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.

About six-in-ten Americans say there is too much economic inequality in the U.S.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Pew Research Center (@pewresearch)

Pew Research has a nice little quiz to test your knowledge of the first amendment.

The first 10 amendments to the United States Constitution make up the Bill of Rights, which lays out Americans’ rights in relation to their government. How well do you know the First Amendment and some of the rights it guarantees? Test your knowledge by taking our eight-question quiz. These questions come from a Pew Research Center survey of 3,507 U.S. adults conducted in March 2026 as part of the Pew-Knight Initiative. When you finish, you can compare your results with Americans’ overall.

Take the Quiz

Can a nation become stronger while its citizens increasingly lose faith in the government leading it?

A new Gallup study - Trust in Federal Government Sinks to New Depths - paints a troubling picture of American democracy. Trust in the federal government has reached historic lows. Only 33% of Americans trust the executive branch, 28% trust Congress, and 46% trust the judiciary. Even more concerning, just 51% trust their fellow Americans to make democratic decisions.

These findings present an interesting contradiction to current administration’s “America First” nationalism and the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement.

MAGA promises national renewal through stronger borders, economic independence, traditional values, and a rejection of political elites. Its supporters see these priorities as restoring American sovereignty and pride. Yet the movement’s confrontational approach, emphasis on political loyalty, and distrust of established institutions may also deepen the divisions undermining public confidence.

Gallup’s findings suggest something bigger than dissatisfaction with one administration. Trust has eroded for decades, across both political parties. However, recent declines among independents and even Republicans raise questions about whether nationalist rhetoric translates into broader public confidence.

Interestingly, 67% of Americans still trust local government, suggesting that faith in democracy remains stronger closer to home. Perhaps America’s greatest challenge isn’t restoring its power or prestige, but rebuilding trust among its own people.

I borrowed the prompt from a Facebook group and tweaked it slighlty. Ironically, I’m reading a book about hockey right now but it is about a team in a small Norweigan town.

Prompt: Outdoor Canadian winter ice hockey rink, slightly elevated diagonal view. Smooth glossy pale blue white ice with skate marks and subtle reflections. Rink enclosed by hockey boards and railings with rounded corners, one regulation goal. Four adult players full body, medium distance, naturally spaced, actively skating and competing for the puck. Blue and white hockey jerseys with large maple leaf chest emblem. Rink and players equally prominent in composition. Contemporary large scale public mural illustration: colorful stylized graphic semi realism, painterly shapes, clean contours, simplified forms, expressive shading. Rich blues, turquoise, white, Canadian red, warm orange and golden accents. Colorful yet sophisticated, clearly illustrated not photographic. –no close-up, giant players, tiny players, artificial floor, blue floor, water, plastic surface, basketball court, photorealism, photography, hyperrealism, 3D render

I’m so tired of the political campaign ads. Has it always been this nasty and I just wasn’t aware, or is this a more recent (10-15 years) phenomenon? If you are a candidate and your only platform is telling me all the negative things about your opponent(s), then you are telling me you don’t have a platform of your own. Tell me what your plan is or what you plan to do! Otherwise, as insignificant as it may be, you won’t be getting my vote or support.