As always, wonderful video and conversation. Your take on views made so much sense. When I made my tag video I answered from a very narrow understanding of the question. I loved how you opened up the question much more broadly and I agree with you. 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

I believe you must live in heaven. You told your summer story in such a beautiful way, it truly felt like balm for the soul. 🫶🏽

Absolutely loved your answers!! Thank you for the tag!!

It looks like you had a fun and relaxing summer. 'Move around the garden without being garroted' looks like a good laugh, but I have no idea what's going on. After watching Midsommar, I was expecting a bit more human sacrifice :) The lake is such a tranquil setting - great for reading, swimming and a bit of peace and quiet - but the feeling of being in a cabin (or tent) during a heavy downpour is hard to beat. Your bf is definitely the butterfly king, or should that be monarch, but being 'Biscuit on the forehead' champion is an accolade that's hard to surpass. The setting of your library is great and it looks so airy inside. I really liked the way you used chapters for the storytelling.

Thank you SO MUCH for the honest thoughts about views! FINALLY! Someone said it! When I do this tag I will back you up on this! LOL! You know I moan all the time about views, and then when I hear others say they don't care about views it makes me feel so "less than" for worrying about it. We all know that everyone loves views! Anyway, great video as always with lots of awesome honest thoughts. Thanks for tagging me!

I simply love your Swedish honesty. I lost my voice last week and just got it back but as soon as get a chance I'll record this tag. By the way, I have an original tag coming out and you're tagged madam!

This is why I wanted you to edit my videos while my arms were in a cast! LOL! Beautiful video!

Absolutely inspiring and brilliant goals! Your book collection is actually outstanding 👍🏻

Love this video! Views are people, too! ❤

You are so right! I feel like there is a place for everyone here. I am subscribed to all kinds of booktubers! Also, I must say I think you sound perfectly fluent in English! And thank you for the tag! 😊

This was delightful! Thank you for doing the tag. Your English is perfect. Your videos are always thoughtful, fun, and extremely well put together. I liked your sense that views are people. That was a very good way to look at it. I think I interpreted the question differently, but I love how you looked at it. 😊

How I love this community ❤ Great answers. Everyone is unique and brings something different. I wish I could read more and I can't believe when people are reading 20 plus books a month. How?! Short books and lots of audio? I enjoy your videos and thoughts. You are very creative and I'm glad I found you.

I love your perspective on views/ numbers, that’s a great way to think about it!! You’re such an optimistic and caring person and I really appreciate that ❤️ I also love the discourse with people in the comments of my videos and just knowing that people care enough to watch my videos and chat about books with me 😊 And your book club has been so fun! Not that I needed to be a part of any more since I have two in-person ones, haha, but it’s just so fun to read books with other people and talk about them!!

This was such an interesting set of questions! It sparked some great opinions that I pretty much agree with 🤔

Ooh I love how you said a view is a person! That's a great way of looking at it. I was tagged in this one too and I've started thinking about my answers. Hopefully I can film it soon. The questions are so interesting!

I was loving the video and the view through the door behind you!

Thank you so much for sharing this! You live in such a lovely part of the world!

So much rain!! I love rainy days. I love the vibe, especially if I'm able to sit and read. The sound of rain is comforting. It is so so beautiful where you are and your friends and games look so fun!! Feeling stuck with the timeline of all the things that need to be done and the order they need to be done in...so relatable! I'm glad you got to go swimming.

Fantastic place for a read and a swim. Best wishes.

This was a lot of fun to watch, the finding stuff blindfolded 😂 So relate to: and all I've done is watch booktube videos 🙈 Love the wild swimming!

Amazing vlog, this is quickly becoming my comfort channel! Love Zafon and love you xoxo

Omg Ellen ,this was so beautiful! You are really living my dream with that cabin life, and the Swedish nature is just so gorgeous, I want to visit again so bad!

Absolutely inspiring and incredible video as always! Outstanding books 👍🏻

ANOTHER WASP NEST? They really do love that spot. I love that your monthly reading vlog is a million year shorter than mine 😂 I love how you do your vlogs so much with a mix of commentary while you're showing us clips of your life! The summer rain honestly looks so cozy and fun but maybe only as a person watching the video. I don't know how I'd fair, though seeing the insect filling up the areas is so lovely to see 🥰 especially the bees! AHH I'm so glad to see snippets of your life outside the reading vlogs. Your friends look like a fun group of people! It's like me being able to join you in Sweden (I've never been to the Europe area 😅). Definitely a goal of mine to travel around Europe eventually! I was shooketh when you put your camera under water though, but make sense you have one for this adventure since you're swimming 😂The swimming clips were great! We only have beaches here and uhm... they're really not the cleanest. Your BF can most definitely be the King of Butterfly 🤣And you picking fresh berries for your morning meal seem so unique and fun? 🥹 I can barely grow anything here HAHA. No green thumb for me -- I don't think the heat helps either but... you know 😩 am really jealous of all the nature just around your close by.

