Book Club

[hoosieroriginal]

Okay, Okay - I read all of your comments and decided to start the book over - sorry I said he was a one hit wonder - the book was very good - I actually cried at the end.  It was much better the second time around.  Thanks for putting me on the right course! 

[CareBears]

@hoosieroriginal I am so glad to hear that you re-read the book and found the magic the second time around as it was a wonderful book!   But I do believe you have to read it from a special place inside yourself to better understand the relationship the grandmother had with her granddaughter.  I do not think the grandmother was given much credit throughout her life for the wisdom she possessed deep inside herself, as she did not let that part of her shine through to many people, but she really could be her true self with that baby girl, and that little girl saw the magic and allowed her grandmother to be who she really was, and grandmother was a beautiful soul that found the true magic in each person she met along the way even if they could not see it in themselves!

[hoosieroriginal]

@CareBears -Now I want to read Britt Marie Was Here - to see what happens to her - have you read it?

[CareBears]

@hoosieroriginalFirst of all I am so happy for you, you have discovered that MAGIC Fredrik Backman has (sorry to use the word Magic so often but it is indeed the perfect word for his writing).

Britt-Marie as you know was not a character to embrace in the book "My Grandmother Said To Tell You She's Sorry" until her true self revealed that maybe just maybe she had something deep within her that she too never showed very often, I read the books out of sequence so I was introduced to Britt-Marie in "Britt-Marie Was Here", I saw through her right away maybe because she reminds me of myself somewhat, but I know if you read the 2nd book from that place you now found (that very special place) you will grow very fond of Britt-Marie, when I closed the last page of the story of her, I knew that I was going to miss her very much, and I felt that I had made a friend for life!

[LoriLori]

@hoosieroriginal, YAY you!!!!

I felt bad that I was so scoldy with you but now I don't feel so bad LOL.   I'm in love with Fredrik Backman's work (and him LOL) and you skipped the most important parts and yeah, he's a four-hit wonder at the moment, soon to be five! 

I'm soooooo glad you've gone back and read it again.  Isn't it beautiful?  @CareBears and I are probably the two most vocal Backman lovers but there's tons of them on book forum now. 

I strongly recommend "And the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer", the novella about Alzheimer's or dementia.  It's a work of art, of truth and beauty.

"Beartown" will be published soon.  I've already ordered it.  Britt-Marie has soccer, which I don't care about, and Beartown has ice hockey, and I don't care about that either, but I already know I love the book.  He has an amazing gift for compassion and empathy that matches perfectly with his talent for writing!

[abbalulu]

@LoriLori you will be glad to know that Fredrik Backman is going to be interviewed in the May issue of the Goodreads newsletter. I was asked if I wanted to submit a question for him and then she would select which questions she would use. I'm sure they asked a lot of people to do that. I wish they would have asked you. You probably have a whole list of questions for him.

[LoriLori]

@abbalulu, she did ask me!  Because I've read like a thousand books, I have only 29 favorite books and two are his (Ove and Every Morning). 

I sent eight questions and two comments.   I deleted "I love you" and "I wish you and your wife well but if it doesn't work out..."  LOL.  They were all real questions I sent.

I wish I could figure out a way to friend you there without posting personal info. 

[abbalulu]

@LoriLori I'm so glad that they asked you for questions also. It would have been a shame to not ask you to contribute since you have such enthusiam for his work. I have only read Ove but have every intention of reading his other books also.

I only asked one question but my husband who also read the book had a question that he wanted to ask so I included that too.

I have no clue how to friend you over there as I have never participated in their community-if there even is one.

So far I have just listed my books and taken some quizzes and played some of their Trivia. Gosh I wish they had something like Goodreads when I was a kid as it would be kind of amazing to see everything that I have read throughout my whole life. I just have listings mainly from the last few years.

I had to laugh at how you managed to restrain yourself from telling Fredrik Backman that you loved him. It gave me a good chuckle.

I better sign off before I take this thread farther off topic and get in trouble.

[LoriLori]

@abbalulu, I'm curious what your husband's question was, if you don't mind.  And yours, if you care to share.

[abbalulu]

@LoriLoriI don't mind you asking. Now you must remember that my husband is a man so his question is not intended to plumb the emotional depths of Mr. Backman's soul. lol  Plus he has a quirky sense of humor so his question was asked tongue in cheek. He wanted to know if he drove a Saab, Volvo or something entirely different. It was something I had never thought to wonder so I included it.

My question was actually prompted by a remark my husband made when he was reading the book. He actually said that Ove reminded him of himself in some ways. So I inquired if Mr. Backman had any personality traits similar to Ove's and if so what were they?

Do you want to share your questions? I'm sure they are a lot deeper and more pertinent than ours since you are such a huge fan.

By the way I was reading some of the reviews for the new book and it looks like another winner is coming our way.