Kiwi’s 2015 Reading Challenges

[Monica]

Kiwi, glad you're enjoying The Lies of Locke Lamora. I quite liked it when I read it here in a readalong a few months back.

[Overbooked ✎]

Finished Saga, Volume 1 for a sci-fi challenge and a book out of my comfort zone, not my cup of tea, 2 stars and The Lies of Locke Lamora, really liked it, 4 stars.

Now reading Crime and Punishment

[LauraT]

Kiwi wrote: "Finished Saga, Volume 1 for a sci-fi challenge and a book out of my comfort zone, not my cup of tea, 2 stars and The Lies of Locke Lamora, really liked it, 4 stars.

..."

You're "jumping" a lot from one type of literature to the other!!! Like I do!!!!!

[Overbooked ✎]

Yep, I am an eclectic reader, I like challenges and this year I'm particularly enjoying the "bingos".

I like to try different genres, not all my attempts are successful of course but every now and then I come across some wonderful surprises: some books I enjoyed and that I would have never picked :)

Happy reading Laura!

[Overbooked ✎]

Finished Crime and Punishment, and completed my maso challenge for the year.
Now reading The Complete Maus, this graphic novel is about the holocaust, even if graphic novels are not my favourite reading material, I'm finding it fascinating.

Also reading Nine Princes in Amber, the first book in a classic fantasy series, but I'm not enjoying it that much, I guess the genre taste has moved on since the 70s :)

[[deleted user]]

Kiwi wrote: "Finished Crime and Punishment, and completed my maso challenge for the year.
Now reading The Complete Maus, this graphic novel is about the holocaust, even if graphic nove..."

The 9 princes is on by to read shelf.
What is it that you are not particularly enjoying about it?

[Overbooked ✎]

Giorgia, the story opens with the protagonist having amnesia as a result of an accident and then discovering he has special super-human powers.
At the beginning, I found the story interesting, but a little too "macho" (e.g. gratuitous violence and unrealistic exchanges with the other characters). There is a lot of drinking and smoking, it feels a lot like a 70s spy movie, if you know what I mean? someone labelled it pulp fantasy and I tend to agree.

Corwin often remembers things just in the nick of time to get out of a sticky situation, or he cleverly says something that get interpreted just in the right way by the other person and in so doing he obtains more info, what a genius!
The author also introduces fantastic elements in the story that have no sense (e.g. dinosaurs!? really, why?), actually this is common theme, there are virtually no explanations of the situation the protagonist is in. Corwin has lost is memory, it's true and I generally don't ask to have everything explained in a novel, but the lack of logic in this book is a bit annoying.

I've seen that the series has high ratings, but maybe it's due to readers' nostalgia? I have myself given a high rating to a book because I loved it at the time, probably I would have a different opinion of it now.

I will give another couple of chapters and see if it improves :-)

How did you find The Three-Body Problem? I was wondering if it's worth a read ....

[[deleted user]]

thank you for explaining!

I don't know If I'd recommend the 3 body problem. There are some very interesting parts, but there's also a lot of boring talk of science ( not that talk of science is boring, it has more to do with cixin Liu's narration) . The parts about the cultural Chinese revolution are very interesting but they're just a small part. The style of the author is very... aseptic and distant. It's different from Western sci-fi , so I would recommend it mainly because of that, because it's going to be different from anything else you've read before. It also made me look at China in a new way, I hadn't really considered China amongst the top research advanced countries on the planet, but it is and how it came to be is an interesting story.

[Overbooked ✎]

Thank you Giorgia

[Overbooked ✎]

Finished a couple of great books: The Complete Maus my review and Theft of Swords my review, 5 and 4 stars respectively. Highly recommend both !

Currently reading The Illustrated Man for my sci-fi challenge.

[Pink]

I finally reserved Maus at my library this week, I've been meaning to read it for too long. Glad you enjoyed it.

[Overbooked ✎]

That's great Pink, I have been postponing reading this book for a while too, but I loved it. I hope you'll enjoy it too

[Overbooked ✎]

James and the Giant Peach, 4 stars and The Illustrated Man 3 stars.

Currently reading: A Wizard of Earthsea :)

[[deleted user]]

Kiwi wrote: "James and the Giant Peach, 4 stars and The Illustrated Man 3 stars.