This was fantastic, you are such a good story teller through your video editing. That bird ❤❤

This book is fantastic. It is maybe my favourite of the year so far! I loved Ove and just wanted to hug him. Having said that, it was such a difficult read for me. I lost my brother to suicide so the story was very triggering, but in a good way, if that is possible. It was therapeutic. I think Backman writes about this topic in such a way that is just real and straightforward and honest. I don't know, I loved this book even though I sobbed the entire time I read it. I definitely want to read more of his books!

Ah, your vlogs are amazing! Thanks so much for sharing your life with us! Love the appearance of the boyfriend! 🥰I want to do a vlog again soon, but I can't think of a thing to film. 😭

This was such a fun vlog! Perfect to drink my morning coffee to ☕ The cabin is beautiful, I'm jealous of how green it is- makes me want to go to the mountains to read. That library is unreal!

What a beautiful vlog! 💜❤ also I can 100% relate to being stuck for like half a day (or a whole day for that matter) because I need to do one thing to then do the other and so on… happens regularly 😅

This was so lovely and peaceful!! Makes me almost wish that summer wasn’t on its way out, almost 😂 Also, do you have an underwater camera or something?? So curious as to how you filmed the footage when you were swimming, haha! Enjoyed that and the beautiful scenery in general, I really need to visit Sweden 😍 Love a slow, relaxing summer, that’s how it’s mostly been for us too and it’s the best!

🌻 Wow!! That is a beautiful place you have to visit!!

I really loved your vlog. What a beautiful area you live in! Your video editing is on point too. I had to laugh at the butterfly king 😅. It is something my husband would do.

Such beautiful places!! Thank you for sharing!!

I enjoyed this ❤ Your part of Sweden looks beautiful. I really loved all the nature and seeing you have so much fun. Your library looks great, too. I got A Man Called Ove today and Clytemnestra. One to keep for September and one to start later today.

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Really interesting review of a fraught text. Thanks for the open, honest discussion.

I am with you about rules being there for a reason! I feel like some things are just common sense and riding bikes in a cemetery would really bother me too! I thought this book was so beautiful and I loved how Backman (as per usual) really shows well how every person always has much more depth and background and story to them than what we see on the surface. I love what you said about younger generations! It drives me nuts how generations tend to speak so rudely and condescendingly to the next/younger generations. There is SO much the younger generations can offer and there are so many ways that the next generation will surpass prior generations (for the better). And of course ways that the younger generation can learn from older generations too. Respect goes both ways!

I have not read Parable of the Sower, but your thoughts on the book and the religious discussion make sense. I appreciate your dialogue on religion in general and also how it pertained to that book specifically. It's been over a decade since I've read 1984 I think. I also didn't really like it. I have a vague recollection that I appreciated some of his rebellious attitude and that spoke to me as someone raised in a very controlling environment. Growing up, I remember 1984 (and Fahrenheit 451) talked about as warnings from conservatives about what "the liberals" want or what they will try to do. I always heard it in context to warnings about not letting the United States get to that place. And I remember thinking it seemed a bit extreme to think that "the liberals" were close to 1984 level or Fahrenheit 451 level. And now where I am now I find it ironic that looking back so many of those controlling groups and the extreme conservatism (religiously and politically) are closer to the extremes from the books than mainstream "liberals" I was warned about. It's just quite interesting (and scary!) to think about. Also what you said about in order to be a "true" Christian you must be a Republican in the United States is SO true. It is wild!! I also didn't think that Winston and Julia had a beautiful relationship, but then again I read it when I was still in a very conservative environment so I think I was a bit shocked by the scandalous nature of their relationship. 🤣Even if a part of me admired the rebellious aspect of their pushing back against their environment. I had no idea there was a book from Julia's perspective! That would be quite interesting.

Absolutely brilliant and inspiring book club! Outstanding video👍

Really interesting discussion, questions and answers. I read 1984 years ago and I did enjoy it. I would read it again but not yet. Some of your feelings echoed how I felt when I (tried) to read The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. I had to put it down. Books can evoke such emotions.

