on steps & nutrition this week.

A grumpy curmudgeon of a man keeps putting off committing suicide (yikes!) because everyone keeps needing him to help them. #BadSummary

This was ok. Unfortunately, I wasn‘t as charmed by Ove as many readers were. It seemed like it was just the same scenario repeated - Ove is grouchy, he sees someone needing help, Ove reluctantly steps up. Other than the title character, none of the characters had much depth. Glad I finally read it, though, because I‘ve heard so much about it.

Okay the hype has kept me from reading this book, but now I have, I understand the love for this tale. Ove is a cranky old man, recently widowed without family, who just wants people to follow the rules and leave him alone. When a new family moves into his neighbourhood he finds himself drawn back into community and life despite himself, finding people who cares for him and to whose life he can contribute. Surprised how much this tale touched me

My first inclination was that this was going an emotional tale about an old man who has lost his wife, and must find a way to get on with his lonely life. Ove is not a character that we should love; he is grumpy, miserable and skeptical of everything but he is also non-intentionally funny. I loved the flashbacks to Ove's youth and life with his wife, Sonja. It is in his poignant reflections of her that makes my heart hurt the most.

3.5 stars ⭐️ Took me a month to finish it because I‘m in a reading slump ☹️ Any tips on how to get rid of it?

I ended up liking this well enough, but it took a while to get into. I think the cat was my favourite character 😆 But I did like the message of deeds speaking louder than words.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Oof, this book hit me right in the feels several times. The story of a cantankerous old man who would just like everyone in his row house neighborhood to follow the damn rules, if you don‘t mind. It is so much deeper than that, though, and I found myself wanting to give Ove a hug several times. And the end! 😭😭😭 I really enjoyed how this book gave you a preconceived notion and then set about shattering it. Definitely recommend!

Oh my heart 💔 Why are my eyes leaking?? 😭😭

A gorgeous book, with such a frustratingly lovable protagonist. It took me a couple of chapters to warm to Ove, but in the end he “turned on the sun” and won me over. A beautiful and heartwarming tale that will, I think, stay with me for some time 💛

‘You‘re dancing on the inside, Ove, when no one‘s watching. And I‘ll always love you for that. Whether you like it or not.‘

Fresh air, a cold drink and a good book 🌬🍸📚

#SpringIntoReading #SelfCareSunday

One gin + tonic (and also possibly several glasses of wine) later, and I‘m finally getting a chance to settle back down and continue reading.. Should be interesting to see how far I get in my current state 😅🍸🍷 📖

#springintoreading #booksandbeverage #saturdaynightspecial

#friyayintro @howjessreads

1. Hmm... probably the 90s. I have a lot of happy memories from that decade.
2. Physical books first, ebooks next.
3. We‘re the same age! Though I‘ll be 37 in Sept 😊
4. Nope! I‘m a military brat who then joined the Reserves *and* married an active duty man, so I‘ve moved a lot, lol. We do live closer to my place of birth than I have in a long time.
5. 👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾

1. The 70s ✌️🌼🌸🕺🏻
2. Paperback or hardback 📖
3. Younger - 26 👶🏼
4. Yes 🗺
5. @MoonWitch94 hi there 👋🏼 Also - @naomi.lee97 you still haven‘t posted anything haha 😜

@howjessreads #friyayintro #happyfriyay

“The sales assistant looks down at the counter in a way that seems to reveal a fiercely yet barely controlled desire to begin clawing his own face.”

As a former retail worker, I remember this feeling all too well 😂😂

So I just found out about the #OWLsReadathon2019 last night, but it sounds like fun so I‘m giving it a whirl! I‘m gonna go for the following OWLs to strive to be a Magizoologist:

Care of Magical Creatures (land animal on cover) - A Man Called Ove
Charms (read an adult book) - The Woman in the Window
Herbology (plant on cover) - Beast of Extraordinary Circumstance
Potions (sequel) - The Well of Ascension

This counts as my #AprilTBR, too, lol.

