From the Bookshelf of Around The World…

[close] Who ever would have known that the way knives, forks, and spoons, were arranged in a drawer or the many uses for baking soda would be fascinating? To Britt-Marie those things are not only necessary but absolutely must be done with the correct rhyme and reason. Fredrik Backman has introduced to us to an adult Britt-Marie from his small child in his first novel that went around trying to make amends from her grandmother. In many ways the character is amusing in her picky, finicky ways and in another so very sad. She is used to being the one to put aside her hopes and dreams to fulfill those of those that she loves. She is used to being overlooked and taken for granted by, first her mother who told her the wrong daughter had died, to her lying, cheating husband. Using the courage to step out of her comfort zone, Britt-Marie finds herself with the first job she has held in many years as the head of a rundown recreation center in the middle of a town that is dying a slow death with a rat who she feeds Snicker's bars promptly at 6:00pm because that is when all civilized people eat dinner...for a room mate. With the help of a group of children and her newly appointed position as their soccer coach...which she knows absolutely nothing about, and a half blind old woman, Britt-Marie finds the person she thought was long dead and gone...herself...and she likes this woman a lot. Seems that Mr. Backman is on a roll...hope it continues.