Patty Pick for May 25 is "Britt-Marie Was Here" by Fredrik Backman

"Britt-Marie Was Here" is another thought-provoking book by Frederik Backman. A follow-up novel featuring a polarizing character, Britt-Marie, from his book "My Grandmother Told Me to Tell You She's Sorry." Britt- Marie is off into the world on her own for the first time. As we look back with her on her former life, we find out how she came to be the person she is today. As the book goes forward we see her dig a little deeper into the reasons for her awkwardness. She is not sure she is ready to venture out into the world on her own, but she is going forward anyway.  

Britt-Marie needs to work now that she is divorced and she is determined to have a job and find a purpose for her life. She and her husband, Kent, 
have gone their separate ways after the revelation that he has cheated on her for years. She knew in her heart, but in her other life she was a good wife. She tried to do everything by the rules. As she deals with her OCD, she finds ways to make things work for her and she asks a lot of questions. 

She ends up in Berg, a small town in the middle of nowhere, on the way to nowhere. Somehow she is "stuck" there as Someone and her crew try to teach Britt-Marie how to be their soccer coach. Britt-Marie has always lived her husband's dreams and his life and not her own. Now she is living for herself finally. Along with the sweet children, the residents struggling to survive, and the quirky situation, this Fredrik Backman novel reads along with surprising quickness. She even has a love interest in the local policeman.

As she unravels her life and tries to put it back together, we find our how and why Britt-Marie came to be the annoying, rules-following person in Fredrik Backman's "My Grandmother Told Me to Tell You She's Sorry." Being in the same car accident side-by-side with her sister who was killed, changed her whole life. She is just learning to deal with it. In Berg, she comes into her skin and learns she can make a difference in her life and others. Cheer along with her as we watch and read this hilarious story of Britt-Marie finding herself. A solid 4 Star read.  

Patty Pick for 6/9/16 is My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrick Backman

As many of you may remember, another wonderful book by Fredrick Backman was 
selected as a Patty Pick! One of my all-time favorite books, "A Man Called Ove", was a Patty Pick on 1/21/16. This in one book you need to read for yourself. I promise that you will not be able to walk away after reading that book without some thought of someone in your life that you judged and categorized without really getting to know the real reason they were acting in the strange way you witnessed. Who doesn't know a grumpy, old man? Well, enough about that wonderful book, just read it, please!

Fredrik Backman's second novel, "my grandmother asked me to tell she's sorry", was just as delightful as his first. I was not sure about reading a novel with a seven-year-old narrator, but her voice is so pure and true you will swear there was a real seven-year-old who wrote this book! You also have to love her grandmother, who invents a magical land that is populated with strange people and beings to help ease the pain from the tortuous bullying that Elsa is suffering through at school.

The story of this different but amazing little girl with her unique view of the world, will bring joy to your heart and tears to your eyes. Sometimes at the same time and sometimes not. As we follow Elsa around after her grandmother dies to deliver letters for her, we meet the special people that she knew and the other owners of apartments in their building. You will read how it is really a small world and you never know what other people are experiencing in their lives or have endured before you knew them. 

As the stories of the people that Elsa's grandmother is trying to apologize to come out one-by-one, these same people will all be put to work. Their new job is to protect Elsa and her grandmother hopes will manage to heal themselves along the way. I could go on forever about this delightful book but I will let Backman's words speak for themselves. Elsa's best and only friend, her grandmother told her, "Only different people change the world, Granny used to say. "No one normal has ever changed a crapping thing." And this true statement, "if you hate the one who hates, you could risk becoming like the one you hate." So take it from this little "different" girl, and remember those that existed and don't turn into one of those people who hate. Don't wait, go read this book!

Patty Pick for 1/21/16 is "A Man called Ove" by Fredrik Backman!

Loved, Loved, Loved this book! I wasn't sure at first if I was going to like this book as much as the reviews suggested. It just kept pulling me in - page by page and word-by-word. The storyline of Ove and Sonja had me right from the start. As their story flows out through Ove's words, we see why they fell in love with each other. They make an unlikely pair, but sometimes that makes for a perfect match - just like in real life. 

I am so glad that I finished this book in the car (not driving) and not on the beach as I thought I would. I cried more in the last few chapters than while reading the entire book. I laughed, smiled, cried, and told my husband so many parts of this book, he probably thinks he has read it now himself. The time spent was worth every page. 

I know Ove was a cranky old man, but he really was not that old. As we meet him, he 
is trying to kill himself so he can be reunited with his wife, Sonja. She was one of the few people he has ever loved in his life. He is interrupted at every turn by his new neighbors. The very day they move in, they manage to run over his mailbox with their car. Ove follows the rules and expects everyone else to also, so he works hard to impress that on his neighbors. They seem to have other plans for him though. As Ove is stymied at every opportunity to join Sonja, you will imagine the hilarious scenes in your head. Fredrik Backman has a style of writing that describes the feelings and thoughts of our older generation to a "T"!

This is one of the funniest, and most touching stories that I have read in a long time. We love Ove and he loves us - he just doesn't know it yet. This book has a 4.29 rating on Goodreads, but I gave it a 5.0! Don't miss this one!