A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

genre: contemporary fiction

Ove.  Crotchey, irritable, set-in-his ways.  Alone and just fine with it, Ove's new neighbors nearly drive him to the brink with their boisterous and needy ways.  Don't even ASK him to help you.  But darn it if Ove cannot HANDLE nonsense - and when he sees nonsense he has to solve it.  Don't thank him, though.  And don't ask again.  Except somehow Ove's neighbors AND his entire neighborhood will just NOT leave him alone!

I resisted reading this so much - it just sounded completely unappealing to me.  I can't even count how many people told me I'd enjoy it but I just had no interest in a book about a cranky old man.  Shame on me.  It's delightful. It made me chuckle and full-on laugh out loud. It made me cry drippy tears and feel ALL the feelings.  It's incredibly well-written and well translated from the original Swedish.  It is surprisingly tender and deals with some pretty heavy subject matter, most especially Ove's loneliness and feelings of being superfluous.  I read this quicker than any book I've picked up lately and reminds me of how important it is for me to read outside my comfort zone.