Best Humorous Fiction
So when one November morning a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove’s mailbox, it is the lead-in to a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul. “If there was an award for ‘Most Charming Book of the Year,’ this first novel by a Swedish blogger-turned-overnight-sensation would win hands down” ( Booklist , starred review). “You will laugh, you will cry, as his heartbreaking story unfolds through the diverse cast of characters that enter his life, all uninvited. The lyrical language is the confetti thrown liberally throughout this celebration-of-life story, adding sparkle and color to an already spectacular party. “A funny crowd-pleaser that serves up laughs to accompany a thoughtful reflection on loss and love… The author writes with winning charm.” ( Publishers Weekly, starred review ). “This charming debut novel by Backman should find a ready audience with English-language readers… hysterically funny… wry descriptions, excellent pacing… In the contest of Most Winning Combination, it would be hard to beat grumpy Ove and his hidden,generous heart.” ( Kirkus Reviews ). “Poignant and unpredictable, Backman’s book is filled with many twists and turns, as well as enjoyable characters and humorous situations."
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Such a sweet, well written story of despair and hope.Having just lost a husband less than a year ago, I can certainly relate to his sorrow and feelings of worthlessness - being old and useless."
"Therefore, I give the book five stars for being exactly what it claims to be--a story about one man and the circle of friends that he makes despite his grouchy personality. I bought the audio book to listen when I couldn't read and the narrator was flawless. The 50-somethings in my office know what an iPad is, how to use computers, have the latest cell phones, and are pretty up on all the new tech gadgets because they are the ones that can afford them! I wonder why the author chose such a relatively young main character to act like my grandfather would."
"He complains about everything, has put up signs around his neighborhood with rules about what should and shouldn't be done, and feels there is a proper place for everything. After an accident with the lanky one, Ove is forced to help this family, complaining the entire time. Throughout the book Ove also speaks to his wife, complaining about the neighbors, the rule breakers, and how much he misses her (very minor spoiler). I will say by the end of the book, a bunch of dust was flying around the room and some got into my eyes. Backman interweaves the two (funny and tragic) quite well and doesn't make it overly heartwarming."
"I have made several attempts to read this novel."
"Masterfully written, so the characters come to life and evoke wonderful memories of people you have known in your own life."
"Underneath this old man's hard outer shell is such reluctant caring that you'll find yourself laughing and wiping away tears as you turn the pages."
So when one November morning a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove’s mailbox, it is the lead-in to a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul. “If there was an award for ‘Most Charming Book of the Year,’ this first novel by a Swedish blogger-turned-overnight-sensation would win hands down” ( Booklist , starred review). Rules are made to be followed, signs are meant to be obeyed, and don’t even get him started about computers and mobile phones. But a young couple and their two children (a third is on the way) move in next door, his oldest friend and most feared enemy is about to be forcibly removed to a nursing home, and a street-scarred cat insinuates itself into his life. Suddenly, Ove’s suicide plans get delayed as he helps solve neighborly crises large and small. Though Ove’s dark mission mitigates any treacly upstaging by animals and small children, readers seeking feel-good tales with a message will rave about the rantings of this solitary old man with a singular outlook. You’ll also want to move to Scandinavia, where everything’s cuter.” (People). “Even the most serious reader of fiction needs light relief, and for that afternoon when all you want is charm, this is the perfect book." “You will laugh, you will cry, as his heartbreaking story unfolds through the diverse cast of characters that enter his life, all uninvited. The lyrical language is the confetti thrown liberally throughout this celebration-of-life story, adding sparkle and color to an already spectacular party. “A funny crowd-pleaser that serves up laughs to accompany a thoughtful reflection on loss and love… The author writes with winning charm.” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). “This charming debut novel by Backman should find a ready audience with English-language readers… hysterically funny… wry descriptions, excellent pacing… In the contest of Most Winning Combination, it would be hard to beat grumpy Ove and his hidden,generous heart.” (Kirkus Reviews). “Poignant and unpredictable, Backman’s book is filled with many twists and turns, as well as enjoyable characters and humorous situations." A Man Called Ove seems deceptively simple at the start, yet Frederik Backman packs a lifetime's worth of hilarity and heartbreak into this novel.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Such a sweet, well written story of despair and hope.Having just lost a husband less than a year ago, I can certainly relate to his sorrow and feelings of worthlessness - being old and useless."
