Fredrik Backman

A curmudgeon hides a terrible personal loss beneath a cranky and short-tempered exterior while clashing with new neighbors, a boisterous family whose chattiness and habits lead to unexpected friendship.

A Novel

A Man Called Ove

"Viewing an apartment normally doesn't turn into a life-or-death situation, but this particular open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes everyone in the apartment hostage. As the pressure mounts, the eight strangers slowly begin opening up to one another and reveal long-hidden truths. First is Zara, a wealthy bank director who has been too busy to care about anyone else until tragedy changed her life. Now, she's obsessed with visiting open houses to see how ordinary people live--and, perhaps, to set an old wrong to right. Then there's Roger and Anna-Lena, an Ikea-addicted retired couple who are on a never-ending hunt for fixer-uppers to hide the fact that they don't know how to fix their own failing marriage. Julia and Ro are a young lesbian couple and soon-to-be parents who are nervous about their chances for a successful life together since they can't agree on anything. And there's Estelle, an eighty-year-old woman who has lived long enough to be unimpressed by a masked bank robber waving a gun in her face. And despite the story she tells them all, Estelle hasn't really come to the apartment to view it for her daughter, and her husband really isn't outside parking the car. As police surround the premises and television channels broadcast the hostage situation live, the tension mounts and even deeper secrets are slowly revealed. Before long, the robber must decide which is the more terrifying prospect: going out to face the police, or staying in the apartment with this group of impossible people." -- Barnes & Noble website.

Anxious People

A poignant story of a hockey town paralyzed by scandal. Jobs are disappearing and Beartown is slowly dying, so for its citizens, hockey is everything. This is the story not just of hockey, but of a 15-year-old named Maya Andersson, whose father, Peter, the general manager of the hockey club, loves hockey, but loves his family more. Seventeen-year-old Kevin Erdahl is the star of Beartown, with a chance to go professional. One night, after a huge win, Maya goes to a raucous party at Kevin's house and is thrilled at his attention, but things get out of hand, and what takes place changes Beartown forever.

Beartown

Instant New York Times Bestseller! The author of A Man Called Ove returns with “a lyrical look at how a community heals, how families recover, and how individuals grow” (The Washington Post). “Fans of Backman will not be disappointed. His work continues to amaze and captivate, enlighten and thrill.” —Shelf Awareness A small community tucked deep in the forest, Beartown is home to tough, hardworking people who don’t expect life to be easy or fair. No matter how difficult times get, they’ve always been able to take pride in their local ice hockey team. So it’s a cruel blow when they hear that their town’s ice hockey club might soon be disbanded. What makes it worse is the obvious satisfaction that all the former Beartown players, who now play for a rival team in the neighboring town of Hed, take in that fact. But the arrival of a newcomer gives Beartown hockey a chance at a comeback. Soon a team starts to take shape around Amat, the fastest player you’ll ever see; Benji, the intense lone wolf; always dutiful and eager-to-please Bobo; and Vidar, a born-to-be-bad troublemaker. But bringing this team together proves to be a huge challenge, especially as the town’s enmity with Hed grows more and more acute as the big game approaches. By the time the last goal is scored, a resident of Beartown will be dead, and the people of both towns will be forced to wonder if, after everything, the game they love can ever return to something as simple and innocent as a field of ice, two nets, and two teams. Us against you. Here is a declaration of love for all the big and small, bright and dark stories that give form and color to our communities. With immense compassion and insight, Fredrik Backman reveals how loyalty, friendship, and kindness can carry a town through its most challenging days.

Us Against You

Grandpa and Ted do not have a lot in common and Ted has waited a longtime to be accepted by his father. It is Grandpa and Noah that has a bond: the love of mathematics. However the three must learn say good-bye. 0.

A Novella

And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer

Britt-Marie can't stand a mess, but when she walks out on her cheating husband, she has to fend for herself as a caretaker amidst children, locals, drunkards, and a handsome new policeman.

Britt-Marie Was Here

It's Christmas Even morning. Years ago a man abandoned his son to pursue professional success; now he wonders if it's too late to forge a relationship with him. One week earlier, in a hospital late at night, the man met a five-year-old girl with cancer. When the man is given the chance to do something selfless that could change the destiny of the little girl in the hospital bed, he needs to find out what his own life has actually been worth in the eyes of his son before he makes the deal of a lifetime.

The Deal of a Lifetime

Over the course of two weeks, everything in Beartown will change. 

Maya Andersson and Benji Ovich, two young people who left in search of a life far from the forest town, come home and joyfully reunite with their closest childhood friends. There is a new sense of optimism and purpose in the town, embodied in the impressive new ice rink that has been built down by the lake.

