Welcome to Litsy!

One of my favorites of the year - a story that‘s so about so much more than just idiots. A bank robbery gone wrong that turns into an off hostage situation, but everyone involved comes out closer and connected and better by the end. Estelle gets to see her fireworks while her hubby is parking the car, Roger finds his purpose, Julia and ro realize they‘re ready for parenthood and the elk gets to reunite with her daughters, thanks to cops jim&jack

A failed bank robbery turns into a hostage situation for eight or nine people in an apartment viewing.

It was incredibly uplifting to have someone accurately describe the depression I have felt and been through at various points in my life.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

119/362

This book needs a trigger warning ⚠️, because 😣.
Despite that, unfortunately I can relate, and described it almost just like this myself, too. #currentlyreading

I have 3 (!!) books to review still 🙃, but for today this is next on the list. I am enjoying my TBR so far! #bookandlunch #nextup #currentlyreading 📚🐛

In a not very large or noteworthy town in Sweden
#whereareyouMonday
@Cupcake12

💜💜💜

117/100🎧📖🥘🥢
Already saw the tv adaptation of this book last 2022 on Netflix but still enjoyed listening to the audiobook and tried some Korean noodles.
#anxiouspeople #fredrikbackman #ebook #audiobook #goodreads #goodreadsreadingchallenge #bookstoscreen

This is the first novel I have read by this author and I loved it! It made me cackle, but was also so heartbreaking. It was so human and relatable, whilst also being absurd and ridiculous. I will definitely be reading more by Fredrik Backman.

Coffee and a book 📕 😎

A little slow in the beginning. Ending totally worth it !

#FeelinTheLove Day 2: My #FaveLiteraryLove is Estelle‘s “affair” - unconsummated though it may be - with her neighbor as they exchange books with their own personal scribblings/markings in them. Imagine an illicit love wrapped up in book exchanges, so pure and so beautiful.

#25Alive! Day 29: There was much #Laughter as college kid and I read this aloud in our book club of two during the December holidays. As noted in my review: There is a tenderness to his writing that feels almost like a hug – but more perhaps like clinging to a liferaft, the act of writing the words his way of preventing himself from sinking – that he holds on to the reader – in beauty, in supplication, in wonder. More here: https://wp.me/pDlzr-qZ0

#25Alive! Day 17: My #1stBk25 #FirstBook25 is a reread of tagged book - as college kid and I read it for our book club of two this December break. It lends itself well to reading aloud, and I find it even more hilarious and soul-filling in my second reading. Finished it one day before our college kid flew back to Seattle. Full review is forthcoming.

#25Alive! Day 11: the unlikely #friendship among the hostages and the bank robber is quite unforgettable in this tale that I reread for my book club of two with my college kid who came to spend the December holiday at home here in the UAE. Rereading this made the story even more powerful and profound for me. I will read anything that Backman writes. Perfect for #ReadTheWorld2025 - Sweden.

Fredrik Backman is in a class of his own, I love the way this story is quirky yet heartwarming. The characters aren‘t perfect but perfectly human and I found myself rooting for all of them!

Not my favorite Backman book as I didn't like the characters. It reminded me a bit of Turtles All the Way Down by John Green due to the anxiety of the flawed humans. The interconnected of the characters was interesting and it was funny at times.

Still trying to slog my way through. I'm at 74% and bookclub is tonight.

I am 30% through this book. I am reading it for a bookclub so I don't want to quit. But I'm finding it very triggering with all the miserable people and suicide. Does it get better? I know most people love this book.

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

Great news - Fredrik Backman has a new novel coming out June 2025 (in English)!!! You can find out more about this novel and his creative process on his Instagram post.

#AManCalledOve #Beartown #AnxiousPeople #FredrikBackman

I love these new StoryGraph monthly wrap up images.

When @rachelsbrittain recommends a book, it's almost always a winner for me. I also loved Daisy Jones and the Six, so that may end up as one of my bonus picks.

readingbracket2024 #bookbracket2024 @CSeydel

Managed 3 bingos in July

#bookspin #doublebookspin #bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

5/5

What an incredible read. I loved the ways the mystery and the characters' lives all unfolded throughout.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Backman does such a great job tapping into the human condition…I want to meet and have coffee…or a beer…or some closet wine…with each of these characters. This was a twofer: July #bookspin and #roll100

#bookspin: Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
#doublebookspin: The Perils of Lady Catherine de Bourgh by Claudia Gray

#bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

Backman has been my favorite (living) author since Beartown knocked my socks off in 2017.