From in print to on screen today!!
If you read the book and saw the movie, were you a fan of one over the other? Both? Why?

Funny man who says things as it is but also about simple acts of kindness.

Firstly, I had totally pronounced“Ove” wrong with a silent “e”!!
I actually felt like I had a Midwesterners Michigan accent!! 🙄
Regarding the book itself, it actually started off slow and a little confusing. For as far as I had to read before I really connected the dots, surprisingly I didn‘t can it.
I‘m so glad I stuck with it!
The narration on the audio was superb.
The storyline was brilliant & captivating.
The characters have my heart. 💜

Love is a strange thing. It takes you by surprise.

Grief is a strange thing.

Memories, perhaps. Afternoons in the sun with someone‘s hand clutched in one‘s own. The fragrance of flower beds in fresh bloom. Sunday‘s in a cafe. Grandchildren, perhaps. One finds a way of living for the sake of someone else‘s future.

And time is a curious thing. Most of us only live for the time that lies right ahead of us. A few days, weeks, years. One of the most painful moments in a person‘s life probably comes with the insight that an age has been reached when there is more to look back on than ahead. And when time no longer lies ahead of one, other things have to be lived for.

Death is a strange thing.

“...You get to know all the nooks and crannies. How to avoid getting the key caught in the lock when it‘s cold outside. Which of the floorboards flex slightly when one steps on them or exactly how to open the wardrobe doors without them creaking. These are the little secrets that make it your home.”

“....Then over the years the walls become weathered, the wood splinters here and there, and you start to love that house not so much because of all its perfection, but rather for its imperfections.“

"Loving somone is like moving into a house," Sonja used to say. “At first you fall in love with all the new things, amazed every morning that all this belongs to you, as if fearing that someone would suddenly come rushing in through the door to explain that a terrible mistake had been made, you weren‘t actually supposed to live in a wonderful place like this.

“What sort of love is it if you hand someone over when it gets difficult?” she cries, her voice shaking with sorrow. “Abandon someone when there‘s resistance? Tell me what sort of love that is!”

But we are always optimists when it comes to time; we think there will be time to do things with other people. And time to say things to them.

We always think there‘s enough time to do things with other people. Time to say things to them. And then something happens and then we stand there holding on to words like “if”.

But sorrow is unreliable in that way. When people don‘t share it there‘s a good chance that it will drive them apart instead.

Every human being needs to know what she‘s fighting for. That was what they said. And she fought for what was good.

Every man needs to know what he‘s fighting for.

Sorrow does strange things to living creatures.

A time comes in every man‘s life when he decides what sort of man he‘s going to be. Whether he is the kind who lets other people tread on him, or not.

Because a time comes in every man‘s life when he decides what sort of man he‘s going to be: the kind who lets other people walk all over him, or not.

Trying to finish my book on this gray, drizzly day.

About 30% of the way through A Man Called Ove upon the completion of day two of #24B4Monday shortly after midnight, putting my total hours @ 6:03 over the last couple days.....once again not going to get anywhere near 24 by the end of the weekend, but I‘m racking up more than I ever have before this month and I‘m feeling accomplished about that.
Where did everyone else finish up for day two?

I got my book back!!! It was so much fun getting to read everyone‘s picks!!! #nopostonsunday

This man called Ove is a curmudgeon, a wet blanket— a våt filt, so to Swedishly speak. Neighbors refer to him as the bitter neighbor from hell. But when a congenial young family moves in next door, Ove‘s world turns upside down and round about. As it turns round about, behind Ove‘s curmudgeonly facade is a story— and a heart-rending one at that. This charming consideration of collected connectedness occupies a special spot on my Ikea book shelf!

1) yay!! I cohost #BotmBuddyRead with @TheBookHippie and everyone is welcome to join us!!

2) I‘m drawing a blank right now... 😳

3) A Man Called Ove and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine both had me laughing out loud at times!

4) hopefully to the beach!! 🏖

#WondrousWednesday

#Charmed by Ove 🤗

#LiteraryLuck