Finished reading: Beartown by Fredrik Backman 📚

In Beartown, Fredrik Backman takes a small, hockey-obsessed community and turns it into a fascinating study of human nature. Hockey may be the heartbeat of the town, but the real story lies in the complicated relationships among its people.

What makes this book so compelling is Backman’s remarkable collection of characters—devoted parents, ambitious teenagers, loyal friends, outsiders, bullies, and dreamers. Some fit familiar small-town stereotypes, while others challenge our assumptions. Backman reminds us that people are rarely as simple as the labels we give them.

The relationships are equally fascinating: between parents and children, husbands and wives, teammates and rivals, lifelong friends and unexpected allies. Each connection adds another layer to a community where everyone seems to know everyone, yet few truly understand one another. Loyalty, ambition, fear, and the desire to belong shape decisions in ways that are both admirable and troubling.

Beartown is emotional, sometimes (extremely) uncomfortable, and consistently thought-provoking. It’s ultimately less about winning hockey games than about identity, belonging, community expectations, and the choices that define us.

And now I’m hooked. I’ve become so invested in these flawed, fascinating characters that I can’t wait to return to Beartown. Fortunately, there are two more books in the trilogy, and Us Against You is next on my reading list. I’m not quite ready to leave this little town, or its people, behind.

Finished reading: Catch the Devil by Pamela Colloff 📚

The book is a gripping true-crime account of murder, corruption, and a justice system that doesn’t always deliver justice. Set along the Gulf Coast, the book digs beneath the surface of a disturbing murder case to reveal a complicated web of questionable evidence, conflicting stories, investigative failures, and people determined to uncover what really happened.

More than a simple retelling of a crime, the book examines how personal agendas, institutional failures, and deeply rooted assumptions can influence an investigation and its outcome. As new details emerge, the line between guilt and innocence becomes increasingly difficult to navigate.

What makes Catch the Devil particularly compelling is its focus on the human consequences of a flawed system. It’s a troubling reminder that solving a crime and achieving justice are not always the same thing…and that finding the truth can sometimes take years.

Finished reading: Britt-Marie was here by Fredrik Backman 📚 Damn good read.

Good Reads summary:

Britt-Marie can’t stand mess. A disorganized cutlery drawer ranks high on her list of unforgivable sins. She is not one to judge others—no matter how ill-mannered, unkempt, or morally suspect they might be. It’s just that sometimes people interpret her helpful suggestions as criticisms, which is certainly not her intention. But hidden inside the socially awkward, fussy busybody is a woman who has more imagination, bigger dreams, and a warmer heart that anyone around her realizes.

When Britt-Marie walks out on her cheating husband and has to fend for herself in the miserable backwater town of Borg—of which the kindest thing one can say is that it has a road going through it—she finds work as the caretaker of a soon-to-be demolished recreation center. The fastidious Britt-Marie soon finds herself being drawn into the daily doings of her fellow citizens, an odd assortment of miscreants, drunkards, layabouts. Most alarming of all, she’s given the impossible task of leading the supremely untalented children’s soccer team to victory. In this small town of misfits, can Britt-Marie find a place where she truly belongs?

I think I’ve read almost all of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s books, but I don’t believe I’ve ever read any of the the books he recommended on this list. Maybe this is a new reading challenge for me. The 22 Books F. Scott Fitzgerald Called “Required Reading”

During one of the hardest summers of his life, the ‘Great Gatsby’ novelist penned a list of book recommendations for his nurse.