2025 Book Review #57: The Winners

 

This is the final book in the Beartown Trilogy.  I really enjoyed this series and although this book was super long/thick at 670 pages, I am finally done with it.  It's an excellent book with beloved characters and my sister Joy and I both read the entire trilogy.  I've enjoyed a few of this author's books with my fave still being A Man Called Ove. 

STORY SUMMARY

It has been 2 years since the events that happened in Beartown and Hed have occured that no one wants to ever talk about. Everyone has tried to move on with their lives.  But there  is just something about this place in the forest that prevents anyone from doing so. 

The early autumn storm arrives and with it a death and two funerals on the same day. 

One of the person's life is being celebrated by everyone in Beartown. 

But another person's life is being forgotten.  

Maya Andersson comes home from her college dorm and joyfully reunites with her best friend Ana. Maya fled Beartown for music school far away. She's searching for a new life. 

Benji Ovich also comes home and reunites with his best friend Bobo. 

Both Maya and Benji see how much Beartown has changed.  There's a new sense of purpose.....an optimism and it's tied to the impressive new ice rink that's been built down by the lake. 

But the storm reignites all the old rivalry between Beartown and Hed and it's always been fought through their hockey teams. 

Peter and Kira, Maya and Leo's parents, are dealing with an investigation of the hockey club's sketchy finances. 

Amat, the former star of Beartown hockey, has seemingly lost his way after an injury and his failure to get drafted into the NHL.  

Tensions arise between the two towns and soon turn into acts of intimidation....and then of course violence. 

Meanwhile, 14 year old Matteo, the son of parents involved in a weird religious cult, becomes more and more alienated from the hockey-obsessed town.  He is determined to get revenge on all the people.....young men.....whom he holds responsible for his older sister Ruth's death.  She died of a drug overdose in a foreign country far from Sweden but he blames her drug use on the events that happened to her in Beartown before she turned 18.  Events that also happened to Maya. 

Matteo has a plan....and...a pistol and this will leave Beartown with a loss that is almost more than anyone can stand. 

MY THOUGHTS

This was a really good trilogy but this last book was very long. I feel like the author did a superb job with wrapping up all of the teenagers/young adults first introduced in the first novel, Beartown.  However, I also think this story could have been told in a quicker, shorter manner. But yet.....it's chock full of drama, a bit of mystery, complex feelings and relationships and the exploration of friendships, loyalty, self identity, loss and forgiveness. And most of all love. Love in its purest form. 

It teaches us to re-examine what it means to be a winner. 

It teaches us to learn what it means to lose.

And it teaches us what it means to finally forgive. 

This would be a perfect 10 but  for all the editing mistakes!  There were so many editing errors in this novel!  S's left off of words that were meant to be plural, articles missing such as "the" or "a". 

However, overall, this book is truly a winner! 

My heart was broken when I learned of the demise of one of my very favorite characters.  But it's in this loss, that many of the characters grow up emotionally. 

I don't want to reveal too much in case you read it. 

There were several quotes that jumped out at me but I will share one: 

"We try to just live our lives, live with each other, live with ourselves. Accepting joy when we find it, bearing grief when it finds us, and being amazed at our children's happiness without falling apart when we think that we can never really protect them."  (pg 649, The Winners by Fredrick Backman, c.2021)

I absolutely loved how the author ended this trilogy and summed up each main character's life.  Well done! 

In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 17 and older (due to some mature content). 

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 9. 

Week Before Christmas Faves

 It's been such an easier week in many ways as we had NO evening obligations and all of the shopping is done. I'm still waiting for 1 gift for my husband to arrive. All others are here. I had to order his from 2 different companies as I couldn't find them locally. While I'm having my morning coffee, I'm reflecting on this past week and sharing FIVE of the blessings that God brought into my life. Some are small, some are bigger but all are worth thanking God for. 

Join in with us as the blogging community shares the five faves we are thankful for!

FIVE FAVES

• MOVIES:  I'm thankful that the various streaming services we enjoy via our Apple TV had some good movies on this past week. Dave and I had a "in house date night" last Friday evening and it was great fun. We watched the latest Knives Out movie: Wake Up Dead Man and wow!  It was SO well done! Glenn Close is phenomenal in her role! I also enjoyed, while wrapping gifts, a somewhat sappy Christmas movie but it was fun:  A Country Christmas Romance (yes, even the title is sappy) but the fave movie of the week and a somewhat different type of Christmas movie was Man vs. Baby. This just had me laughing out loud all the way through it. There are also some serious aspects to it, too. I highly recommend this one. I also highly recommend the Netflix movie Ripple. I watched the first 4 episodes throughout the weekend and finished the mini series on Tuesday evening. That one was absolutely top notch. I very much recommend it. It's a feel good, sometimes funny, sometime sad but   such a wonderful theme/message for the holidays. It's not a Christmas movie but it's an all around excellent flick. I'm thankful for good movies to watch while doing chores around the house or curling up with hubby in the evening to unwind. 

• CLASS PARTY:  Monday morning had me at the church for the Proverbs class holiday party.  We had 40 people originally signed up for the class with just a little over 20 who made it through the entire class. It was so much fun! Our instructor is really great  and she made a great party for us:  we all brought a dish to share (I baked Cappuccino muffins) and we played silly Xmas games like word scrambles, bingo, and a cross word. I won one of the Bingo rounds and received a $5 gift card to our local ice cream mini market/gas station. We also had one of the church staff members come into the gym  next door to the classroom where we had our class and he took our group photo. I'm so thankful I got out of bed early every Monday morning this past semester and took the Proverbs class. In fact, I'm already planning on signing up for the Winter Semester class which will be based on a book about Job and embracing joy! I'm so thankful our church offers different classes throughout the week, along with Bible studies and small groups. 

our instructor, Joy, is in the front row center, with the short sleeved tan shirt

• XMAS GIFT:  I bought the following parchment calligraphy of our fave song we are singing as a choir for Christmas Eve, put it in a gold frame, and gave it to our young choir director Hannah. It's one of her fave hymns! Hannah is like a 3rd daughter to me, and is in between my own two daughters. In fact, she's a good friend of my oldest daughter and her husband is on the church staff as the Production Manager.  Hannah is a vocal music teacher for one of our 6 public elementary schools here in our district,  and we just love her to pieces. I'm so thankful she loved this Christmas surprise. If you click on the link below, it will take you to You Tube where you can hear the rendition of what we are singing.  We are not doing it in the traditional hymn style but in the version in the video.  We are also doing it a capella and it will be the opening number on Christmas Eve. 

We are singing the Jay Rouse version of this hymn. 

• COFFEE DATE: My sister Joy's birthday was this past Tuesday and I had put together a beach themed gift for her so we met at this fave coffee and pastry shop around 10 AM and spent an hour together chatting, drinking the fantastic lattes and eating a croissant. Joy loved her gift. I did a beach/lake theme because now that she's retired as of August 1st, she was at one of our fave beaches twice a week.  I didn't get a pic of her as she prefers not to do that but she was happy with the gift.  I'm thankful it was a nice morning!

• AWARD!  I finally, after waiting 3.5 months, received the Vagabond Award for completing this challenge!  I began working on the challenge in 2014, the year the book came out, and I finally finished it up this past August with my oldest daughter Courtney. I'm so thankful I got to all 102 villages in the Blue Line of the Adirondacks and that I was able to get the award. I am the 55th person to complete the challenge!  I'm also thankful  to the following people for going with me to some of the towns over the years:  Dave, Courtney, Claire, my friends Cindy R, Ingrid,  Darlene, Cheryl B,  and my sister Hope.

I hope your day is off to a good start and that you enjoy this last weekend before Christmas!  I think tonight we are staying in, enjoying another glass of our fave Riesling and maybe watching another sappy Christmas movie. 

Cheers!!

Wednesday HodgePodge

Waiting for laundry to be done so playing along with the Wednesday Hodgepodge bunch.  Head here to learn more or to link up. 

1. What's one thing on your to-do list that you want to get done, need to get done, or that must get done before the year ends? 

Want to get done: donate another bag of shoes and outdated clothing to the local missions bin at the local Episcopal church; 

Needs to get done: Paying for another year of AAA.  I just have to do it  so it's in the mail by January 1st. 

Must get done: I must go online and renew the Empire Pass for 2026 and take advantage of the discount! 

2.  December 17th is National Maple Syrup Day...are you a fan? Do you like maple flavor in other food items such as candy, cookies, donuts, oatmeal, hot toddies, coffee? 

I'm an Adirondacks Mountain girl...of course I love maple syrup! It's gotta be the real thing for me. No store bought, watery "fake" maple syrup like the now defunct (thank GOD!) Aunt Jemima brand. I used to put a drizzle of maple syrup in my morning coffee (now I drink it unsweetened but for holidays I still use maple syrup in coffee).  I do like maple flavored cookies and brownies. I don't eat donuts or candy but real maple candy made here in the NYS mountains is amazing. You can also find real maple candy in Vermont. 

3. Time magazine names a person of the year every year.  The tradition started back in 1927 with a 'man of the year' but has since changed to recognize not only an individual, but also to consider the impact of a group, movement, or idea that most influenced the year. The selection is not always someone or something good (think Hitler in 1938 and Stalin twice). 

This year they've named The AI Architects as their 'person of the year'. What say you? Is this a good choice, an obvious choice, a logical choice? Who do you think should have been named person of the year? 

I guess it makes sense...what they chose...I kind of wish they had chosen someone who has done something heroic this year. Although I've no idea who that might be.  I'm just glad it's not the current president nor any of his minions and since Taylor already got this title in 2023, I guess I'm ok with it being the AI Architects. I'm thoroughly disgusted that the current pres was given this "honor" for 2 years in recent history. YUCK! 

I really wish they had chosen Michelle Obama. she's classy, doing alot of work for women and girls and is a good role model as a former First Lady. Kind,  compassionate.  Loved her books! They should choose good role models in my opinion. But  I know they dont very oftnen. 

4. What's a city, state, or country you've visited that you never care to visit again? Tell us why. 

Indiana:  too flat and boring. 

5. Next Sunday (December 21st) marks the first day of winter (or the opposite if you're living down under). What's one thing you love about this new season? 

I love the stillness that winter brings. The beautiful  white snow and deep blue sky on a sunny day. I love that I can take woods walks in the quiet, hushed surroundings and  breathe deeply the crisp mountain air, hint of woodsmoke sometimes and the scent of pine and balsam. I love the candles in my family and living rooms once darkness settles down. I love the slower pace. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!!

Week Before Christmas Menu

 

Winter season is almost here! Just 7 evenings from tonight, we will celebrate the Winter Solstice and our youngest daughter's birthday. Her family celebration will actually be Saturday evening as Sunday evening she is going out with a friend.  I decided, now that most of the holiday parties are winding down on our calendar (we have one more for 12/27),  that we needed to get back to some healthier eating and closer to 6:30 pm vs 7 pm. Mainly, because we tend to go to bed earlier in the winter months...at least Dave does. 

So here's my Menu Plan for the week which I will keep flexible although I can tell you, tonight's and tomorrow's menu will be as written and I might actually do Wednesday's plan for Thursday.  But at least I have an idea of what I'm cooking this week. 

• MONDAY: Thai Peanut Naan Pizzas; Orange Sesame Salad (Meatless)

• TUESDAY:  Italian Sloppy Joes on Garlic Toast; (made with fresh ground bison from the ADK bison farm)  Steamed Broccoli/Cauliflower 

• WEDNESDAY:  Lemon-Herb baked chicken with Cucumber Slaw

• THURSDAY:  Brown Rice/Quinoa Bowls with Roasted Mediterranean Mix veggies (red potatoes, zucchini, red bell pepper, onion, yellow squash) (Meatless)

• FRIDAY:  Italian Bean Soup with Garlic Toast; Chocolate Shortbread Xmas Cookies for dessert

• SATURDAY:  To Celebrate Claire's birthday: she has requested food from one of our fave vegan restaurants and my homemade Vegan Chocolate Crinkle Cookies (I'll make a double batch and freeze one for Xmas Day). I'll be ordering the Garbanzo Bruschetta (it's amazing!!) and Zucchini Fries; not sure about the rest of the family but I'm guessing Claire will order the Bar Vegan Sushi Roll and the Edamame Pot Stickers.  

I'm looking forward to having a quieter week with no evening obligations except for Saturday! The last 2 weeks have been insanely busy. 

What's on your menu for the week?? Have you done any Christmas cookie baking? We have NONE in the house as all the baking I've done the last 2 weeks has been for parties.