I think I have a few favorite author. Maybe that's getting too far ahead. I've only read two of his books and I think you need three for it to be a trend. So we're on the cusp. But if you haven't checked out Fredrik Backman, might I recommend that you remedy that?
Let me step back. I hadn't heard of him until recently though he seems to have books going back about a decade. Now I will admit to being far less up on book trends since the little monster came around but I was pretty active during that window and he didn't come across my radar. It's a nice reminder just how many books there are. Anyway, I hadn't heard of him till recently when a friend recommended A Man Called Ove. A few times. And I said "yeah yeah yeah" and put it on my TBR list, which is currently 470 books long. And it may have sat there for a while. Except this friend and I are in a (currently virtual) book club together and another book by that author was picked (Ove having already been read by a couple people). So, by virtue of the fact that it was an assignment, I read Anxious People. And oh man.
Have you ever read a story where partway through you realize how invested you are? And just how much you're enjoying it? Because that was my reaction here. I started out a little skeptical. Which is silly because the book starts out saying "This is a book about a lot of things, but mostly about idiots" and really, that should have done it. But then part way through I remember thinking "Ooooh no. I think...I love this?" And I did. I did love it. I loved the tone of the story. The dry humor. I loved the characters and how they transformed from pure caricatures to people that were more complicated than first impressions would suggest. The plot, insomuch as there is one, is a bit confusing and the story tells itself and retells itself from different perspectives with different information each time. But in simplest terms, it involves a failed bank robbery and an accidental hostage situation during an apartment open house.
Loving this book, I decided to give A Man Called Ove a try and once my reading schedule and my library's hold schedule lined up, I started reading (or listening, as the case may be). But I was again worried. I mean, there's no way I'm going to like this one as much, right? That's ridiculous. And again, I started it a bit skeptical. Even though it had a very similar tone. But just like before, part way through the book I found myself thinking "Oooh nope, I was wrong before, I love this one too, just as much". It was a slow burn that won me over just as strongly. The plot is a bit odd. It's basically a curmudgeon wants to kill himself to be reunited with his wife but keeps getting interrupted by his neighbors and I swear, it's funny and sweet and not dark. Not too dark.
I will definitely be reading more of his stuff (Beartown next, perhaps?) and I'll probably go into it thinking "Well I mean, this can't be as good as the other two" and hoping to be pleasantly surprised.