I just fall in love with his characters. Even the ones I don‘t like very much.

He writes about the plight of being human with sharp humor & blunt observation. But more importantly, with astonishing grace.

Even while weaving together plots as absurd as those in this book, Backman reminds how powerful, & necessary, empathy is.

It‘s a gift.

My SIL loves Backman, but this was my first time reading him. I opted for the #audiobook and quickly came to understand why she's a fan. I found the back and forth perspective a bit confusing; however, the interaction between characters made it very easy to slip inside the story and become one with them. Brilliant!

I would have liked it no matter the format, yet I can't help but feel the narrator added something extra special to the experience.

In the mood for something uplifting.

1. Sometimes I do, not consciously. Really any book that captures my attention.
2. Fredrik Backman
3. Isabel Allende
#wondrouswednesday @eggs

PS Sorry I'm late!

I finally finalized my #roll100 books and these are this month's picks. I'm really excited for them, hoping to get to at least two
@PuddleJumper

Prime example of putting a book aside because it didn‘t work for me, picking it up again much later, and reading it in 3 days. Excellent book. A group of people held hostage by an inept bank robber find common ground and grace because life works better when there‘s community. 5🌟

This was a cute book which managed to explore a pretty heavy subject without being too oppressive, but also not making too much light of it. I did think the end few chapters dragged a bit though.

#snowedin #promptmaze #wintergames #snowangels

I started this because I lost the book I was reading on a bus. 100 pages in I really considered putting it down because the writing was so annoying. It definitely could have been cut down from 400 to 200 pages and I never started to like the writing style, but I liked the message behind the book and it did make me tear up at certain parts.

Took a walk today and passed at least five stuffed Little Free Libraries. I picked up these three.

My first attempt at Backman, and I'm not impressed. I found his writing style to be pompous and distracting. Bailed at around page 50. Not for me!

I‘m late to the Backman game.

It started a little underwhelming for me, but I was totally charmed by the end.

I‘m looking forward to reading more of his work.

Got in some reading time by the Delaware River today.

Up next for book club. #FirstSaturdayReaders

5✨ There is a lot of characters in this book, but it is not overwhelming. It was obviously mapped out well by the author to unfold as the story went on. There was a lot of mystery elements that unfolded when we went back in time to the hostage situation, further back to provide character development, and the present with police interviews. Plus it had a good message with potential trigger warnings of suicide. #12monthchallenge @Littlewolf1

I didn't love this one the way I did Beartown, the only other Backman I've read. However, I really liked how the characters' lives were all intertwined and the idea that one person's actions can have such a great effect on others.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks
#Magnificent May @Andrew65
#BookCrossing

So I am going to try to participate in the #14books14weeks2023 challenge hosted by @TheHeartlandBookFairy !! The 14 weeks start the week of Memorial Day and go through til Labor Day. For my books I have chosen 14 books I was SO EXCITED about when they arrived, but somehow have never actually READ. As you can see, several BOTM and OwlCrate editions lurk here!! Since taking the photo I rearranged the shelf into alphabetical order, which is how I ⬇️

One conflict that I felt like I could identify with was trying to decide what the right thing to do in a situation is. In this book, one of the characters had to make a choice between what his job was telling him to do and what he felt was morally right, which I feel like a lot of people can relate to that.

There is no limit to how many photos I can take of me and my Karnebull. Delicious! This cinnamon roll is from Bröd & Salt, yesterdays roll was from Espresso House.

#sweden #holiday #stockholm

Yay! I did a thing!! I got more people to read!!!
People at work were having a little fun with how much I read.
So I suggested we read together - a book a month.
I chose this first, because it‘s funny, and has a lot of heart, and has broad appeal, and there‘s plenty to talk about.
I thought it was going nowhere, but I got two takers today - yay!!!
We may stay a small band of 3.
But my hope is that others see how great talking about books is ♥️📚

This wasn‘t my favorite Backman novel, but I still liked it. I actually laughed out loud in some parts which is always a plus! The thing that kept me from absolutely loving it was the premise was very near that of Bel Canto.

A bank robbery goes wrong when the robber decides to rob a cashless bank. Oops! When trying to escape they accidentally stumble into an apartment showing that soon becomes a hostage situation. I truly struggled through parts of this book due to how all the characters were either annoying or complete jerks in their interviews with the police and at times while being held hostage. How the story wrapped up redeemed itself in a way but I did not 💝it

January Wrap-up!
6 books in total
- 2 graphic novels
- 2 audiobooks
- 4 physical/ebooks

Still reading Quiet by Naomi Vacaro and Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner