So you’ve finished reading A MAN CALLED OVE by Fredrik Backman and fallen in love with the (secretly wonderful) Swedish curmudgeon known as Ove (in case your Swedish is as good as mine, it’s pronounced “Oo-veh”). And now you’re bereft. We understand. What do you read after falling under the spell of such an unexpected, surprising, charming book? Here are thirteen suggestions. (As with OVE, it might serve you to keep tissues close at hand.)
13 Books to Read After A MAN CALLED OVE
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
In a small town in the English countryside resides Major Ernest Pettigrew, the ultimate stiff-upper-lip gentleman, and Mrs. Jasmina Ali, a second-generation Pakistani shopkeeper. While on the surface MAJOR PETTIGREW is a delightful late-in-life romance, it deals with serious issues of racism, classism, complicated family dynamics, and growing old. Remind you of anyone?
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
13 Books to Read After A MAN CALLED OVE
So you’ve finished reading A MAN CALLED OVE by Fredrik Backman and fallen in love with the (secretly wonderful) Swedish curmudgeon known as Ove. And now you’re bereft. We understand. What do you read after falling under the spell of such an unexpected, surprising, charming book?
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Where'd You Go, Bernadette
A novel told via numerous points of view, including emails, faxes, and letters, WHERE’D YOU GO, BERNADETTE is a refreshing and droll story about the mysterious disappearance of Bernadette Fox, and her teenage daughter Bee’s attempt to figure out where she went. By the end of this novel, you’ll want Bernadette to be your best friend and also for her to stay as far away from you as possible.
Where'd You Go, Bernadette
Bernadette Fox is a fiercely independent wife and mother, when one day she disappears. It began when her daughter Bee aced her report card and claimed her promised reward: a family trip to Antarctica. But Bernadette's intensifying allergy to Seattle—and people in general—has made her agoraphobic, making a trip to the end of the earth a bit of an issue. To find her mother, Bee compiles email messages, official documents, and secret correspondence.
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Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend
Budo is five years old and the imaginary friend of Max. Max is eight years old and on the autism spectrum—it’s Budo’s job to protect Max from the dangerous world he inhabits every day. But can Budo protect Max and also sustain his own existence when Max goes missing? A poignant book about friendship that should be top on the list of anyone who loved the movie "Inside Out."
Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend
Budo is five years old and the imaginary friend of Max. Max is eight years old and on the autism spectrum—it’s Budo’s job to protect Max from the dangerous world he inhabits every day. But can Budo protect Max and also sustain his own existence when Max goes missing? A poignant book about friendship that should be top on the list of anyone who loved the movie "Inside Out."
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I Capture the Castle
Meet seventeen-year-old Cassandra, who lives with her father (a formerly famous author, now suffering from writer’s block), sister (who bases all interaction with men on Jane Austen novels), and stepmother (an ethereal 1940s earth mother) in a crumbling castle, rented when times were good. Now, they’re not. Written almost seventy years ago by the author of THE HUNDRED AND ONE DALMATIANS, this novel still holds up as a paragon of the young woman’s bildungsroman—witty and romantic, it will steal your heart.
I Capture the Castle
I Capture the Castle tells the story of seventeen-year-old Cassandra and her family, who live in not-so-genteel poverty in a ramshackle old English castle. Here she strives, over six turbulent months, to hone her writing skills. She fills three notebooks with sharply funny yet poignant entries. Her journals candidly chronicle the great changes that take place within the castle's walls, and her own first descent into love. By the time she pens her final entry, she has "captured the castle"--and the heart of the reader--in one of literature's most enchanting entertainments.
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The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
Like A MAN CALLED OVE, this Swedish charmer centers on the fantastic exploits of a member of society who many have already written off. In Forrest Gump style, our centenarian hero encounters and influences many of the world’s most famous luminaries—which we slowly learn about during his escape from a retirement home on the eve of his hundredth birthday.
The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
Like A MAN CALLED OVE, this Swedish charmer centers on the fantastic exploits of a member of society who many have already written off. In Forrest Gump style, our centenarian hero encounters and influences many of the world’s most famous luminaries—which we slowly learn about during his escape from a retirement home on the eve of his hundredth birthday.
