Welcome to Litsy!

Sometimes you have to live like the gate is open.

Heart wrenching.
Have you ever loved something so fiercely that you would do anything to save it?
That‘s what the people of Beartown do, and the story is something you will never forget.
Backman makes you slow down, realize what you have in front of you, and crave what life is really all about.
It‘s not often that a sequel is better, but in this case I think it worked out that way. I will remember this book for all the days to come.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Goddamn Backman did it again. All the feels! Can't wait for the third book. I dunno if my heart can take it, though.

All the stars!!!!!! Best book I have read in a very long time. Backman's writing is exceptional. This book has wonderful moments of inspiration and moments of profound sadness. I do not follow hockey and this book touched me deeply as it is about so much more than that - its about friendship and family. The family we are born with and the family we find.

May Reads. Beartown and Crown of Gilded Bones were the big stand outs.

@eggs - for wonderous Wednesday. One of my fav book shirts and book earrings
The first thing I look for in a friend is kindness.
Biggest irrational fear - a car jumping thr curve when I am walking down the street and running me over.
When we can travel again: experience Disney with my family and go lay on a warm beach with a cold drink and a book!

Wanna play @StillLookingForCarmenSanDiego , @DinoMom , @DebbieGrillo

This book is amazing! It‘s even better than Beartown. I highly recommend it.

Sitting in the bleachers freezing my fingers off waiting for my kiddos game to start and the sun to come out! 🥶

Amazing Fredrik Backman! The style of writing is wholly his own - F. Backman is one of the most talented storytellers. Thought-provoking, engaging, and heartwarming: an emotional roller-coaster. It's a great multi-layered novel - gripping, reflective and well executed.

Can anyone tell me why the name of the book changed??? I had Bear Town in my stack and went to B&N and got Us Against you not even thinking anything of it just because of the author. Now I have two of the same stories... but be read Bear Town ...it‘s a great book 😳☺️

Beartown was an emotional roller coaster ride of emotions for me. The book was very good but I am still reflecting on it a year later. So, here I am about to embark on another trip to Beartown.

The second book about Beartown where hockey is everything.

I just love this book so much 😭😭😭😭😭 it was a reread for me and I‘m so glad that #lmpbc gave me a reason to do so! Backman breaks my heart and heals me all at the same time. The writing is so stunning and I felt all the feels for these characters, three years later. @shellleigh33 I‘m SO sorry for the delay! This is going in today‘s mail!! @sharread @LiteraryinLititz

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I cannot express how much I love this book!! I am very excited for the 3rd book in the series to be released. The story of Beartown continues in this book. We see ups and downs that the members of the hockey team and the town deal with. We see our beloved characters from Beartown grow and change.

Okay, that‘s it, Backman‘s officially a favorite author! I can‘t get enough of how authentically and sympathetically he writes all of his characters, and still manages to tell compelling stories. I cried twice while reading this. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I‘m definitely glad I read this! Thanks to my #lmpbc of @sharread @BennettBookworm and @shellleigh33 . This is my first book of 2021!

I didn‘t do my usual research and blindly started this book. I‘ve read other Backman books and liked them so I felt safe with this one. I didn‘t know it was about hockey or that it‘s actually a sequel, but that didn‘t matter!! While I was unsure at first, because of my lack of knowledge about hockey I grew to love the characters. What a great story about human nature and how we cope (or don‘t cope) with life.
Book 19 of 2020

“Unfairness is a far more natural state in the world than fairness” -us against you

“At some point almost everyone makes a choice. Some of us don‘t notice it happening, most don‘t get to plan it in advance, but there‘s always a moment when we take one path instead of another that has consequences for the rest of our life‘s. It determines the people we will become... because responsibility is a burden. Freedom is a pleasure.” -us against you

5 Beautiful stars. Intuitively written with amazing insight on humanity with complex relationships. So many phrases I utterly loved. Enjoyed and loved every character. Maya was not a central figure in this novel but still was an intrigual part. I think every one of my emotions were hit, funny, joy, anger, love, compassion. One of my favorites!
#GroupO @LiteraryinLititz @BennettBookworm @shellleigh33

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 I‘ve said it before and I‘ll say it again - I‘ll read anything Fredrik Backman writes. He has such a moving way of writing, it‘s like music to me. I loved going back to Beartown.

