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Excellent book. I listened to this on audio and was very pleased with the narration and couldn‘t stop listening. Lots of trigger warnings about suicide and depression but a fantastically well told story about a group of people and how their lives intersect and affect each other. It is kind of sad, but very well written and I love how the author wraps it all up. Highly recommend.

This book gave me all the feels. I‘m not kidding, I started out hating it and ended up absolutely loving it! A story about people and the impact we have on each other whether we know it or not…and second chances. #bookspin for November 🧡💛💙🧡💛💙

💙💙💙
This book started out as almost a bail, I‘m so glad I pushed through because now it‘s nearly impossible to put down.

Incoming unpopular opinion 😖
Was looking for a feel-good read, this kept popping up so I said what the hell. I mostly just felt annoyed, though. The plot was actually pretty clever, it was enough to keep me reading. But the style was too cutesy and kind of repetitive and every character except the grumpy cop was annoying. And it felt like the ending dragged on and on and on.
I see why it's popular but very not for me 🤷🏻‍♀️

My #bookspin and #doublespin this month. Actually starting the Bookspin…it has been picked 3 times this year but never got to it. I think the universe is telling me to read it, so 3 times a charm I guess.

This book takes too long to get going and all the talking to the reader stuff and sugar-sentimentality is grating. But chapter 58 is fun and I wrote down a few quotes. And… I admit, my waterworks 💦 kicked in and I might have gotten damp eyes. #whatever #HEA with suicide talk?! I feel played but it is so dang earnest. Too long, could be edited; but maybe not. Dang it! #bookclub #EstherAssisting #HardCover #Library

⭐️⭐️💫 I loathed this book in the first half—story ping ponged all over the place and none of the characters were particularly likable. It got better later on, but the damage was done. Just because you *can* try to interweave 10 stories doesn‘t mean you should. The narration made some characters more obnoxious than they deserved. Still happy to read Backman‘s books, but this didn‘t work for me. I‘m between a Pan and a So-So.

Audiobook has a nice flow. Perfect for listening while lifting.

Does… this get better? I have really enjoyed several of Backman‘s books, but I‘m struggling with the bouncy structure of this one, and running out of patience with the dialogue. Many exchanges seem tedious and longer than they need to be and have mostly left me disliking the characters. I think maybe the narration is exacerbating it. 😕

Books by Fredrick Backman have been hit or miss with me. I loved “A Man Called Ove” but did not like “Beartown”. This one is somewhere in the middle. I enjoyed it, but not a favourite. I would, however, recommend it to others.

4⭐️ I enjoyed this book so much. It is the first one by Backman that I have read but I am definitely going to read more. As the author says, this is a story about idiots but it is so much more than that. Hilarious and deeply poignant at times.

I can see why a lot of people liked this novel. The writing style is so fun to read and quirky. Over all I just never really WANTED to see what would happen next. Once I was reading, I enjoyed it, but over all I couldn‘t stay hooked.

Finished reading this a while back actually! I didn‘t really like it all that much as I found it preachy about themes I don‘t agree with. Pretty meh but it did make me laugh a few times.

Another excellent book by Fredrik Backman and very different to his other books. It al, starts off with a bank robbery at a cashless bank, and then an inadvertent hostage situation. This book is more about people and relationships.

Now just need him to quickly write a new book as I have finished all of his books and would recommend every one.

Sometimes it‘s easier to live with your own anxieties if you know that no one else is happy either.

My Library loan has come in whilst I was ill so this has to be my next read, only a few days left and a queue waiting for the ebook.

I absolutely adored this book… beautiful and ridiculous all at the same time… Just like life is!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I loved this book- a little bit of a “who is it” mystery, extremely relatable & a little bit of a self help book that is actually helpful. If you‘ve ever felt lost & anxious & questioning life- read it! It‘s great

I loved everything about this book. It was happy and sad. I laughed and I cried. In some way, I could relate to some part of every character. It‘s a beautiful picture of how deep down, everyone has some hurts and scars, no matter how out together people may seem. Such a lovely redemptive story.

@BennettBookworm THANK YOU! #steamygiveaway arrived whilst I was on holiday - just got home and picked it up from a neighbour's. Looking forward to using the mug & reading the book!

I'll use this for day 17 #tbrpile too!

I really liked this! I feel like it‘s kind of a comedy of errors, maybe like Big Trouble with Tim Allen. Lots of people connected in various ways with comedy and misunderstandings and misdirections. BUT under the silliness was a lot of truth and heaviness; I got emotional several times. I also read quite a few passages out loud to my husband, like “it‘s so true!” @magyklyXdelish @babyruth2510 @Bookish_AF

Frederik Backman articulates what is common but unseen. He brings out with wit and empathy the very things that everybody hides from others yet is common to everybody. Those things are the pain, suffering and loneliness of existence and the need to belong.

The novel is a comic hostage drama, where the hostage taker, the hostages and the policemen involved develop a bond, as they get to know each other and find a connection.