Two years have passed since the events that no one wants to think about. Everyone has tried to move on, but there’s something about this place that prevents it. The destruction caused by a ferocious late-summer storm reignites the old rivalry between Beartown and the neighboring town of Hed, a rivalry which has always been fought through their ice hockey teams.

Maya’s parents, Peter and Kira, are caught up in an investigation of the hockey club’s murky finances, and Amat—once the star of the Beartown team—has lost his way after an injury and a failed attempt to get drafted into the NHL. Simmering tensions between the two towns turn into acts of intimidation and then violence. All the while, a fourteen-year-old boy grows increasingly alienated from this hockey-obsessed community and is determined to take revenge on the people he holds responsible for his beloved sister’s death. He has a pistol and a plan that will leave Beartown with a loss that is almost more that it can stand.

As it beautifully captures all the complexities of daily life and explores questions of friendship, loyalty, loss, and identity, this emotion-packed novel asks us to reconsider what it means to win, what it means to lose, and what it means to forgive.

The Winners

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove shares an irresistible and moving collection of heartfelt, humorous essays about fatherhood, providing his newborn son with the perspective and tools he’ll need to make his way in the world. Things My Son Needs to Know About the World collects the personal dispatches from the front lines of one of the most daunting experiences any man can experience: fatherhood. As he conveys his profound awe at experiencing all the “firsts” that fill him with wonder and catch him completely unprepared, Fredrik Backman doesn’t shy away from revealing his own false steps and fatherly flaws, tackling issues both great and small, from masculinity and mid-life crises to practical jokes and poop. In between the sleep-deprived lows and wonderful highs, Backman takes a step back to share the true story of falling in love with a woman who is his complete opposite, and learning to live a life that revolves around the people you care about unconditionally. Alternating between humorous side notes and longer essays offering his son advice as he grows up and ventures out into the world, Backman relays the big and small lessons in life, including: -How to find the team you belong to -Why airports explain everything about religion and war -The reason starting a band is crucial to cultivating and keeping friendships -How to beat Monkey Island 3 -Why, sometimes, a dad might hold onto his son’s hand just a little too tight This is an irresistible and insightful collection, perfect for new parents and fans of Backman’s “unparalleled understanding of human nature” (Shelf Awareness). As he eloquently reminds us, “You can be whatever you want to be, but that’s nowhere near as important as knowing that you can be exactly who you are.”

Things My Son Needs to Know about the World

David Morse

Elsa is seven years old and different. Her grandmother is seventy-seven years old and crazy as in standing-on-the-balcony-firing-paintball-guns-at-strangers crazy. When Elsa's grandmother dies and leaves behind a series of letters apologizing to people she has wronged, Elsa's greatest adventure begins. Her grandmother's instructions lead her to an apartment building full of drunks, monsters, attack dogs, and old crones but also to the truth about fairy tales and kingdoms and a grandmother like no other.

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry

'Granny has been telling fairy tales for as long as Elsa can remember. In the beginning they were only to make Elsa go to sleep, and to get her to practise granny's secret language, and a little because granny is just about as nutty as a granny should be. But lately the stories have another dimension as well. Something Elsa can't quite put her finger on...' Elsa is seven years old and different. Her grandmother is seventy-seven years old and crazy. Standing-on-the-balcony-firing-paintball-guns-at-men-who-want-to-talk-about-Jesus-crazy. She is also Elsa's best, and only, friend. At night Elsa runs to her grandmother's stories, to the Land of Almost-Awake and the Kingdom of Miamas. There, everybody is different and nobody needs to be normal. So when Elsa's grandmother dies and leaves behind a series of letters apologizing to people she has hurt, it marks the beginning of Elsa's greatest adventure.

My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises

"As pessoas dizem que Björnstad, a Cidade do Urso, está acabada. A pequena localidade aninhada nas profundezas da floresta tem vindo lentamente a perder terreno para as árvores, sempre invasoras. Mas junto ao lago existe um velho rinque, construído há gerações pelos trabalhadores que fundaram a cidade. E esse rinque é o motivo pelo qual as pessoas acreditam que o dia de amanhã será melhor do que o de hoje. A equipa de juniores de hóquei no gelo está prestes a competir nas meias-finais nacionais e tem realmente hipóteses de vencer. Todas as esperanças e sonhos deste lugar repousam agora sobre os ombros de uma mão-cheia de rapazes adolescentes. Mas ser o responsável pelas ambições da povoação inteira é um fardo pesado, e o jogo das meias-finais torna-se o catalisador de um ato violento, que traumatizará uma rapariga e deixará Björnstad em pé de guerra. São feitas acusações que, como uma pedrada no charco, percorrem a cidade, afetando todos. Beartown explora os grandes desejos que unem uma comunidade pequena, os segredos que a separam e a coragem necessária para um indivíduo lutar contra a corrente." --