Currently reading: A Wizard of Earthsea :)"

^_^ I'll be looking forward ti hearing your thoughts on Sparviero... ehm... Ged!

[Overbooked ✎]

I liked A Wizard of Earthsea, for me it was a 3 1/2 stars, which I rounded to 3. I do acknowledge Ursula K. Le Guin ability to write extremely well (some parts were like poetry) and I'm going to read more of her.

I felt that the story was simple and matching what I have come to expect in traditional fantasy.
I know that this feeling is unfair, at the time the book was written fantasy genre was just starting and her work has been an inspiration to (*ahem* copied by) many others authors that followed.

I'm sure I would have enjoyed the book a lot more had I read it a few years ago. Nowadays, I have come to prefer the unconventional and gritty style (George R.R.Martin and Abercrombie).

[Overbooked ✎]

Finished My Sister's Keeper, my first book by Jodi Picoult, and it won't be my last! 4 1/2 stars rounded to 5. It was also my first Bingo for the Summer Bingo Challenge. Yay!

my review:
When I choose this book to read I expected it to be emotionally manipulative, but this book surprised me, I found it very moving and the sentimentality just right. It is very rare for me to feel for all the characters in a book, often I root only for my favourites, but Jodi Picoult make me care for all of them. The book isn’t perfect, the ending was a bit too convenient for me, but even that part was handled pretty well.
A beautiful read which challenges your assumptions and puts moral choices into question. What would you do?

Currently reading The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking and finding it really interesting.

[Leslie]

I am in complete agreement with you about My Sister's Keeper. Picoult does a fine job highlighting some specific issue in each of her novels but I think that this is one of her best.

And yay for Earthsea! ;) I recently finished a Le Guin as well.

[Overbooked ✎]

I saw that, Leslie I was waiting for your rating :-)
I will get to The Left Hand of Darkness soon-ish

In the meantime I started Prey from my "waiting on the shelves" list

[[deleted user]]

Kiwi wrote: "I saw that, Leslie I was waiting for your rating :-)
I will get to The Left Hand of Darkness soon-ish

Uhhh... sounds great!

[Mary Glass]

left hand of darkness is one of the best science fiction books ever for me. and i got started at 11 with a wrinkle in time by madeline l'engle. i am just now finishing dispossessed also by le guin, also part of the hainish cycle. well worth the time it takes to read.

[Leslie]

Mary Glass wrote: "left hand of darkness is one of the best science fiction books ever for me. and i got started at 11 with a wrinkle in time by madeline l'engle. i am just now finishing dispossessed also by le guin,..."

That is the one I recently finished. You can check out my thoughts over on my challenge thread:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I read The Dispossessed about a year ago. I think of the two, I liked it slightly more but they were both thought-provoking.

[Overbooked ✎]

Prey, only 2 stars, disappointed by it.

off to plan next month reads...Roll on June!

ETA:

The reading plan for June includes:

The Ghost Brigades (favourite author)
Half a King (guilty pleasure)
Niccolò Rising (history)
Someone Knows My Name (monthly genre)
Ordinary Grace (reading for pleasure group read)

A biography for the monthly non-fiction and another book for my hoader’s list.

[Greg]

Kiwi wrote: "I liked A Wizard of Earthsea, for me it was a 3 1/2 stars, which I rounded to 3. I do acknowledge Ursula K. Le Guin ability to write extremely well (some parts were like poetry) and I'm going to re..."

I agree with what you say .. in Earthsea though I did find the simplicity pleasing - maybe partly because of the poetic language (I completely agree with that description), I felt like it had one foot in fantasy and the other foot in mythology. It had the clean lines and grand aims of myth. Those qualities are partly why I loved it I think.

I like unconventional and gritty too, though in a different way.

By the way, I enjoyed James and the Giant Peach as well. Roald Dahl is fantastic! :)

[Mary Glass]

Roald Dahl is always a delight. Definately for adults is My Uncle Oswald. Funny and dirty.

[Overbooked ✎]

I didn't know about that one Mary!

Finished The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking, my review:

Interesting and thought provoking book. It deals much more with human psychology (touching on philosophy and religion) than self help. Burkeman explores a new approach to happiness called “negative path” which leads to some counterintuitive insights such as setting goals can lead to catastrophic consequences, seeking security to failures and the effort to try to feel happy is often precisely the thing that makes us miserable. Well worth a read.

