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Reading this one for my book club and having a rough time getting into it. There have been some great lines but the overall plot is throwing me off. This the the first Backman book I've read (tho I bought and am looking forward to Anxious People).

Anyone already read this and loved it? Do I just need to give it some time?

Favorite book 2025 (so far).
Grab tissues. Go to your comfy spot. And soak in the beauty that Backman always delivers.

How is it that I‘m only on chapter 7 of this book and want to put my head down and sob (but I‘m at work so need to put the book down instead and read and home! )
This man has such a way of writing - it‘s incredible to me… and his instagram posts are hysterical too!

I wanted to love this as much as everyone else seems to but Backman is a bit hit or miss for me. While this contained lovely messages about friendship and art I could feel Backman pulling the strings trying to wrestle my emotions where he wanted them.

Backman is an author I‘ll read without question, and this book was no exception. His characters are the kind that linger long after the story ends—flawed, lovable, and profoundly human. The life lessons are woven in with humor and heart, making me laugh and cry in equal measure. It‘s a reminder that love often finds us where we least expect it, and that family is more than just blood. Book #49 in 2025

Bachman‘s writing is so beautifully and brutally straightforward that it reads like a fairytale. This story of four friends is definitely one of my favourite books of the year. Keep the Kleenex handy!

So sad, so deeply moving, tears wrenching. A poignant tale of friendship and trauma - signature Backman. Incredible and meaningful writing!

This is a soft pick. It kills me to say it, but I didn‘t love this one. While it had Backman‘s trademark humor and emotional depth, it felt meandering, verbose and somewhat saccharine. And in many places, the writing was more juvenile than you‘d expect. I thought maybe it was the translation, but no —it‘s the same translator as previous books. I was actually reading quickly just to get it over with. I guess they can‘t all be home runs. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Reading Backman for the first time with my library book club.

Backman has an amazing ability to tap into my emotional core, laughing and crying in the same sentence. His latest is no different, a story about finding your people, the ones who will stand with you always, who make it okay to not always be okay.

It is far from a perfect book, I had some issues with the pacing in the first half, and there was some convoluted trickery towards the end -

cont'd in comments

This is my seventh read of Backman and for me, by far the weakest of his books. There are two timelines and both get short shrift. The current day timeline could be explored more thoroughly and the past timeline feels a bit held at arms length and too much tell. I‘m disappointed with this one.

Still reading the tagged, and it has provoked both tears and uncontained laughter in public spaces.

#SundayFunday @BookmarkTavern

My Friends, by Fredrik Backman (2025)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Premise: A dying artist‘s friends find a kindred spirit in an awkward but talented young woman who has just aged out of foster care.

Review: I had a hard time figuring out how I felt about this at first; I generally find Backman‘s writing to be a little clunky, and here I was also confused because the teenage characters felt far too articulate and self-aware for the story. Cont.

Wow! What an experience. Beautiful darkness, heart rendering hopefulness. All the feelings conjured at once with his unexpected metaphors. His descriptions other worldly, and the soul-leaving- body word choices he put together to make this book will make me remember it forever.

It‘s always great when my 3x3 grid is built entirely of 👍 reads, but I had a clear favorite to garner the tag!

5 ⭐️= Loved It, want to shout out loud about this book! I do/will own/keep a physical copy. A+
4 ⭐️= Liked it, would love to discuss. Solid B
3 ⭐️= Meh, no need to discuss. Avg C
2 ⭐️=Nope D
1 ⭐️=DNF F

What do you do when you have more books piled up than you can possibly read in a month, and suddenly your library acquires the new Fredrik Backman book and you‘re the first in line for it? I think you all know the answer to that.

The story of friendship will stay with me because it was that good. But the writing was off. I didn't care for the dual timeline because the present parts were boring and flat and felt like they were written by someone else. The ending dragged and I just couldn't wait for it to be over. So disappointing.

35/80

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Fredrik Backman writes with an explosion of emotion, belief, tenderness, and connection from the first page to the last. How hard can your heart beat? It‘s an ode to art and friendship; a true love story. Read it, cherish it. 🩵

Last night, I saw @backmansk in Winston Salem. Today, I received a package from @atriabooks with his latest book “My Friends” with a signature plate and a fun summer bag! And it‘s pink! My favorite color!!💕

Thank you @atriabooks and @backmansk for this fun package!

"Not to brag, but Louisa did have a perfect plan, it wasn't the plan's fault that she didn't stick to it. Because sometimes Louisa is a genius, but sometimes she isn't a genius, and the problem is that the genius and the non-genius share a brain. But the plan? Perfect."

"The world has spent thousands of years practicing how to puncture the lungs of children who are different."

Ooof. I felt this in my soul. ??

"Louisa is a teenager, the best kind of human."

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

Last night seeing @backmansk was a dream. Not only is he a fantastic author, he is funny and truly inspiring.

#myfriendstour #bookmarksnc #charlielovett #booktour

Seeing Fredrik Backman tonight.

