Though A Man Called Ove was published in 2012, I only just read it. Better late than never.

This is your summer feel good read.

With all the unrest and negativity in the world of late, this book will bring you back to center, at least as it relates to the importance of forging personal relationships with people who aren’t really like you.

It is the simple, well told story of a grumpy old man who, pursuant to encounters throughout the book, turns out to be not so grumpy after all.

A Man Called Ove: A Novel

By Fredrik Backman

Author Fredrik Backman touches on many of today’s big discrimination issues so gently that you don’t realize until after you’ve finished that you were maybe in the midst of an author’s platform.

The deep and probing character development of Ove is really the star of this book. While all of the other characters matter to the story, some of them are more caricatures of an idea rather than fully developed people. But Ove we see through to his core. And by learning about his past, we come to understand exactly why he is how he is and why he does the things he does.

Ah, if we all had such insight into people’s back stories, how different might our interactions be?

I cried big fat tears and laughed full volume chuckles at this one. It kept me reminded, too, that there is almost AWLAYS more to people than what you see at first blush.

We all need an Ove – in theory and in reality.

Published: 2012
Publisher: Simon and Schuster / Washington Square Press
Elizabeth's rating: 5 stars

“So, Amelia, what do you hate?” he says, leaning back in his side of the booth.
“Hate?”
“Yes, hate. You know, despise, loathe, abhor. What erodes you from the inside?”
“What, about myself, or the world in general?”
“Let’s start with you, then move on to the world in general.”
“I hate that I am fat and ugly and stupid.”
Chris takes a swig of his beer. “You are none of those things, but I can dig irrational self-loathing. What else?”

Australian author, Laura Buzo’s novel, Love and Other Perishable Items, takes a realistic and charming look at what a young girl endures when she has a crush that she knows deep down will not amount to anything except a broken heart. 15-year-old Amelia Hayes falls for her grocery store co-worker, Chris. At 21-years-old, Amelia knows that Chris is too old for her, but this does not stop her from falling for him and obsessing non-stop about every interaction.