Favourite quotes:

Faced with the anxiety of not knowing what the future holds, we invest ever more fiercely in our preferred vision of that future – not because it will help us achieve it, but because it helps rid us of feelings of uncertainty in the present.

Insecurity is the essential nature of reality – and all our distress arises from trying to scramble to solid ground that doesn’t actually exist.

Perfectionism, at bottom, is a fear-driven striving to avoid the experience of failure at all costs. At its extremes, it is an exhausting and permanently stressful way to live.

The real revelation of the ‘negative path’ was not so much the path as the destination. Embracing negativity as a technique, in the end, only really makes sense if the happiness you’re aiming for is one that can accommodate negative as well as positive emotions.



Currently reading The Ghost Brigades

[Leslie]

Kiwi wrote: "Prey, only 2 stars, disappointed by it.

off to plan next month reads...Roll on June!

ETA:

The reading plan for June includes:

The Ghost Brigades (favourite author)
..."

Oh, Jenny is also reading Niccolo Rising I believe! I love Dorothy Dunnett and the Niccolo series is my favorite :)

[Overbooked ✎]

I saw her post Leslie saying it was one of you recommendations. Niccolò Rising will be my first Dorothy Dunnett and I'm looking forward to reading it!

[Leslie]

I am mightily tempted to reread it with you two!

[Overbooked ✎]

Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger, 3 1/2 stars rounded to 3

True rating 3 ½ stars. I can’t help but feel a bit disappointed by this book. It is beautifully written and the story has many interesting elements in it, but in the end it didn’t satisfy. I loved the descriptions of the small town residents, which were very well drawn, the close relationships between the brothers, the tense family atmosphere in the aftermaths of the murder.
I agree that the conclusion was predictable (I saw the solution to the mystery coming about half way through the book). This is not necessarily a given criticism, original doesn’t automatically make a good book, but personally from the premises of the first part the book, I was expecting more. Reading this book made me want to read William Kent Krueger again (so I’ve added Iron Lake to my TBR), but not enough for rating it 4 stars.

Favourite quote:

He didn’t move. He didn’t speak. He simply lay flat on the trestle and looked at me with eyes as brown and old and worn down as two stones that had tumbled along the glacial river over ten thousand years ago, a river that had been given the same name as he: Warren.

Also reading Vita di Leonardo for this month NF challenge, so far just an OK read.

Niccolo rising audio has arrived finally, but I won't be able to pick it up till the weekend, so I'll probably start another book to read until then

[Leslie]

Kiwi, I looked into trying to get the audio version of Niccolo Rising but it wasn't available through my library and I didn't want to spend the money (especially as I suspect that if I liked it, I would want to acquire audio of all of the series!!) My library did have audiobooks for some of the later books though, so I will be interested in hearing about how you like it.

In the meanwhile, since I couldn't find that as an audiobook, I got the audiobook of another book I already own in paperback that I was going to read soon to "clear a space" in my reading for the Dunnett. So it all worked out in the end :-)

[Overbooked ✎]

Glad to hear that it worked out in the end for you Leslie.

I had trouble finding the audio version too and had to wait for an interloan (with long books I prefer to read and listen to at the same time).
It seems that the older books do not have an e-audiobook version, only old CDs that can scratch easily, so when they get damaged the library withdraws them without having a replacement. The same happened with old tapes, so I'm told.
I'm thinking of requesting some CDs for old books that are still in circulation to keep on my laptop because I'm afraid I won't be able to find them any longer when I'll get around to reading them (especially old sci-fi books).

[Greg]

Kiwi wrote: "Glad to hear that it worked out in the end for you Leslie.

I had trouble finding the audio version too and had to wait for an interloan (with long books I prefer to read and listen to at the same..."

I can relate Kiwi. The library system in my area had only one copy of The Berlin Stories: The Last of Mr Norris/Goodbye to Berlin on audiocasette (never got it on CD), but I didn't rent it fast enough. It's been in the state "Waiting for Repairs" for the past 10 years.

[Overbooked ✎]

Finished The Book of Negroes, it didn't start well for me (too many clichés) but ended up really liking this book and even feeling deeply moved in the last chapters. 4 solid stars from me.

