Back to back books to read!

I just finished two books that I liked so much I had to share. First, A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman.

It is not the kind of book I typically pick up. It was recommended by a friend...in fact, he went and got it for me at the library so I didn't have much of a choice. Not that I wanted a choice, he hasn't steered me wrong on suggestions thus far.

However, when I started the book I was a tad skeptical as I saw the title of the first chapter and started reading. A few hours later I was wishing the book didn't have to end, all the while trying to rush to the end.

It's a book that will stay with me. I wanted to live next to Ove. I wanted to know him. It reminded me of my grandfather. It had me looking at life a little differently. It may be one of the best books I have read in many years.

I'm not going to tell you anything more about the book. Or about Ove. I just want you to read it. I will tell you that I had tears in my eyes at the end and that's a rare, rare experience for me when reading a book.

The second book was an impulse grab that I picked up at the same time Ove was put in my hands. I always grab 7 or 8 books at the library, Before the Fall by Noah Hawley was on an end cap and I grabbed it without reading the insert. I just liked the title and cover and needed one more book to finish out my stack.

It was also happenstance that I read it right after A Man Called Ove. The two could not be any more unlike the other in tone, story line or characters. Yet it dovetailed perfectly with Ove. It made me think, it was an affirmation of life, it was another book that had me looking at life and maybe some of the people in my life a little differently.

Before the Fall is a book about a plane crash, the lives of the people on the plane and all those who are touched. It was an interesting look at the intersections of lives, coincidences, while showing some interesting aspects of our current world. At times I wanted the author to go more in depth but then I found myself liking the way he made ME travel down the paths, let me come to my own conclusions.

Not telling you any more about that one either. You have to read it.

Love to hear back from you if you either or both.