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Fredrik Backman Books in Order

The official reading order for Fredrik Backman’s novels, including A Man Called Ove and the Beartown trilogy, with summaries and where to start.

Last updated: December 14, 2025

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13 books

My Friends

by Fredrik Backman

2025

Louisa, an eighteen-year-old armed with a postcard of a famous painting, embarks on a journey to find the three figures depicted in the artwork. Her quest unravels a twenty-five-year-old story of friendship and secrets between three boys on a pier, whose past choices now shape her future.

The Answer Is No

by Fredrik Backman

2024

A short story from Backman that captures a singular moment of decision. Like his other short works, it focuses on the emotional weight of a simple choice and the human connection found in unexpected places.

The Winners

by Fredrik Backman

2021

The final chapter of the *Beartown* trilogy sees the residents of Beartown and Hed grappling with a massive storm that destroys resources and reignites old feuds. As Maya returns home and a new hockey season begins, the rivalry escalates into tragedy.

Things My Son Needs to Know about the World

by Fredrik Backman

2019

A collection of humorous and honest essays written by Backman to his young son. He covers the trials of modern parenting, from assembling IKEA furniture to navigating gender roles, all while trying to explain what it means to be a good man.

Anxious People

by Fredrik Backman

2019

A failed bank robber flees into an apartment viewing, accidentally taking a group of strangers hostage. As the police try to figure out what is happening, the captives—including a wealthy banker, a bickering couple, and a rabbit-suited actor—reveal their own anxieties and form a chaotic, heartwarming bond.

Recommended by:

Debra Akins

The Deal of a Lifetime and Other Stories

by Fredrik Backman

2018

A collection that brings together Backman’s beloved novellas, including *The Deal of a Lifetime* and *And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer*. These short, fable-like stories explore themes of legacy, memory, and the bargains we make with time.

Us Against You

by Fredrik Backman

2017

Following the devastating events of *Beartown*, the community faces the liquidation of its hockey club. Tensions rise as a politician offers a shady deal to save the team, while the rivalry with the neighboring town of Hed turns violent, threatening to burn everything down.

The Deal of a Lifetime

by Fredrik Backman

2017

In this poignant novella, a successful but selfish man meets a woman in a grey sweater—Death—in a hospital corridor. Faced with the end of his life, he attempts to strike a bargain to save a five-year-old girl, reflecting on his own failures as a father along the way.

Beartown / The Scandal

by Fredrik Backman

2016

In a dying town deep in the forest, the junior hockey team’s success is the community's only hope. But when the star player is accused of a violent crime against a young girl, the town is torn apart by loyalty, denial, and the desperate need to win at any cost.

And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer

by Fredrik Backman

2015

A deeply emotional novella about an elderly man whose memory is fading due to Alzheimer's. As his mind drifts, he shares precious, fleeting moments with his grandson and his dead wife in a mental space that is slowly shrinking.

Britt-Marie Was Here

by Fredrik Backman

2014

After leaving her cheating husband, sixty-three-year-old Britt-Marie—a woman who obsessively cleans and judges messy cutlery—finds herself in the backwater town of Borg. With no other options, she takes a job running the local recreation center and becomes the unlikely coach of a hopeless children's soccer team.

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry

by Fredrik Backman

2013

Seven-year-old Elsa is an outcast whose only friend is her eccentric, seventy-seven-year-old grandmother. When her grandmother dies, she leaves behind a series of apology letters for Elsa to deliver, sending the girl on a scavenger hunt that reveals the real-world truths behind her grandmother's fairy tales.

A Man Called Ove

by Fredrik Backman

2012

Ove is a grumpy, isolated widower who strictly enforces neighborhood rules and plans to end it all to join his late wife. But his solitude is constantly interrupted by his boisterous new neighbors, who force him into a reluctant friendship that gives him a new reason to live.

Where should I start?

If you want the classic heartwarming curmudgeon: A Man Called OveBritt-Marie Was Here
If you prefer a darker, high-stakes community drama: BeartownUs Against YouThe Winners
If you want a funny, chaotic mystery: Anxious PeopleMy Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry

Author bio

Fredrik Backman wasn’t always the global literary sensation he is today. In fact, his path to becoming a bestselling author was anything but a straight line. Born and raised in Helsingborg, Sweden, he started out like many young people—unsure of exactly where he fit in. He enrolled in a comparative religion course at a university but eventually dropped out.

Instead of sitting in a classroom, he found himself working a blue-collar job that would surprisingly shape his future career. Backman took a job driving a forklift at a food warehouse. It was the kind of mind-numbing, repetitive work that leaves your brain plenty of room to wander. During those long shifts moving pallets of produce, he started thinking about stories. He began listening to the way people talked and observing the oddities of human behavior.

Eventually, he traded the forklift for a keyboard. He started writing for a local newspaper and launched a blog. It wasn’t highbrow literature; it was real, honest, and often hilarious. His posts focused on the daily frustrations of modern life. He vented about everything from bad drivers to the chaotic, messy reality of being a husband and a father. This relatable, no-nonsense voice quickly built him a loyal following of readers who felt like he was speaking directly to them.

His debut novel, A Man Called Ove, actually began on that very blog. Backman had written a few posts about a grumpy archetype he referred to as "the angry man." He realized there was more to this character than just complaints about the world. He started to wonder why the man was so angry.

That curiosity turned into a manuscript.

When A Man Called Ove was published, it became a massive phenomenon. Readers fell in love with the blend of cranky humor and profound sadness. It established Backman’s signature style: making you laugh out loud one minute and cry the next. He became known for writing about people who are hard to love at first—curmudgeons, anxious hostages, and nagging neighbors—and then revealing their hidden hearts.

In books like My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry and Britt-Marie Was Here, he continued to explore themes of unexpected friendship. He writes about ordinary people who are often lonely or misunderstood. These characters are usually forced by circumstance to connect with strangers, forming messy, beautiful communities in the process.

While his early books often focused on quirky, solitary individuals finding their place, his later work shifted in scope. The Beartown series marked a move toward darker, more complex storytelling.

Instead of focusing on just one lonely person, these books look at an entire town. He dives deep into the pressure of youth sports, the weight of loyalty, and how a community reacts when terrible things happen. It shows a serious, heavier side of his writing, yet it retains that core focus on human connection.

Despite his fame, Backman prefers to keep things simple. He isn’t interested in the celebrity lifestyle. He lives in Stockholm with his wife and two children, where he continues to write about the things that scare us, the things that make us laugh, and the people we rely on to get through the day.

Edited by

Richard Reis

Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.

Anurag Ramdasan

Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.

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All 13 Fredrik Backman Books in Order (Complete List 2026)