Regretfully, I decided to abandon Niccolo Rising, my reasons:

Alas DNF after about third of the book, a number of elements led me to put it aside.
To me, the humour in the first chapters was overdone to the point of resembling a farce. I found myself confused by the myriad of characters and frustrated in trying to keep them straight in my mind. I had to pause several times and go back to check where I encountered that character and how it was related to the other main characters in the story (there is a scary long character list at the beginning of the book so this aspect was certainly not unexpected). The events taking place are not well explained and the conversations often include subtle statements; it is only pages later that you will realise what happened or the meaning of the earlier words.

Dorothy Dunnett writes well but for me was not the easiest of reads. From the number of her fans and the raving reviews on GR, I am positive it is worth making a bit of extra effort with Dunnett’s work but, at the moment, I can’t resist the lure of other books waiting for me. I might attempt to read this book again in the future; at least now I know that I will need to set aside plenty of time and find the patience that this book requires.

Last night, I had trouble sleeping and so I picked up Lakota Woman, I only read the first chapter but what an opening, WOW!

[Overbooked ✎]

Finished The Stranger a good mystery, but I think it's not the best of Coben's novels.

Completed a couple of biographies, Vita di Leonardo and Lakota Woman, 3 stars and 4 stars respectively. The latter book is one that will remain with me, not because of the writing style, but its contents. Below is my review:

I learned a lot about Native American culture and traditions from this book and about the AIM (American Indian Movement) in the 70s. Mary Crow Dog explains in detail the rituals and ceremonies of the Sioux, the spiritual values of their people, their stories and legends, medicine remedies etc. Her story is simply (but effectively) told. One might question whether her retelling of the events at Wounded Knee is entirely objective but one thing is clear: Mary Crow Dog’s anger and reasons are understandable, her wounds are painful and the resentment runs deep.

Favourite quotes:

I was then white outside and red inside, just the opposite of an apple.

My best friend was Annie Mae Aquash, a young, strong hearted woman from the Micmac Tribe with beautiful chil dren. It is not always wise for an Indian woman to come on too strong. Annie Mae was found dead in the snow at the bottom of a ravine on the Pine Ridge Reservation. The police said that she had died of exposure, but there was a .38caliber slug in her head. The FBI cut off her hands and sent them to Washington for fingerprint identification, hands that had helped my baby come into the world.

I did not mind their being afraid of us. It was better than being given a quarter and asked to pose smilingly for their cameras

Supposedly you drink to forget. The trouble is you don't forget, you remember-all the old insults and hatreds, real and imagined. As a result there are always fights. One of the nicest, gentlest men I knew killed his wife in a drunken rage. One uncle had both his eyes put out while he was lying senseless. My sister-in-law Delphine's husband lost one eye. She herself was beaten to death by a drunken tribal police man. Such things are not even considered worth an investigation.

[Overbooked ✎]

Currently reading Lock In, a sci-fi mystery and another biography of a local new zealander: Elizabeth Yates: The First Lady Mayor in the British Empire.

[Leslie]

Kiwi wrote: "Finished The Stranger a good mystery, but I think it's not the best of Coben's novels..."

I agree. Which of his do you like best? I think perhaps Tell No One, although Gone for Good is also very good...

[Overbooked ✎]

Leslie, Tell no one was my first Coben and still my favourite :)

[Overbooked ✎]

overdue update on my recent reads:

Lock In by John Scalzi ****
Unlocked: An Oral History of Haden's Syndrome by John Scalzi **** (novella)
Elizabeth Yates: The First Lady Mayor in the British Empire by Judith Devaliant **
(Not in GR) Untold stories of Onehunga by Norine Borchard (Vol 1 + Vol 2)
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel ***

with Wolf Hall I completed another couple of challenges (history and Original Bingo)!

Currently reading The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

[Ann]

Kiwi, I read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian in my Adult Ed literature class and really liked it. Another very good novel by a Native American writer is Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko.

[Greg]

Ann wrote: "Kiwi, I read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian in my Adult Ed literature class and really liked it. Another very good novel by a Native American writer is Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Si..."

Ann, I quite like Leslie Marmon Silko's writing - I even enjoyed The Delicacy and Strength of Lace: Letters Between Leslie Marmon Silko and James Wright, a collection of letters written between her and the poet James Wright.

