Welcome to Litsy!

I was scared to read this because I loved Beartown so much. I should have trusted Backman's skill. His depiction of the building tension between Beartown & the neighboring Hed, paired with the complicated internal struggle Benji feels, frustration of Maya's younger brother Leo, & so much more is just breathtaking. It brought me to tears in the final pages as the climax led us to a forest road and limitless grief. It is just beautiful.

A great sequel to beartown I couldn‘t put it down loved it

This is why Fredrik Backman is in my top 5 authors…

Happy Wednesday! Happy Week!
Thanks to all who played last week! Everyone is invited to join!

1-Old Man, Shetland, Grantchester (series);
Moonstruck, Interstellar, Devil Wears Prada (films).
2~Outdoor games: croquet, sledding, tennis.
Indoor games: Chinese checkers, charades, Life
3-Love the Hockey series by Backman🩷

#WondrousWednesday @Eggs

Didn‘t realize that this was a trilogy and read 2 after 3! Guess what, it didn‘t matter! Loved this trilogy set in a hockey town. Every character is perfect, each book is just as good as its predecessor! I love sports!🏒🏒🏒🏒😂

When I made my list for 24in2024 I purposely added a few titles that I owned sequels to in the hopes that I would get through those as well. So success in that respect but if I didn‘t love Beartown as much as everyone else, I REALLY didn‘t like this one as much as everyone else. I don‘t love the way these are written and didn‘t care about the politics. The end was emotional but felt manipulative . I loved Ove but won‘t carry on with this series.

This is book 2 in the Beartown series. I do not recommend reading it right after book 1 if Beartown got you down. In book 1 a hockey player rapes a girl. In book 2 a favorite player is ostracized for being different. It‘s dark and depressing and not what I needed right now. And repeated cliched lessons just gnawed at me in the audio—the narrator‘s voice was a downer. Reading the IRL book would probably have been a better choice. ⬇️

The next design is underway for my #litsylove Christmas cards. I love the blank slate and waiting to see what will happen. #foodandlit #Sweden @Catsandbooks @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I finished Beartown and have immediately started this one. #foodandlit #Sweden @Catsandbooks

I finished this a few weeks ago. I liked this second book in the Beartown trilogy better than the first. This book hit me on so many different levels - as the parent of teens, the parent of an athlete, a team mom, a member of a community, a wife….There were so many little insights into these roles that really spoke to me as I read. This series is as much character driven as plot driven. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 ❤️📚#serieslove2023

18% / 83 pages in, and this book is breaking my heart already. 💔❤️📚 It‘s football Sunday, it‘s rainy and my team isn‘t playing until 4:25pm. So I‘m settled on the couch with this book, my coffee and my dogs (one is sitting behind my head). Fredrik Backman is so good. #20in4Readathon #serieslove2023

Stunningly beautiful day here. It‘s warm, breezy, sunny, and we have gorgeous fall colors in the trees. Perfect for front porch reading. ❤️📚🍁☀️

#IdiomInsight Day 19: This is literally an #OnThinIce novel. There is divisiveness here – which is something we can also say about the world and most countries at the moment; there is hatred – too much of it everywhere these days; there is grief and loss too. But then at the very heart of it, one goes back to hockey, which becomes a microcosm of life itself. My full review: https://wp.me/pDlzr-j65

In this continuation of Beartown and all those who inhabit it, is this intensely immersive multi-layered story with complicated character relationships. Some characters you love, some you despise, but everyone roots for Beartown! We are the bears! The bears from Beartown! Beautiful, reflective writing 4.5/5

Put off this book for so long because I love Beartown so much and do not want the series to end so quickly.
And, again, Fredrik Backman did not disappoint me. Sometimes held back my tears but eventually tears went out; sometimes it was to much for me and I needed to pause and then resume. Such a touching and heartbreaking book. Just love it.

I loved Beartown (and also Anxious People) so I was looking forward to the sequel, but I am disappointed. It's a good story with a lot of value in both the plot and the characters; however, the way the author had chosen to tell it just didn't work for me. Each chapter started with some quotable life wisdom, then something happened to confirm it, then the wise words were repeated. Every single chapter. The format had its power in the beginning...⬇️

Mounting tensions between two neighbouring hockey towns , a newcomer to hockey helps shape the new Bear Team. Focusing on different characters this time, my favourite being Benji. He‘s lost, makes mistakes but still carries on. There are characters I don‘t like but they make you want to read the story more. Backman writes about some emotive subjects e.g homophobia, racism, family dynamics etc. Will definitely read the final book

I‘ve started the series so will continue with the next instalment.

Wow- even though I loved BEARTOWN, I still didn‘t expect to enjoy this sequel as much! I think I loved it even more?! It wasn‘t really the story I expected- but after having grown to love these characters so much, it was wonderful to see their stories continue to unfold. Again, the stories may center around hockey, but this manages to be about so much more. I laughed, I cried & gasped aloud in shock in parts! I can‘t wait to continue the series!

Bear town‘s story continues. This one gets very intense and 💔. You fall in love with these characters as if they were people you know.

🥅 🏒

#snowflake #snowflakes #papersnowflakes

There is no pause button when everything gets too much for us, but that's how it is with everyone.We will do whatever it takes for them, and they never realize it because they don't understand the depth of something that is unconditional. A lie has an invincible advantage: the truth must take into account everything that happened, and a lie only needs to be easy enough to be believed.

This is the sequel to BearTown. It's such a beautifully sad book.

Ain't that the truth?

Re- Reading books 1 & 2 before reading The Winners. My emotions have been like a roller coaster!! Backman knows how to pull you into a story!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Fredrik Backman always knows just how to break me into tiny pieces. He always balances the sorrow with hope. I think I'm going to need something fluffy before I move on to the next book in the series. Who'd have thought a series about hockey could be so moving?

scarathlon points: 5+1+(9 hours x 5 thons x 10)=456
@Clwojick #bookspin @TheAromaofBooks #31by31 @Catsandbooks #littenlisten @aperfectmjk #spookaween2022 @TheSpineView

A hockey town rebuilds it‘s team in the fallout of a rape scandal.

Consequences ✨ Rivalry ✨ Grief

Book 100

I picked up Us Against You at the library because, though I was confident I HAD read it, it wasn't marked it as read on my Goodreads. Expecting to recognize it soon, I began reading. I finished without ever recognizing the book.

An amazing deal right now on Kindle for the second book in the Beartown trilogy. Only $2.99 for the next several days. If you haven't read Beartown or Us Against You, I can't recommend them enough. Fredrik Backman is definitely one of my MUST-READ authors. Get this one before the final installment of the trilogy, The Winners, is released on September 27th!

I preferred the one before, but this is still excellent. Long live Beartown!

Another 5 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 This one crushed my heart many times over. I‘ll see if I can patiently wait for October when ‘Beartown #3‘ comes out. It‘s going to be hard though!

I‘m going straight back to Beartown. I need to stay with these people and this town awhile longer…

I will read anything this author writes. He gets what it is to be human. ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5/5

This one is still on my TBR… eventually I‘ll get to it 😬

#BeginsWith 🥳📚 #You #UsAgainstYou

#BookNerd 🤓💙📚

My December TBR. I‘m currently on Shadow of the Wind - didn‘t realize how thick it was until I picked it up from the library 😂 Excited for all these books though. Hopefully I can squeeze them all in

#wintergames2021 #mistletoemaniacs @Clwojick

Sometimes you have to live like the gate is open.

Heart wrenching.
Have you ever loved something so fiercely that you would do anything to save it?
That‘s what the people of Beartown do, and the story is something you will never forget.
Backman makes you slow down, realize what you have in front of you, and crave what life is really all about.
It‘s not often that a sequel is better, but in this case I think it worked out that way. I will remember this book for all the days to come.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Goddamn Backman did it again. All the feels! Can't wait for the third book. I dunno if my heart can take it, though.

All the stars!!!!!! Best book I have read in a very long time. Backman's writing is exceptional. This book has wonderful moments of inspiration and moments of profound sadness. I do not follow hockey and this book touched me deeply as it is about so much more than that - its about friendship and family. The family we are born with and the family we find.

May Reads. Beartown and Crown of Gilded Bones were the big stand outs.

@eggs - for wonderous Wednesday. One of my fav book shirts and book earrings
The first thing I look for in a friend is kindness.
Biggest irrational fear - a car jumping thr curve when I am walking down the street and running me over.
When we can travel again: experience Disney with my family and go lay on a warm beach with a cold drink and a book!

Wanna play @StillLookingForCarmenSanDiego , @DinoMom , @DebbieGrillo

This book is amazing! It‘s even better than Beartown. I highly recommend it.

Sitting in the bleachers freezing my fingers off waiting for my kiddos game to start and the sun to come out! 🥶

Amazing Fredrik Backman! The style of writing is wholly his own - F. Backman is one of the most talented storytellers. Thought-provoking, engaging, and heartwarming: an emotional roller-coaster. It's a great multi-layered novel - gripping, reflective and well executed.

Can anyone tell me why the name of the book changed??? I had Bear Town in my stack and went to B&N and got Us Against you not even thinking anything of it just because of the author. Now I have two of the same stories... but be read Bear Town ...it‘s a great book 😳☺️

Beartown was an emotional roller coaster ride of emotions for me. The book was very good but I am still reflecting on it a year later. So, here I am about to embark on another trip to Beartown.