Just finished Beartown & am so glad I had this on hand to start tonight! Thank you @JanuarieTimewalker13 I am all snuggled in my recliner as hubby & the kiddo watch some Netflix. It‘s so cold outside, under this blanket is the only place I wanna be!

I did not like this as much as Beartown, which was one of my top reads of the year I read it, but it was still worthwhile to read. It was interesting to read this while the U.S. is so polarized because the book is mostly about how different groups can be set against each other by greedy people with ulterior motives.

I need to finish the tagged book to get my first Bingo! I hope to finish it in a day or so. I haven‘t finished the official #bookspin or #doublespin yet, but I‘ve filled in a lot on my card! #BookSpinBingo

Tackle the TBR 🤓📚 #boleybooks #fredrikbackman #usagainstyou #booklove #bookbeast #atria #readwithme

It's clearly more than just a game for this town...
A solid follow-up to Beartown...giving you insight into how the town is dealing with the fall-out of the rape and loss of their “best“ players to Hed. When a new coach comes to town and new players are added to the team, tensions rise, secrets come out, and someone ends up dead. I loved the new coach, BTW.
https://audiobookingwithleah.blogspot.com/2020/08/audiobook-review-us-against-yo...

📖 Us Against You
✏️ John Updike
🎞 Under the Tuscan Sun
🎤 Carrie Underwood
🎼 Under Pressure

#ManicMonday #LetterU

I‘ve read Beartown but haven‘t gotten to the sequel yet. #AugustAuthors

Most #unpopularopinion of the year alert... This did not work for me. The only reason I am giving it a so-so vs pan is because of Benji (love that guy). Maybe it‘s because I did audio vs physical book. Maybe I waited too long after Beartown (the best book I read in 2017) to start this. Maybe my kids are interrupting me every 10 seconds and I was never able to get immersed in the story. I wanted to love it but there was no magic here for me. 😢

I don't know how Backman does it. He makes you fall in love with multiple well-drawn characters, signposts tragedy, and keeps you guessing. No one does grief as well.

#popsugarreadingchallenge2020 A book with a three word title. Read Beartown last year so have been looking forward to the sequel.

BearTown 2.....what a great follow up!! Can‘t wait till BearTown 3!!! Heartwarming, heart wrenching, crushes your soul and restores your soul. Great characters. Highly highly recommend this duology, soon to be trilogy (2021, sparse info, hope it‘s accurate). 🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻💕

A fantastic sequel to #Beartown.

I was part of the town, part of the team, part of the loss.

10/10 would recommend.

People will always choose a simple lie over a complicated truth, because the lie has one unbeatable advantage: the truth always has to stick to what actually happened, whereas the lie just has to be easy to believe.

“It‘s hard to care about people. Exhausting, in fact, because empathy is a complicated thing. It requires us to accept that everyone else‘s lives are also going on the whole time. We have no pause button for when everything gets too much for us to deal with, but then neither does anyone else.”

Time for the sequel! I loved #Beartown and I hope #UsAgainstYou stands up to it.

I love these characters and this place and the way Backman writes, and I‘m so sad that I‘m almost finished with it. But it‘s really nice to be outside with my book and the sunshine and a delicious iced Thai Coconut Latte. (It‘s a Celestial Seasonings K-Cup. I haven‘t gone anywhere for two weeks, and have no intention of going anywhere anytime in the foreseeable future, promise.) #usagainstyou #fredrikbackman #beartown #socialdistancing

LOVE LOVE LOVE.

“It isn‘t always easy. But if you say that to them, they‘ll reply that it‘s not supposed to be” (434).

This quote really stuck out to me, since I teach 7th grade and fear this also: “But he‘s terrified of this: turning around and seeing a twelve-year-old get hurt and feeling responsible. Anyone who feels responsibility isn‘t free” (244).

“‘You can force people to obey you, but you can never force them to follow you. If you want them to play for you, they have to love you‘” (194).

“Adri never became just anyone, not entirely; she was born with something of Alain in her” (183).

Started listening to this! And I'm in love already!! Looks like a promising sequel to the amazinggg Beartown!