My grandmother asked me to tell you she's sorry by Fredrik Backman

I picked up this book mostly because I has read A Man Called Ove and really enjoyed that story.  It was full of quirky, interesting characters and Ove himself was a bit different. This book was also full of really interesting characters that were a joy to read about.  The little girl that is the main character was, like Ove, a bit different and kind of set apart from the main stream.  The girl's grandmother was wacky and full of life.  The relationship between the girl and her grandmother was very close; the grandmother would watch out for the girl and help cheer her up in the most interesting ways when she had a bad day.  The building where she lived was full of characters that were revealed over the course of the book.  Like a Man Called Ove, Backman  revealed details about the story, bit by bit, but was able to hold our attention because of the strength of the characters and the interesting, quirky girl.

I didn't like the fairytales that were a large part of the book, I struggled to pay attention to the details as I was reading them and only later discovered that I should have been paying attention because they revealed important details about the story.

Overall, a great story and a fun read.  I love reading Backman's characters because they are "different" in the most, fun interesting ways.  Since a lot of people struggle with being "different" or out of the main stream, It is nice to read such great stories featuring people that are "different."

June Reads! A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

I devoured this book!  It really touched me, I laughed out loud, I identified with Ove at times, and I was sad at times.  It did all the things a book should do.  I can't praise it enough!

My mom recommended this book it wasn't the type of book I normally read, but it sounded interesting.  Right after that I saw that the book club I attend, when I am able, to is reading it, so I decided it was fate and requested it from the online library for my Kindle app. Unfortunately, it took months to come in and I missed the book club meeting. Well, it finally came in and I happily started reading and pretty much didn't put it down until it was finished.

Ove intrigued me right away with his organized, persnickety ways.  The things that annoyed him seemed both funny and fairly reasonable, if not a bit over the top.   The story of Ove's life unfolded slowly a bit at a time through going back and forth between the present and flash backs of the past. Normally this would annoy me, but in this book I wanted to learn more about Ove, so the flashbacks were interesting to me as well.  To me, Ove seemed like he was on the high-functioning end of the Autism spectrum and I loved the relationship he had with his wife.

The author's style of writing tragic, unhappiness in a way that makes you laugh reminded me a bit of Angela's Ashes.  (Although, that book was a true story and this is fiction.)  I finished the book with a satisfied sigh, a bit sad at the end, but not unbearably so.  A great book about our relationships with other people and how we persevere after tragedy.      

I have heard there is a Swedish language movie of the book out.  I'm off to figure out how to watch it.

My Aspergers Child: Best and Worst Jobs for Aspergers Adults

My Aspergers Child: Best and Worst Jobs for Aspergers Adults: 80% of grown-ups with Aspergers do not have full-time jobs – not because they can’t do the work, but because they can’t manage to be sociall...

This is a great article, very informative.  It is never too early to start thinking about careers for your kids in this economy.