Backman is one of my favorite authors and this book did not let me down. This is a tender story about friendship that has moments of wonderful humor and heartbreaking sadness. It is set in 2 time periods, present day and 25 years earlier - when 4 teenagers became friends and made sure the one that was a talented artist got noticed. The story moved slowly at times, but it always moved me. I really enjoyed it. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. 4.5/5

I don‘t know if any author speaks to my heart as often as Fredrik Backman. The current story between Louise and Ted is so kindhearted and everything one needs in a friend. The backstory set 25 years earlier with four 14yr best friends - all can say is Here Here Here Here. I didn‘t just love this book, I loved every page of this book.

My part of house painting is done! ???? Now the Mr. Just has to finish all the parts I couldn't reach, and the cutting in that just isn't my forté ?

I have now moved on to gardening, which I know nothing about ? Taking a break to start the new Backman ?

Starting off the weekend with a novel from one of my all-time favorite authors. A lot of the time I feel emotionally constipated, but Backman never fails to hit me in the feels, repeatedly making me want to laugh and want to cry. I will read anything this man writes. It's an emotional laxative, lol.

So excited for Fredrik Backman‘s author event in St Louis tonight! Had a great 7 hour drive here with my son who‘s visiting us this week from San Diego.

So excited for Fredrik Backman‘s author event in St Louis tonight! Had a great 7 hour drive here with my son who‘s visiting us this week from San Diego.

#WondrousWednesday

1) Tagged. It‘s in the mail. He‘s an auto-buy author for me.

2) For the NetGalley books, sometimes I like writing them, other times not so much. 😬 I post on NetGalley, Litsy, GR, BookBub, Amazon, B&N, my blog. For bought/borrowed books, I usually leave a star rating on GR. If I really like it, I‘ll write a review. I‘m trying to use Story Graph more, but I keep forgetting.

1. Monday my #botm and #aardvark boxes showed up including tagged.
2. Short reviews here otherwise just rating on GR.
Thanks @Kshakal @Eggs #wondrouswednesday

Ran to Indigo to get the new Backman book and the new Natalie Jenner too. Had a coupon for 20% off. Bought the Book Club candle (smells good but fail on if just being this small plain blue glass? I thought Book Club would be printed on it?) and a staff pick of “One Hundred Saturdays” and library card bookmark. 😊

One bingo in April

#bookspin #doublebookspin #bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

Best read of April: My Friends by Fredrik Backman

At this point I think I‘d cry just reading Backman‘s grocery list, he‘s that poignant and great of a writer. His newest novel explores the depth of friendship and finding one‘s self in the world. While I think it‘s a little bit slower pace than some of his other works, it still carries the depth, humor, and great characters we have come to love from Backman.

4.5⭐️

#arc

These are my four nominated titles for #CampLitsy25 - well, the first set, that is. I tend to go overboard with these kinds of things. 🤓🥰📚

4.5/5

A wonderfully written book full of humor and grief about the strength of friendship beyond loss and tragedy. The dying artist C. Jat sells everything he owns to buy back his first painting, and then gives it away to a teenager he just met, named Louisa, which leads her on a journey to understand what lead the artist to create the painting.

#netgalley

e-book: My Friends by Fredrik Backman
audiobook: The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

I won this through a Goodreads Giveaway!

Go get this book when it hits bookshelves. It publishes March 24, 2025! You will not be sorry.

The emotions I had reading this book were like a rollercoaster. I was laughing so hard, then the next paragraph, I would have tears in my eyes. Fredrik Backman's writing is amazing! The way he wrote made me feel as if I was right there that summer on the peir with the artist, Ted, Joar, and Ali!

My friends book tour.

Louisa is a teenager, the best kind of human.

##FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

#ReadingWrapUp February
5 ⭐
My Friends -Backman
4.5⭐
The Book Censor's Library
A Body Made of Glass
Private Rites
4⭐
Wandering Stars
Divine Rivals
The Echoes
Rejection
The $12Million Stuffed Shark
The Beautiful Ones
Shy Creatures
Freedom - Markel
3.5⭐
Vanishing Treasures
Autocracy, Inc.
3⭐
Universality

Welcome March and The Women's Prize!!

Great book mail day! #ARC

Grab your tissues Backman has a book coming 5.20.25 - Pictured here the day I read in public and hit page 60 and decided I would only be reading at home
No one else writes with such humor and charm and utter tenderness. The word "tenderness" kept floating through my brain as I was reading this absolutely lovely book. No other author can have you laughing at kids fart jokes one paragraph then tearing up over those kids futures the next like him.

This is lovely. I'm going out on a limb and comparing it to Three by Valerie Perrin. I loved that book. I loved this book quite nearly as much.

#DoubleSpin @TheAromaofBooks

US pub date is 5/20/25
#ARC #Netgalley

Absolutely loved this book about friendship,connections and art.
No one writes about heartbreaking moments with as much tenderness as Fredrik Backman does.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

New Backman coming in 2025! And it sounds GOOOOOOD!

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