EU Reads Book Club

Come to our special EU Reads book club. 

At our special book club celebrating the EU Presidency, we’ll be exploring Swedish author Fredrik Bakman's “A man called Ove” with author Jackie Lynam.

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman translated from Swedish by Henning Koch

A Man Called Ove follows a solitary widower whose strict routines and prickly temper mask deep grief. When a lively young family crashes into his quiet life, a series of comic mishaps and neighbourhood entanglements pull him into unexpected connections that changes his outlook on life and death.

‘Each short chapter stands alone as a beautifully crafted short story. Bring them together and you have an uplifting, life-affirming and often comic tale of how kindness, love and happiness can be found in the most unlikely places’ Sunday Express.

Fredrik Backman made his literary debut in 2012 with the global sensation A Man Called Ove. He has written seven highly acclaimed novels, including My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises and Britt-Marie Was Here; two heartfelt novellas about life and love; and one non-fiction book about parenthood. His books have sold more than 18 million copies in 46 languages. The Swedish-language film adaptation of A Man Called Ove was nominated for two Academy Awards, and in 2022 the book was adapted into a major motion picture starring Tom Hanks titled A Man Called Otto.

Jackie Lynam is a writer and librarian from Dublin. She worked for three decades in Dublin City Libraries including 10 years in the Dublin UNESCO City of Literature office working on projects such as One Dublin One Book, Citywide Read for Children and the Dublin Literary Award. Her writing has been published in several anthologies and journals and has also featured in the Irish Independent and on RTÉ's Sunday Miscellany radio programme. Her debut chapbook Traces: Poems and Essays was published in 2023 and was longlisted for the Carousel AWARE Prize for Independently Published Authors. It was Alan Hanna's Bookshop's bestselling poetry book for 2023.