"Therefore, I give the book five stars for being exactly what it claims to be--a story about one man and the circle of friends that he makes despite his grouchy personality. I bought the audio book to listen when I couldn't read and the narrator was flawless. The 50-somethings in my office know what an iPad is, how to use computers, have the latest cell phones, and are pretty up on all the new tech gadgets because they are the ones that can afford them! I wonder why the author chose such a relatively young main character to act like my grandfather would."
"He complains about everything, has put up signs around his neighborhood with rules about what should and shouldn't be done, and feels there is a proper place for everything. After an accident with the lanky one, Ove is forced to help this family, complaining the entire time. Throughout the book Ove also speaks to his wife, complaining about the neighbors, the rule breakers, and how much he misses her (very minor spoiler). I will say by the end of the book, a bunch of dust was flying around the room and some got into my eyes. Backman interweaves the two (funny and tragic) quite well and doesn't make it overly heartwarming."
"I have made several attempts to read this novel."
"Masterfully written, so the characters come to life and evoke wonderful memories of people you have known in your own life."
"Underneath this old man's hard outer shell is such reluctant caring that you'll find yourself laughing and wiping away tears as you turn the pages."
People say Beartown is finished. In this story of a small forest town, Fredrik Backman has found the entire world. A thoroughly empathetic examination of the fragile human spirit, Backman's latest will resonate a long time.” ( Kirkus Reviews ). While the story is dark at times, love, sacrifice, and the bonds of friendship and family shine through ultimately offering hope and even redemption.” ( Publishers Weekly ). "The sentimentally savvy Backman (A Man Called Ove, 2014) takes a sobering and solemn look at the ways alienation and acceptance, ethics and emotions nearly destroy a small town and young people." Backman cements his standing as a writer of astonishing depth and proves that he also has very broad range plus the remarkable ability to make you understand the feelings of each of a dozen different characters. The story is fully packed with wise insights into the human experience causing characters and readers to ponder life’s great question of who we are, what we hope to be and how we should lead our lives.” ( The Washington Times ).
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The happenings and how the personalities bounce off each other in such human ways (hatefully and lovingly) makes this a fascinating and unforgettable book. This book is not at all like the Ove book except that it is written by a genius of human understanding."
"It begins with a cliffhanger: "Late one evening...a teenager picked up a shotgun, walked into the forest, put the gun to someone else's forehead and pulled the trigger. Fiction is a way to enter into an age-old discussion framed so beautifully by one of the characters: "This town doesn't always know the difference between right and wrong...but we know the difference between good and evil." What is the right thing to do when things go very wrong?"
"Don't be sidelined about it either being set in Sweden, written by a Swedish author, (sometimes some translations don't play out too well) or is about hockey. Even though hockey appears the premise of the story, it is just the background noise that keeps the book and its characters moving forward."
"However, the emotional reading was like being in a rollercoaster, as a parent myself I was put through the whole scale of going from shock, to mad, to sad, to scared, to happy, to whatever... too many emotions to track. I found myself often reading parts out loud to my husband."
"While my appreciation of the author and my love of hockey definitely made me select this novel, it is much more than a story about hockey."
"Starts a little slow (a lot of hockey culture) but builds to conversations and settings in which questions are raised, some answered and some unanswered, similar to those many of us are asking ourselves in light of current Hollywood scandals."
"Such timely themes of sports--the good and bad dynamics of--and the themes of gender rights and stereotypes."
"The author is showing how important hockey is to this town!"
Best Humorous Science Fiction
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Seconds before the Earth is demolished for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is saved by Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised Guide . It could only happen to the cosmically displaced Arthur Dent and his comrades as they hurtle across the galaxy in a desperate search for a place to eat. So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish Back on Earth, Arthur Dent is ready to believe that the past eight years were all just a figment of his stressed-out imagination. Mostly Harmless Just when Arthur Dent makes the terrible mistake of starting to enjoy life, all hell breaks loose. “WITH DROLL WIT, A KEEN EYE FOR DETAIL AND HEAVY DOSES OF INSIGHT .
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"In true Hitchhikers Guide spirit, I'm reading my edition on a Kindle, which quite resembles the Guide itself."
"For fans of the Hitchhiker Guide to the Galaxy, this is one of the follow-up episodes that continue the arc of the story."
"Think about carrying forward all human foibles into the galaxy and that pretty much sums up the book."
"If you still haven't read Hitchhikers Guide Though The Galaxy, what is wrong with you?"
"This is a great book and a great author and I love all things Douglas Adams. HOWEVER. I feel totally ripped off by this ridiculous Audible Kindle version."
"This book was wonderful. My son recommended this book to me."
