Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

I know there's a ton of us reading the Beartown series right now, with The Winners just getting released, so I wanted to create a thread where we can discuss!

I just finished Us Against You, which I definitely didn't enjoy as much as Beartown. I felt it was a bit more disjointed, and there were some conflicts resolved off page (or too quickly) for me to feel really invested in them.

That being said, I'm waiting for my friend to finish The Winners this weekend, then I'm snagging it from her! So I'll be starting it soon.

I'm saving The Winners for the 2023 challenge. A book by an author from continental Europe. I do like the series. I may have liked Beartown the most so far. There were parts in Beartown where it hurt to read the book. I needed to know what was happening but it physically hurt to read about it. I have a friend that has kept up with the series & we pass the books around.

Same Sherri. My heart hurt all through Beartown, but watching the aftereffects in Us Against You was maybe even more heartbreaking. Seeing how Mya's family reacted... oof.

Let me tell you, if your heart hurt reading Beartown, then gear up for The Winners. I felt like I got punched in the gut.

Just noticed this thread and thought I'd pop on to follow the discussion too. I've listened to both Beartown and Us Against You on audio, and loved both books. Hoping to get to the Winners soon.

Backman has such a talent for articulating human emotion, motivation & experience. It's absolutely brilliant in these books, IMO.

Nancy, you have me a bit worried for The Winners!

I listened to them all on audio as well, though I switched between Kindle and audio for The Winners. Marin Ireland is such a talented narrator, she really brings the books to life.

I'm listening to audio as well. Maybe it's because I've been listening to the same trilogy for the last four weeks, but did anyone else notice how she changed how she pronounced Hed between the first and second books?

I just finished The Winners and I sobbed throughout the last two chapters. Luckily, I was listening to the audiobook, so it didn't matter that I couldn't see. It is beautiful and tragic, but ultimately hopeful.

@Emily I did notice that but thought I was just crazy.

I too was sobbing and stuck in traffic on the freeway, so that was awkward. But I agreed that The Winners was amazing. I can't wait till you all finish.

@Sherri don't save it! Read it now lol

Just checking - does The Winners continue to include a good bit of hockey, like the first two books? I was thinking of using it for the prompt about a game.

I'm about 6 hours in to the 21.5 hour audiobook, and I haven't *seen* a hockey game yet, but hockey is definitely a central figure in the conversations. I'd feel comfortable using it for a book about a game.

I read Us Against You last week and loved it. Funny thing is I started it years ago when it was released and only made it about 100 pgs. I guess I wasn't in the right mood then? I can't think of any other reason why I didn't finish it since I didn't make any notes about it. This time, though, I had an audio copy from the library that I switched back-and-forth with the hard copy, and I now think the audio made the difference. I also listened to Beartown on audio.

I am going to hold off on The Winners for at least a couple of months based off of all the teary-eyed reports I've heard (not to mention books 1 & 2 made me sob) but make sure I have it on audio. Life is teary right now so I don't need anything more in that arena.

I agree. Marin Ireland is an amazing narrator. I love the loving way she says "Idiot" :)

I'm adding this series to my TBR next year. We have The Winners here at the library. Don't know why I over-looked the other two when i ordered books. I will definitely get them on the shelves.

I just started The Winners yesterday.

I'd love to hear other folks thoughts on this, but spoilers for The Winners:

(view spoiler)[After years of dread about how Benji's story would end, I feel like this was really satisfying. Sad but satisfying. Benji dies a hero after he has returned home and made peace with himself, reunited with old friends, and made new ones. It some ways it makes it hurt a little more, but it's so much better than if he had died violently, drunk and alone.

The death that was really the most horrible to me was Mumble. It's so tragic that he couldn't find a way to forgive himself for an incident that he was, at least in part, also a victim of. (hide spoiler)]

Beth, I totally agree with you on that spoiler. It was HEARTBREAKING, all of it, but those two were hardest for me.

I agree as well. I felt so bad for the second character you mentioned.

I have been debating whether to reread the first two in this series before reading The Winners. A close friend and fellow IRL book club winner just read all three of them and I think I'm going to do that as well, but I probably won't be able to do so until 2023...

I've read almost everything Backman has written that has been translated into English and loved them all!

Lynn, I definitely recommend rereading them, especially if you read them when they originally came out. I had forgotten a lot of what happened in Beartown, having read it back in 2017, and it carries all the way through the series.

FWIW I did not re-read. I would have, had I been able to get Beartown quickly, but there was too long of a wait and I was impatient.

I don't think it took away from my enjoyment as there was enough of a reminder in the narrative of the past events.

I can understand why some people would want to re-read books 1 and 2 (not me, though) but I don’t think you need to and I think you could get actually get away with just reading book 3! There is SO much rehashing of past events and explaining what happened and how the characters are still processing their emotions. For me, it’s a little much but I wonder if Backman intentionally did this so you could just read the last book as a stand-alone or because he figured readers might need some reminders. I’m really enjoying the 3rd book but wish it was about 150 pages shorter!

I finished The Winners. 5 stars. I enjoyed it as much as Beartown. This is a hard read like the other books. I cried also.

I just finished The Winners a few days ago. It was so good! I love this series so much.

I forgot about this discussion. I'm definitely going to have to reread this whole series. I was lucky to snag Winners from the library when it first came out and I already miss them all.

Also whole-heartedly agree that the audiobooks were amazing!

Alicia wrote: "I forgot about this discussion. I'm definitely going to have to reread this whole series. I was lucky to snag Winners from the library when it first came out and I already miss them all.

Also who..."

Maybe I will reread the whole series on audio. I did Kindle for all the first time around.

The audio is phenomenal, and will definitely give you a new dimension on the story!