#FallTreasures #Day2 #AugustStats

Apparently the books I read in August were weighted towards informative and emotional! Here are some more stats and superlatives below:

Best: Anxious People 5 ⭐️
Worst: The Break-Up Book Club 2.5 ⭐️

1 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
6 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
1 ⭐️⭐️

Format: 1 print, 6 digital, 4 audio

Genre: 8 fiction, 2 non-fiction, 4 romance, 1 YA, 1 graphic novel, 1 thriller, 1 literary fiction

It‘s takes a bit to get used to the idiosyncratic voice of the narrator, which speaks in both the 3rd and 2nd person point of view, but once I was acclimated I really loved this book. Plot-wise it‘s about a bank robbery, but it‘s really about the wacky but loveable characters. I laughed and cried throughout my reading, connecting with the themes of the power of love and hope and human connection. 1 more off the #BOTM shelf! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

August #BookspinBingo results. While I did finish my #Bookspin, I did not do a good job of cutting down my #BOTM #TBR, which was what I used for my bingo card. In September I‘m going to keep my card still mostly BOTM, but I‘m also going to add in some Kindle TBR options too to change it up a bit more. Any Halloween-y books I am going to save for October.

Change of location, change of book.

𝚃𝚒𝚝𝚕𝚎: 𝙰𝚗𝚡𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝙿𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎

𝙰𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛: 𝙵𝚛𝚎𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚔 𝙱𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚖𝚊𝚗

𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: 𝙷𝚞𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝙵𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗

A bank robbery, a hostage situation, and 9 people- all with stories to tell.
Anxious People is heartfelt and beautiful. If you don‘t put the book down feeling like you didn‘t just rip your heart out, well then, maybe your life is more put together.
The lessons learned from Backman are deep and I‘ll cling to them for days to come.
Simply put, it doesn‘t matter what this book was about, only that you read it.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is a story about multiple people and how their lives are interconnected.

Very good book. I enjoyed all the connections.

TW: mentions of suicide

Finally starting my August #BookSpin. This was also my free #BOTY choice from #BOTM at the end of 2020. My first Fredrik Bachman, so hoping I will enjoy it!

This is a beautiful book. I love the characters. The writing is so interesting-I love how the story unravels. I really, really liked this book.

This book Is about a heist that turns out to be a hostage drama. The characters in this book are very hilarious. But being on the hilarious side still, this book covers a lot of humans emotions that we don't share. The writing style is superb undoubtedly and the audiobook is superb adds more colors to the experience.🤗Enjoy reading and learning😊

I really “should” stop collecting #BOTM books and start reading the ones I‘ve got. 😁
#shelfie

Loved this book! So far, Backman has not disappointed me!

#bookspinbingo

#pop21 #lockedroommystery

I've come to know this author as a brilliant writer and from that angle this book delivered again. I enjoyed the author's use of language and description of scenes. The only reason I'm giving this book a so-so rating is because I was a little confused by the move between characters, but overall a very enjoyable book.

Brilliantly written. I loved how it slowly unraveled each character‘s story in every chapter, making it hard for me to stop reading.

August #BookspinBingo card. I realized too late that I didn‘t follow the correct numbering, but oh well, I wasn‘t going to redo it after I finished. Looking forward to both my #BookSpin (Anxious People) and #DoubleSpin (The Four Winds), since they both big hits last year on Litsy. The month‘s is still all #BOTM, with the free spaces open for mood reading options. I only finished 6 books in July (life, sigh), so hoping for better reading in August!

July Reads. There wasn‘t a book I didn‘t like, Anxious People, Caraval, and News of the World were my faves

I was a bit bored and confused through parts of this books, hence the so-so rating but, as usual Fredrik Backman pulls the story together and makes it all make sense in a beautiful way in the end. Finishing the last 50 or so pages of this book was the perfect lazy Saturday activity 🥰

Changing genres and scenes and starting this highly recommend book 🤓

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Another meeting of #The2030SomethingBookClub in the archives! Most everyone really enjoyed the tagged book for today. I‘m so happy I listened to the audiobook—the narrator is excellent and draws the emotions out better. Very funny book that had a few members crying by the end. We‘re all getting tired of these Zoom meetings though *sighs*—been doing them on Zoom since March of last year. 😕

#bookclub

#currentread

I listened to the audiobook of this. I really enjoy the narrator the author uses. Fredrich Bachman has such a good way of bringing the characters to life and making you care about all of them - even the bad guy. Really enjoyable story.

Listening to this excellent audiobook while on my daily walk! For one of my upcoming #NYC #bookclubs. Have you read this one?! #WalkWithABook

Just starting this…..but loved My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She‘s Sorry by the same author. I‘m looking forward to his humor!

So first of all this book briefly mentioned suicide a few times but talks about depression quite a few times so TW there.

My favorite thing about the book was the humor. It had good humor and a lot of heart. My biggest issue is it constantly talks in circles. I know it was intentional with how the story was being told but it drove me batty.

Hope you girls like this one

#LMPBC

This book has me in hysterics. So clever!!!