"And don't get lost on a tangent, don't worry we'll come back to the story after this semi brief explanation of something maybe possibly but mostly not related or could be mentioned later on so you better be paying attention or you'll be confused."
"Everything has already been said, but the 'guide' has an entry for the book which talks about the 'guide' and eventually about deep thought, and the ultimate answer."
Best Gay Romance
A New York Times Notable Book of the Year • A Publishers Weekly and The Washington Post Best Book of the Year • A New York Magazine "Future Canon" Selection • A Chicago Tribune and Seattle Times (Michael Upchurch's) Favorite Favorite Book of the Year. "The book is incredible.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Set in 1988 and on the Italian Riviera, which adds to the charm and appeal of the novel, Call Me By Your Name is narrated by and tells the story of a seventeen-year-old American-Italian-Jewish youth, Elio Perlman, and his six-week, summer love affair with Oliver Ulliva, a university professor who is seven years older than Elio and who has been selected to live in Elio’s parents’ home as a guest “resident” while finishing a manuscript for publication as part of the parents’ way of aiding budding writers. Much of the first half of Call Me By Your Name has a “stream of consciousness” feeling to it as Elio, a very precocious and intelligent but shy young man, defies his better intuitions and finds himself more and more attracted to Oliver. By time both Elio and the reader are aware of Oliver’s true feelings toward the younger man, a new sense of urgency, an even greater feeling of sensuality and eroticism, and a more intense atmosphere of anxiety and impending doom enters the story—all of it exquisitely captured by Aciman’s exquisitely accomplished writing."
"Call Me By Your Name is a superlative novel that meticulously and comprehensively looks at the human condition from the folly of youth to the introspective later years. Told almost entirely from the stream of consciousness mind of a seventeen year old Elio, who simultaneously possesses intelligence beyond his years whilst embodying the insouciance of youth and trafficking in the same inane fickleness of the average teen in matters of the heart, and in him Aciman’s crafted a character that is quintessentially relatable. Oliver, the doctoral student who came to stay with him and his parents one summer in Italy, left a watermark on Elio’s soul. At seventeen he can’t possibly understand the rarity of his connection with Oliver, so he tells himself there will be another and there are, that it was never intended to last and maybe it wasn't, that is was a summer fling, but who's to say that makes it any less seminal? I’ve no doubt if I reread it in 5 or 10 yrs I’ll have a different interpretation; a change in perspective and the whole thing looks completely different and I feel like the same can be said of Elio. That place that meant so much from the berm to Mafalda and his parents to the bookstore to playing the guitar to paradise to afternoon naps and lazy days and nights spent f***ing each other’s brains out. The romantic in me wants to wallow in the heartbreak and vilify Aciman for countermanding the rules of romancelandia, but to simplify this novel in such a way, to make it solely about loss is a disservice to the narrative. Maybe I missed the point and it is solely a novel of love and loss with the primary objective being bittersweet heartbreak, but I choose to believe (this time) that Aciman deliberately penned a novel to make every reader take stock and cherish what they have, what they have had and what they will have."
"I personally like the book better- you understand the "why" behind their relationship a lot better, and you get a lot more of the emotion between the "call me by your name" theme."
"Andre Aciman. has created a rare and deeply moving story of love without regret - a sensuous and lyrical piece that will live within you long. after the book has been closed."
"I originally started reading this book because Timothée and Armie did so well in the movie."
"The anticipation and longing that builds made me not want to put it down with sentiment that leaves the heart simultaneously brimming and broken."
"A wonderful novel with a deep and imcisive analysis of the relationship of a young adolescent man with an older and more experience in a magnificent setting of an Italian country retreat Brilliantly written !"
Best Dark Humor
This fiftieth-anniversary edition commemorates Joseph Heller’s masterpiece with a new introduction; critical essays and reviews by Norman Mailer, Alfred Kazin, Anthony Burgess, and others; rare papers and photos; and much more. “To my mind, there have been two great American novels in the past fifty years. “This novel is not merely the best American novel to come out of World War II, it is the best American novel that has come out of anywhere in years.” —Nelson Algren, The Nation. There’s no book like it.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Go read this now."
"This book was disturbing for me."
"A fascinating and, at times, humorous book that, 50 years after it's writing, often caused me to realize comparisons to today's political dilemmas."
"I wont spend long singing the praises this book deserves."
"I bought this as a gift for my son and he really enjoyed he book."
"I'd say it's a book that everyone should read, not sure I would call it the perfect book."
"The juxtaposition of absurd humor, implacable bureaucracy and the horrors of war makes for a unique storytelling approach."