Once again, it was was great to hear your reaction to the book and answers to the questions. I'm glad Ove worked out better than the other 2 books and was a hit. Re: the suicide question. I meant it in terms of storytelling, but it sounded really vague hearing it out loud :) It was my only criticism of the book. It almost became a slapstick comedy, whereby Ove tries to kill himself but gets saved at the last minute by somebody needing him. The humour didn't hit, for me, and devalued the experience, which is rare for one of his books. Stellan Skarsgård is much more how I imagine Ove than Tom Hanks. That said, I thought he was somebody in his late 70s and was surprised to find out he was quite a bit younger. I've read all of Fredrik's books except Britt-Marie Was Here. I prefer his fiction to his non-fiction 'advice'. Bear Town is my favourite, and the rest of the series is very good, IMO. I also really liked Anxious People. Ove would probably rank 5th, after these, but they're all well worth reading. I haven't read many authors who make me feel, think, laugh and empathise as much as he does.

I was actually so sad that I couldn’t like Ove (and with him the book) more even after knowing what pain he felt and where his grumpiness came from. I did understand, but just didn’t feel it I think. And because of that I just couldn’t really get into the story enough even though I normally get along well with cynicism or black humor. Maybe it was the time I read it or it was just not for me. (Agree on the MC of Yellowface, she was very annoying) 😂 I sadly didn’t love Beartown either, it was an “average” read for me, nice for entertainment but didn’t make me feel a lot. But I’m in the minority here, chances are high you’ll love it as so many others do ☺️ I on the other hand really liked Anxious People and Every Morning The Way Home Gets Longer And Longer (was that the title? not entirely sure) 😅

It was really interesting to hear your thoughts and answers to the questions, Ellen. I 'enjoyed' 1984 more than you, but my overall takeaway was that I was glad I could put the book down and walk away at the end rather than have to live in this sort of depressing world as some people still have to. The creeping dread of having to believe what you're told without thinking and not being able to trust anybody got me though the first half as the world was set up. The lack of freedom of expression, fear of being reported and false hope is what scared me most. I thought Julia was a honey trap to begin with, and it definitely wasn't a beautiful relationship by today's standards, but perhaps a rare moment of trust and honesty and the chance to be yourself was what sold it. It was a bit insta love, though. I totally agree about being told anything is 'amazing' or 'mind-blowing' because it's almost impossible to live up to that expectation. I'd heard that it was bleak and eye-opening and that's pretty much how I found it. I hope next month's books have as many interesting things to discuss but they're less of a downer :)

first of all, thanks for „singing my name“ 😂❤ great song options and both new ones to me. most people go by Beethoven or The Beatles 🤣 Thanks for sharing your thoughts, I really love and appreciate how you articulate your thoughts and make me think or rethink again too! For Parable Of The Sower: I would consider myself a christian, but now more in a spiritual than a behavioral or „strictly religious“ way. But I did study theology and was working as a pastor for a few years. There I was heavily aware of the power that position holds, which can be a great thing, but also a dangerous one. People believed what I told them and sometimes shaped their lives according to that. This just came with the role, but was a scary thing too actually. And I also saw (and experienced myself) a lot of moments where this power was misused and actually hurt or discriminated people. So I was fascinated by the way this story showed how easily a charismatic person can convince a group of people to believe in something they just came up with themselves. This is so important to know and to be aware of and for showing that I loved the book. I didn’t go into the book at all with the same expectations as you (to be „lured in“), but I think that happened a little to me anyway 😅 Coming just out of this church job with one reason to leave being that this place was sooo reluctant to change, I read this book. And Lauren coming from christianity but pointing always at change and making it „her god‘s“ main trait was so fascinating to read about and at some point made me actually think a bit and I loved her for it. Before I realized what’s happening 😂 So I guess the reason I liked this book despite its flaws was mainly because I had a lot of connecting points with it ☺️ The hyperempathy: once it came up first, I just thought the term wasn’t the best and then saw it more as only shared physical pain and could accept it as part of the story while not being the main theme. So it didn’t really bother me that it wasn’t exploited further. But I can totally see you point there! And for the Sci-Fi element: I agree that this really didn’t need to be there. And I’m saying that while being in a “dystopia-phase” where I usually love this elements. But here the goal of living on another planet was really not necessary or then not talked about enough. I liked the second book too. It wasn’t what I expected, but I’m very glad I read it! I thought it brought new topics to the story. I hope you’ll share your thoughts about this too. wow, what a novel that turned out 🤣🙈