Anxious People: The No. 1 New York Times bestseller, now a Netflix TV Series - From the Author of My Friends

Funny, dramatic, thoughtful and suspenseful. 10/10 A must read to everyone that enjoys a good story. Nothing else to be said.

Book 6 of 2023 finished 14/1/24 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A bank robbery goes wrong and in the process of escaping the bank robber runs into an apartment which is being viewed by prospective buyers. The bank robber now has a hostage situation and isn’t sure how to get out of this. Now the police are interviewing the hostages to try to discover where the vanishing bank robber has gone. Each of the hostages have their own stories to tell and we learn that even strangers can have an impact on other people’s lives. My thoughts: The book talks about anxiety and depression in an honest and relatable way. The heavy topics are written with such a balance of light hearted moments that this doesn’t feel like a ‘heavy’ read. My favourite element of this book was the discussion surrounding how far parents would go for their children. The backstory of the bank robber and Jim as parents made me really think about what I would do in their situation. I’m not a huge fan of timeline jumps and that is reflected in my rating. However, I was completely hooked to this story and desperately needed to know how the story ended.

From the beginning, the book makes you feel like you are in a conversation, not just reading a story. It is a conversation that had me laughing out loud and intreagued how it could possibly end. The plot twists and the emotions it brings to the surface as all the threads and facinating characters slowly come together make for an unusually enjoyable read.

I often love reading the work of Frederick Backman, first encountering his world in Grandmother sends her regards. The best thing about this book is the plot, which I think is quite a new venture for Backman but still manages to convey his usual messages and style. Kudos to that! The theme of mental illness and the consequences of that are also quite powerfully conveyed. However, despite some of the heart-rending and heart-warming moments and issues that really hit home for me, I have a couple of issues with this book. Firstly, the storylines and ultimate ending or endings are quite predictable, if you have read enough book by this author. It’s always about dysfunctional family, love and always always death and grief. I wish he would consider writing a book without any mention of death for once in the future, so it wouldn’t get so tedious over the time. Secondly, it gets so bogged down with all the political and ‘diversity’ statement to the point of being an overkill. Sure the author is most probably a fierce advocate for these people, but a story shouldn’t always be about what the author thinks, but how it might reflect the society and what other people actually think. Maybe for once he could leave immigration and stuff like that alone. Or maybe it’s just a Swedish thing, I don’t know. It just feels like everything he says, he is trying to make some sort of statement somehow, and regardless of my views on those issues, I find them to interfere too much with the story. Overall, I would still say that this book, like many of Backman’s books, is worth a read.

Having brought A Man Called Ove many months prior, I finally read it as I saw there was a movie coming out and was determined to read the book before I saw film. Well, I loved it (the book, and also the movie, but the book was better. Sorry Tom Hanks). This spurred me to read Britt-Marie Was Here, and it really didn’t disappoint. So it was a no brained to buy Anxious People, and when I realised a Netflix series had been made I chose it from the plethora of kindle books I now own and I was absorbed once more. Backman’s books contain such ordinary people written about in such an extraordinary way. The stories shine a light on how the simplest of acts can have great impacts on the lives of others. Now to go watch the Netflix series whilst the story is fresh in my mind…

Well, I read and listened to this one, and it initially felt like a random farce with bit part actors. But when I took a step back, I realised there was much more to it. We have Jim, a police officer who didn’t want his son Jack to follow in his footsteps. However, Jack joined the force anyway. While it’s clear they love each other, there’s continued stress and irritation from Jack. They have their own story. On New Year’s Eve, an estate agent is hosting an open viewing. As the guests arrive, they’re met with a rather reluctant and accidental bank robber. This wasn’t the intention; the bank robber is going through heartbreak and a breakup. She’s at the end of her tether, which causes a desperate act that turns into more than anyone realises. As the strangers get to know each other, they start to bond. Each person is holding something within, and bit by bit, we get to hear about their backstories. Some of the stories were emotional, while others made me cry. I also laughed at some of the absurdity of what was going on, like the guy wearing a rabbit’s head. We learn that behind the facade, everyone is going through something. Some of the stories were relatable, and we see the very real and human side that we often conceal. At the end of the day, we learn that as humans, we all make mistakes. We need kindness and not judgement. Patience and love go a long way. This turned out to be a clever and moving story, cleverly woven despite the collection of characters. It didn’t feel crowded at all.

it took a while to get int this but gradually , as the themes started to appear, it became clear that it was a very good book with many wonderful lines and some deeper messages which made for a very readable and enjoyable read. have immediately bought another of his books which is always a good sign and is not lightly done.

This book surprised me as I had read others by this author and thought it would be of the same very light-hearted silly funny ilk. I was incorrect, this was not quite from the same stable. This was more profound. It was a cleverly put together rigmarole of reasons why / how a situation occurred and why / how the ultimate tragedy was averted and by whom - basically a very human book with a large dose of empathy without preaching about life. All kinds of situations occurred in the backstories, some of which even joined up with each other. The characters were numerous, the twists and turns of their stories also numerous and the whole a (deliberately) confusing melee. Yes, the light-hearted touch was ever evident in the circular questions and purposefully obscure answers in the interrogations. Yes, the cast were each in their own way complex but totally individual characters, some very likeable, some not so easily likeable yet all recognisable as an aspect of very familiar humanity. I am in the camp of those who liked this book.

My first Fredrick Backman book. After reading this, I bought two more books of the same writer.

It’s such an amazing book takes you through different emotions one second you’re feeling deep for the character the next unexpectedly laugh out loud. Love it from start to finish. must read

It’s not often you accidentally find a treasure of a book. What story telling, what character building, what plot. Tears in my eyes from laughter … and suddenly not. One of the toughest but warmest stories I’ve encountered.

Good read! Well written and touching Easy to read and makes you think a while It’s a story about life itself

É sem dúvidas um dos livros mais diferentes que já li, a narração é muito singular e genial! É um suspense que te prende e te faz de bobo, mas acima de tudo é uma imersão verdadeira e crua sobre nosso ser e nossos anseios. Encontramos nos personagens tudo aquilo que sentimos, mas não temos a coragem de refletir sobre, tanto no emocional quanto nos fatores externos que os causam. Ele te enubria com críticas pertinentes sobre o mundo financeiro e como este pode arruinar a vida de tantas pessoas, assim como também dar de tudo para uma minoria, que mesmo com o MUITO não tem nada. É uma história que te aventura na ficção de um bom drama e no mais emocionante caminho do humano, da empatia e da compreensão. É impossível terminar e não colocar todos os outros trabalhos do autor na lista de compras.