April 2019 FREE BOOK!
My monthly reading group chose this book for February 2019, and, to be honest, I wasn’t looking forward to reading it. I was only about a chapter in when I realized A MAN CALLED OVE (by Fredrik Backman) was an absolute delight, and I knew I had to share the joy. From the back cover — “Ove is almost certainly the grumpiest man you will ever meet. He thinks himself surrounded by idiots — joggers, neighbours who can’t reverse a trailer properly, and shop assistants who talk in code….In the end you will see, there is something about Ove that is quite irresistible…”
Our April 2019 Free Book is a new trade paperback edition. To have your name included in our Wednesday, April 17 drawing, just answer this question. Have you ever known a lovable or unlovable curmudgeon? Or maybe you are one???
Happy Reading!
Sue
Yes I know a grumpy old man
Sadly, my grandmother was a grumpy ole woman – I’m sure being widowed twice and being in poor health contributed to her curmudgeonly behavior.
She was a very private person too – never sharing enough family history – never sharing any of the bad or sad so that I could understand.
Yes I have known a curmudgeon. She was 103 years old at the time and for her age she was very active, both her front yard and back yard was full of flowers. She was up and outside when sun came out and was inside when the sun went down. She was so dedicated to making a a sanctuary for butterflies, bees and hummingbirds. In the end we all loved her to bits, she was the sweetest lady I had ever met. She was kind enough to show us why certain flowers went where, how to take care of annual bulbs.
Yes and I love a person that shakes it up and doesn’t just roll over when they are older. My plan is to be the one everyone wonders what I am up to now.
It can only be me cause I can not think of one in my family or friends.
I’m able to think of three, right off. One that was bearable in small doses. One easily tamed with sweets. And one that I hope can quiet those demons and warped opinions, because somehow God let me see the bitterness as a shield of protection, but also poison, against the past.
Thank you for your comments, Justine, Ann, and Frances. I know grumpy folks, too, and sometimes I get frustrated with them. I hope I can, like Frances, see their bitterness as a shield or, like Ann, understand a bit of toughness is not all bad!!
That’s a sweet comment, Willa!!
She earned her right to be a curmudgeon but sounds wonderful, Jean!
I wish for your sake your grandmother would have shared more family history, Jane. I think older generations were often very private.
I think back and wish I had asked more questions of my mother…she wrote down a few things in one of those books ‘my mother’s stories’..but none of the feelings part of her life and her family….no one in our family was a curmudgeon though….no ‘bah humbugs’..so I don’t know any of those people of which you speak ..lol…
I’m glad you didn’t have any curmudgeons in your family, Mary. But if all curmudgeons were like OVE in this book, the world would be better for it!!
There have been a few people in my life that might fit the basic description but really weren’t once you get past the exterior
Yes, our one-time township supervisor, Harry, was often called a curmudgeon. He seldom smiled.
I think that’s very true of many grumpy people, Tabitha. You are a blessing because you look inside to the true heart!!