November 2024: Anxious People (Backman)

Greetings all! For November, we're reading Anxious People by Fredrik Backman. (https://bookshop.org/a/15022/9781501160844)

"Looking at real estate isn't usually a life-or-death situation, but an apartment open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes a group of strangers hostage. The captives include a recently retired couple who relentlessly hunt down fixer-uppers to avoid the painful truth that they can't fix their own marriage. There's a wealthy bank director who has been too busy to care about anyone else and a young couple who are about to have their first child but can't seem to agree on anything. Add to the mix an eighty-seven-year-old woman who has lived long enough not to be afraid of someone waving a gun in her face, a flustered but still-ready-to-make-a-deal real estate agent, and a mystery man who has locked himself in the apartment's only bathroom, and you've got the worst group of hostages in the world.

Each of them carries a lifetime of grievances, hurts, secrets, and passions that are ready to boil over. None of them is entirely who they appear to be. And all of them--the bank robber included--desperately crave some sort of rescue. As the authorities and the media surround the premises, these reluctant allies will reveal surprising truths about themselves and set in motion a chain of events so unexpected that even they can hardly explain what happens next."

IN DECEMBER WE WILL BE CELEBRATING THE FESTIVE SEASON WITH A REREAD OF TERRY PRATCHETT'S HOGFATHER, COMPLETE WITH HOGSWATCH BOOK EXCHANGE. (BEE THERE ORR BEE A RECTANGULAR THYNG.) HO HO HO. (https://bookshop.org/a/15022/9780062276285)

Meetup charges us to host the group; contributions of $1-2/meeting to offset this cost are appreciated (Venmo = Matthew-Litke-1 or toss me a couple bucks at the meeting).