From the Bookshelf of The Perks Of Being A Book Addict…

Beartown (Beartown, #1)

Fredrik Backman,

Neil Smith (Translator)

Start date: December 1, 2017

Finish date: December 31, 2017

Discussion: Group Books of the Month (BotM)

Why we're reading this: December 2017 ice or snow on the cover themed BotM.
[close] December 2017 ice or snow on the cover themed BotM.

Find A Copy At

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 20 topics — 688 comments total

Group Books of the Month (BotM)

* We All Live Here
By Perks Moderat… , Know-it-all · 1 post · 3 views

last updated 3 hours, 8 min ago

* James
By Perks Moderat… , Know-it-all · 1 post · 4 views

last updated 3 hours, 10 min ago

showing 10 of 38 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Apr 13, 2025 Meera rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: bookmarks-magazine, audiobook, bought25

I am late to join in this. I tried this years ago and gave up because it wasn't grabbing me, and I felt bored. I tried again as an audiobook because I've liked everything else I've read by this author, and I thought I should. Well, it went much better this time. The narrator was good, and she grabbed me this time. I also understood why it started slow. The author wants us to know the characters well before things (view spoiler) This was a hard read, but ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Jul 15, 2020 Amy J rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: library

In a small town, you need one thing to tie everyone together. In Beartown, it's hockey..... until it's the thing that divides. Don't worry, hockey is the sport that brings everyone together, it isn't the primary theme of the book.

I read this expecting a heart-warming story with a bit of humor mixed in after reading A Man Called Ove. This book still had the heart-warming story with lovable characters, but lacking the mix of humor. I still loved this book.

Backman continues to develop interesting ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Dec 17, 2017 Pat rated it really liked it

I am very stingy with 5 stars, but this was as close as it gets! I listened to it on my way to and from Philly where I was going to see my high school grandson play hockey - extremely timely! I bought into it as authentic after serving as a high school principal in CA when we played numerous championship games in a small town. I felt the same community pride in this book as I have experienced. It was fun to relive those time through memories renewed by this story. Fortunately, we did not experie ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Apr 30, 2017 Erin rated it really liked it

I'm not quite sure how to rate this book - I've loved this author's previous books and the quirky characters he focuses on, but this book was very different. It focused on a small rural town and hockey, hockey, hockey. I have no interest in hockey and kept expecting to want to put it down, but he managed to keep my interest and as always, felt most of his characters were well developed. Didn't like the last part of the book, how it was written and the constant "is this it?" moment, but otherwise ...more

Like · see review

Nov 26, 2017 Abbyb1 rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Although this was somewhat of a slow start for me, once I began to become familiar with the characters more, I was mesmerized by Bachman's writing and his story. I was able to really understand and empathize with multiple characters since Bachman does such a good job of making them real for the reader. I am definitely a Bachman fan!

2nd re-read - December 2021 - audiobook - I so appreciate how Bachman crafts his characters. They're flawed, real and eminently easy to understand. This makes his wri ...more

Like · see review

Jan 13, 2019 Mekerei rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

The opening of Beartown hooked me and reeled me in.

This is the tale of a town that LOVES hockey. Their lives revolves around the high school hockey team and the lead up to the Finals. Its has all the dreams and heartaches of any town, anywhere in the world. Its how you deal with these that defines your character. The best quote of Beartown is "This town doesn't always know the difference between right and wrong...but we know the difference between good and evil."

Definitely worth reading in one g ...more

Like · see review

Jan 30, 2021 Kathi rated it liked it · review of another edition

It took me a long time to get through....I don’t know if it was the book or just me being in a phase. The subject matter didn’t grip me and so it took a while for the meat of the story to evolve. When it does, it’s a story of all the worst human tendencies and traits. The writing is very choppy jumping character to character. It was a faster read toward the end but I just never got attached to the story or people.

Like · see review