a cidade dos grandes sonhos

Best-seller instantâneo do New York Times, o novo romance do autor de Um homem chamado Ove é um "romance engraçado e emocionante". A busca por um apartamento não costuma ser uma situação de vida ou morte, mas uma visita imobiliária toma tais dimensões quando um fracassado assaltante de banco invade o apartamento e faz de reféns um grupo de desconhecidos. O grupo inclui um casal recém-aposentado que procura sem parar, casas para reformar, evitando a verdade dolorosa de que não é possível reformar o casamento. Há um casal que, prestes a ter o primeiro filho, não concorda sobre nada. Acrescenta-se uma mulher de 87 anos que já viveu demais para temer uma ameaça à mão armada, um corretor imobiliário assustado, mas ainda disposto a vender, e um homem misterioso que se trancou no único banheiro do apartamento, e assim completamos o pior grupo de reféns do mundo. Cada personagem carrega uma vida de reclamações, mágoas, segredos e paixões prestes a transbordar. Ninguém é exatamente o que parece. E todos — inclusive o ladrão — estão desesperados por algum tipo de resgate. Conforme as autoridades e a imprensa cercam o prédio, os aliados relutantes revelam verdades surpreendentes e desencadeiam eventos tão inusitados que nem eles próprios são capazes de explicar. O livro prova novamente que Backman é "mestre em escrever narrativas deliciosas, astutas e emocionantes com foco nos personagens" ( USA Today). Gente ansiosa "captura a essência confusa de ser humano. (...) É esperto e tocante, e vai te fazer rir e chorar em igual medida" ( The Washington Post). Esta "diversão sem-fim, que garante melhorar seu humor" ( Real Simple), é prova de que o poder resistente da amizade, do perdão e da esperança podem nos salvar — mesmo nos momentos de maior ansiedade.

Gente ansiosa

Björnstad

Folk med ångest

Ove är 59. Han kör Saab. Trots att han avsattes som bostadsrättsföreningens ordförande för flera år sedan (i det som Ove själv bara minns som "statskuppen") är han fortfarande kvarterets vresige ordningsman. Men när de nyinflyttade grannarna i radhuset mittemot råkar förstöra Oves brevlåda blir det upptakten på en komisk och hjärtevärmande historia om tilltufsade katter, oväntad vänskap och den uråldriga konsten att backa med släp. Som kommer förändra en man och en bostadsrättsförening i grunden

En Man SOM Heter Ove

Ove ist der Nachbar aus der Hölle: Jeden Morgen macht er seine Kontrollrunde, schreibt Falschparker auf, räumt Fahrräder an ihren Platz und prüft die Mülltrennung. Aber hinter seinem Gegrummel verbergen sich ein großes Herz und eine berührende Geschichte. Seit Oves geliebte Frau Sonja gestorben ist und man ihn vorzeitig in Rente geschickt hat, sieht er keinen Sinn mehr und trifft praktische Vorbereitungen zum Sterben. Doch dann zieht im Reihenhaus nebenan eine junge Familie ein, die als Erstes mal Oves Briefkasten umnietet ... Eine Geschichte über Freundschaft, Liebe, das richtige Werkzeug und was sonst noch wirklich zählt im Leben.

Ein Mann namens Ove

”Till min son. Jag ber om din förlåtelse redan nu. För alla gånger jag kommer skämma ut dig. För charterresorna. Cowboyhatten. ’Riktiga män väger över 90 kilo’-t-shirten. För att jag gör min pappa-hade-rätt-och-mamma-hade-fel-dans bland folk. För att jag köper minibuss. För att jag har shorts."Saker min son behöver veta om världen är en pappas stapplande försök att förklara världen för en tvååring. I kapitel som ”Vad du kommer att behöva veta om Ikea”, ”Vad du kommer att behöva veta om rörelseaktiverade toalettlampor” och ”Vad du kommer att behöva veta om varför Felicias mamma är sur på mig” blottlägger Fredrik Backman med stor komisk träffsäkerhet 2000-talets småbarnsföräldrars alla ängsligheter och tillkortakommanden. Men mellan igenkännande gapskratt och skarpa samtidsreflektioner finns också kapitel som ”Vad du kommer att behöva veta om manlighet” och ”Vad du kommer att behöva vet om när jag håller dig lite för hårt i handen”. Med uppriktiga rädslor och villkorslösa kärleksförklaringar som går rakt in i bröstet hos läsaren. Vare sig man är förälder eller inte.Extramaterial: E-boken innehåller även fyra kapitel från Fredrik Backmans debutroman En man som heter Ove, en underhållande feel good-berättelse i samma anda som Hundraåringen och filmen "Livet från den ljusa sidan" med J Nicholson. Omslagsformgivare: Malin Westman

Fredrik Backman

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