I haven't read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian yet, but I thought the screenplay Alexie wrote for Smoke Signals based on much of the same material was by turns poignant and funny, a charmingly offbeat movie.

[Overbooked ✎]

Ann wrote: "Kiwi, I read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian in my Adult Ed literature class and really liked it. Another very good novel by a Native American writer is Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Si..."


Ann, glad that you liked the book, it does contain an important message on the Native American situation and I chose the book for that reason. Unfortunately it was just an OK read for me (my review). The premises were interesting, but I didn't connect with the protagonist, the story didn't ring true to me.

Greg, thanks for the link, I might enjoy the movie more than the book.

Currently reading Half a King (from one of my favourite authors) and Augustus.

[Greg]

I think you might still like the movie if you can get a copy Kiwi; it's well acted and pleasingly quirky.

[Overbooked ✎]

Greg wrote: "I think you might still like the movie if you can get a copy Kiwi; it's well acted and pleasingly quirky."

ETA: I found a great clip on youtube ( "How to Be a Real Indian" link) it seems a great movie, funny too. Thanks Greg, I'll try to find a copy.

[Overbooked ✎]

Update:

Half a King, 5 stars (no surprises here :)
Augustus, 1 and half stars (huge disappointment)
The Left Hand of Darkness, only 2 stars unfortunately
and finally a gem: Roadside Picnic by Arkady Strugatsky , 4 1/2 rounded to 5 stars, my review below:

4 ½ stars rounded to 5
I have never came across the Strugatsky brothers until I saw this book mentioned in a group read. Since then, I learned that it is one of the must-read books in Soviet-era Russian sci-fi genre and has been included in the Bloomsbury's 100 Must-Read Science Fiction Novels. What a find!

First contact is a common theme in science fiction. Typically, the interaction with aliens brings humankind either great cultural exchanges and technological advances or an invasion with catastrophic consequences.
In this novel, the aliens came, saw and … left. The visitors do not even meet with us but leave some discarded objects behind. The function and working principles of these detritus and cast-offs cannot be fathomed by human scientists, but the visitors junk is highly valued and put to use as perpetual batteries, medical devices etc. The task of retrieving the alien litter is highly dangerous as the people who are involved in it are contaminated (the parallel to Chernobyl can be useful) so a restriction zone is established to keep away any wannabe relict treasure hunters (the Stalkers). The effects of the contamination can be immediate (crippling or even death) or affect the next generation (genetic mutation in the stalkers’ children).

The book follows Redric Schuhart (‘Red’) a stalker who leads hazardous expeditions in the 'Zone' for the high rewards of selling the retrieved artefacts on the black market. The tone of the book is very atmospheric, dark and gloomy, with violence and heavy drinking. The progressive degradation of the person, family and the society in general transpires from this novel. Red’s dark grim introspection is in the tradition of some masters of Russian literature (e.g. Dostoyevsky). Many intense moments keep the reader on the edge of their seats.

What I most liked about the book is the theme of incommunicability between the aliens and human race. A conversation in the middle of the book explores the possibilities of the aliens’ intentions. Were the visitors simply uninterested in us? Are we so small and insignificant? Is there a more hopeful/alarming explanation: they left only to come back later?
Highly recommended to all sci-fi fans.


Currently reading Brown Girl Dreaming while planning next month reads

[Overbooked ✎]

Half way of 2015 and is time for a recap and a tidy up of the first posts in this thread. I am really happy with the reading progress this year, so far I completed 11 yearly challenges and two BINGO blackouts. Yay!

On TBR slimming front: of the 361 books listed at the beginning of the year only 177 remain, I read 75 of them (16 of which 500+ pages), the rest I removed because I am no longer interested in them. My TBR list is still long (currently standing at 313), but it is full of recently added books that I’m really looking forward to reading.

