Reading List
Fredrik Backman
Novelist
Fredrik Backman is a Swedish novelist, blogger and columnist who grew up in Helsingborg and wrote for the newspaper Helsingborgs Dagblad before publishing his first novel, A Man Called Ove, in 2012. It became an international bestseller, and his later books, including My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, Britt-Marie Was Here, Anxious People and the Beartown trilogy, have been number one bestsellers in Sweden and published in more than twenty-five languages. He has written that Astrid Lindgren taught him how to read and how not to be afraid of dying.
Shogun
by James Clavell · Fiction
“It's not life-changing; it's not the greatest piece of literature ever written; it's definitely not flawless. But it's good. Fun. Entertaining. An adventure. Sometimes that's quite enough.” — via Article, May 2017
Harry Potter Paperback Box Set
Books 1-7
by J.K. Rowling · Children's
“I've never really longed to relive my childhood. Except for this: I wish I could be 7 years old again, just to be able to read Harry Potter for the very first time. There are certain things in a story like that one that an adult can never fully understand. We get old; we forget how to be that smart.” — via Article, May 2017
A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Books
by Charles Dickens · 2012 · Classics
“I don't remember the first time I heard it read, but I do remember that the first time I read it for myself I was blown away by how clever the language was, and how playful. I still write with the hope that I will always love words as much as I do every time I read Dickens.” — via Article, May 2017
The Lord of the Rings
by J R R Tolkien · Classics
“Over a summer when I was about 9, Tolkien consumed me. The adventure, the storytelling, the magical lands and terrifying creatures inhabiting them were all I thought about. When I was done, I started all over again. This was my first experience of absolute binge reading, and maybe my first love.” — via Article, May 2017
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
by Douglas Adams · Fiction
“This was one of the first books that made me understand it was okay for literature to be silly and funny and stupid and hilarious. I assume that this life-altering experience at age 10 or 11 still shows in my writing today.” — via Article, May 2017
The Brothers Lionheart
by Astrid Lindgren · 2004 · Children's
“My mother read this to me when my grandfather died, when I was 6, to find a way to talk to me about death. It was during that reading that I discovered I could actually read for myself. So Lindgren taught me how to read and how not to be afraid of dying, all at the same time.” — via Article, May 2017