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Etta and Otto and Russell and James
A disarmingly enchanting meditation on wartime, love (young and old), and self-discovery, ETTA AND OTTO AND RUSSELL AND JAMES begins when almost-eighty-three-year-old Etta sets off on foot to see the sea for the first time, a journey that takes her more than two thousand kilometers across Canada. A hint of magical realism pervades this story, with characters who get under your skin and stay there.
Etta and Otto and Russell and James
This quiet novel moves from the hot and dry present of a quiet Canadian farm to a dusty, burnt past of hunger, war, and passion; from trying to remember to trying to forget. It is an astounding literary debut of unlikely heroes, lifelong promises, and last great adventures.
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The Rosie Project
Don Tillman is a brilliant but socially challenged professor of genetics searching for a wife via a sixteen-page survey. According to Don’s survey, Rosie Jarman is not wife material, but she does become something of a friend when she asks him to help her find her biological father. The offbeat way the two find each other will warm even the coldest cockles of your heart.
The Rosie Project
The protagonist of Graeme Simsion’s romantic comedy THE ROSIE PROJECT is the most refreshingly unique, honest, and hilarious character I have read in a long time. I don’t generally read romantic comedies, but this one stole my heart right from the first paragraph.
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The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry
A. J. Fikry is the owner of Island Books and a man whom some might describe as “difficult.” Let’s cut him some slack—he’s recently been faced with the death of his wife and struggles with keeping his independent bookstore afloat. When he meets his newest sales rep and also finds a baby at his store, things start to change for him. This is the perfect book for anyone who wishes they lived in a bookstore.
The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry
A.J. Fikry’s life is not going according to plan. Unmarried, alone, and running a bookstore on the brink of collapse, he has just discovered that one of his most prized possessions, a rare folio of poems written by Edgar Allen Poe, has been stolen. But when a mysterious package appears one morning at the store, its unexpected arrival gives him the chance to see everything anew.
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Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore
This one’s for anyone looking for a techy influence in their literature. Working the night shift at Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore should be incredibly dull, but recent hire Clay realizes something odd is going on in this anything-but-typical store. Secret societies, complex puzzles, and adventure ensue—all in the name of love and books.
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore
Clay lands a job at a mysterious 24 hour bookstore with few customers and almost no book sales. What he discovers about the store and the owner and the world beyond makes this a page turner of a novel.
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The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
When recent retiree Harold Fry receives a letter from a dying friend, he sets out the door and begins walking the six hundred miles to deliver his response to her—in person. In the three months of Harold’s journey, we learn about his past and the regrets and joys he’s accumulated along the way.
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
One day Harold Fry receives a letter that Queenie Hennessy is in hospice and is writing to say goodbye. Rather than write back or even call Harold sets out in his yachting shoes and light coat on the 600 mile walk to see Queenie in person. Believing that as long as he is walking, Queenie will live. A novel of charm, humor, and profound insight into the thoughts and feelings we all bury deep within our hearts.
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Be Frank With Me
What do you do with an “eccentric” child whose personal style recalls 1930s Hollywood? What do you do with his mother, a J. D. Salinger–type author who, after falling prey to a Ponzi scheme, must hire someone to take care of her son while she finishes her long-awaited second book? In short, BE FRANK WITH ME is a sweet story of a family, born and made, in all its unconventionality.
Be Frank With Me
What do you do with an “eccentric” child whose personal style recalls 1930s Hollywood? What do you do with his mother, a J. D. Salinger–type author who, after falling prey to a Ponzi scheme, must hire someone to take care of her son while she finishes her long-awaited second book? In short, BE FRANK WITH ME is a sweet story of a family, born and made, in all its unconventionality.
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My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry
The ultimate cure for finishing a Fredrik Backman book is to begin another one! MY GRANDMOTHER ASKED ME TO TELL YOU SHE’S SORRY is a story about life and death and the right to be different. Just as delightful and devastating as A MAN CALLED OVE, it’s sweet and funny and heartbreaking and hilarious.
My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry
This warmhearted love letter between a granddaughter and her grandmother explores big emotions with wisdom and charm.
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Britt-Marie Was Here
Backman’s latest, BRITT-MARIE WAS HERE, is an irresistible novel about finding love and second chances in the most unlikely of places. We are packing our bags to move to Sweden.
Britt-Marie Was Here
Backman’s latest, BRITT-MARIE WAS HERE, is an irresistible novel about finding love and second chances in the most unlikely of places. We are packing our bags to move to Sweden.
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