My July plan includes:

• New to me author: The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton (currently reading)
• Sci-fi: Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan
• Children/YA: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
• A book from my waiting on the shelves list (as motivation I stopped buying new books until I finish the Hoarder’s challenge Haha)
• Monthly genre (Manga/Graphic Novels &/OR Humor): Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood, Through the Woods or The Arrival and at least one Humour book.
• Monthly Non-fiction(Nature/Animals): All Creatures Great and Small or A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail

July has a number of GR group reads that interest me:

• A Man Called Ove (ABB group read)
• All the Light We Cannot See(book vipers group read) - alternatively there’s The Nightingale read-along
• Big Little Lies (Novel Books & Reading Challenges group read)

I know that it will be difficult to read them all so I will pick from these options depending on the spur of the moment and on time constraints.

[Shirley]

Kiwi wrote: "Half way of 2015 and is time for a recap and a tidy up of the first posts in this thread. I am really happy with the reading progress this year, so far I completed 11 yearly challenges and two BING..."

You're doing really well, Kiwi, much better than me LOL!!

[[deleted user]]

you're making wonderful progress =D

[Overbooked ✎]

Thank you ladies!

[Overbooked ✎]

Finished The Forgotten Garden and Speak, enjoyed reading both (for different reasons). 4 stars each

Currently reading A Man Called Ove, Finally!

[Overbooked ✎]

Finished A Man Called Ove and reached my page count challenge (40,428/40,000) for the year, I'm chuffed about that!

I thought that A Man Called Ove was wonderful, below is my review:

This book did not start well for me, as many readers have noted Ove’s antics at the beginning of the book are pretty annoying. I can see quite a bit of Ove in me and this contributed to my feelings of irritation towards Ove’s portrayal. The characters begin like caricatures, where human defects are stretched to grotesque effect, beside the cranky Ove there’s the bossy Parvaneh, the overly passive Patrick, the mangy cat etc.
I believe this aspect is a deliberate move by the author. As the story goes on and the more is revealed about Ove’s past the more I felt the book opening up and the beginning of an emotional connection with the main character.

Sonja is the love of Ove’s life and they spend over 40 years together despite them being described as night and day, and they are clearly yin and yang. Sonja is the patient wife, the sunny side and better half of the couple. I particularly liked how, in the book, she becomes Ove’s conscience; even in her absence, he checks his actions based on what she would have thought about them.

By the end of the book I felt for Ove and understood how his losses (view spoiler)[ (orphaned at 16, a fire destroys his parents’ home that he patiently renovated, the loss of an unborn child thanks to a drunken bus-driver, the terminal illness and then loss of his wife of 40 years etc.) (hide spoiler)] play a part in his becoming the grumpy, righteous and angry man that he is.

Interactions with others are always problematic. I smiled but also cringed at Ove’s caustic remarks and antisocial behaviour (view spoiler)[(the initial encounters with the neighbours, first meeting with Mirsad, the dialogue with the computer salesman or with the man behind the Plexiglas) (hide spoiler)] and at the same time I cheered for the man unafraid to stand up for what he think is right (view spoiler)[ (the thief bully, the cat attacked by the aggressive dog and the disagreeable owner, the white shirt bureaucrats) (hide spoiler)].

One wonders if the soul necessarily builds a hard shell to protect its tenderness against life’s disappointments and sorrows. Certainly, Ove did not start this way, as a young man he was well-intentioned and even naïve (view spoiler)[ (he does not hesitate to run into a burning building and falls prey to the insurance salesman fraudster) (hide spoiler)].

While some people are immediately privy to Ove’s soft interior (view spoiler)[(Sonja can see his bright side when she describes him as “dancing on the inside when no one’s watching” and the little Nasanin who “always draws him in colours”) (hide spoiler)], most people are not. Actions speak louder than words however, the people around Ove can see through his abrasive exterior and be grateful for his courage and selflessness.
Ove’s transformation in the eyes of the reader is not unexpected, it may even be a cliché, but I personally found the bitter-sweet story very touching and even moving at the end.

In “A man called Ove” I found my kind of humour, it made me giggle quite a few times (and belly laugh during the driving lesson) and not many books have done that. Oh, and I loved the cat.
A well deserved 4 stars from me.

Favourite quotes:

Many people find it difficult living with someone who likes to be alone. It grates on those who can’t handle it themselves.

Men like Ove and Rune were from a generation in which one was what one did, not what one talked about.

“What sort of love is it if you hand someone over when it gets difficult?”

People had always said that Ove was “bitter.” But he wasn’t bloody bitter. He just didn’t go around grinning the whole time.