Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for the advanced review copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

"I want you to always remember that you can become whatever you want to become, but that's nowhere near as important as knowing that you can be exactly who you are."

This book is comprised of Fredrik Backman's letters to his son about life and love. In true Backman fashion these letters are silly and sweet while also getting at some very deep and vulnerable truths about people and the world. What I loved about this book was the way that Backman's gorgeous writing style that hums throughout his novels made an appearance, but took a backseat to his voice as a parent. This writer who I have loved for so long now is a human like all the rest of us, and there is something incredibly endearing about realizing that.

These letters are raw and funny, and while a few stand out as favorites to me, each one contained something that I enjoyed. This would make a great gift for parents!

I cannot say enough about this title. I love the "voice" of Backman and it does not disappoint in this off-the-beaten path title. It was a novelty for me to read of things from a male perspective as it's not my usual genre. I enjoyed it very much and shared many snippets with my husband as I read. It was entertaining and poignant and would make a great Father's Day gift.

Fredrik Backman can do no wrong in my eyes, and this book was so fun to read. I highlighted large parts of it and laughed out loud many times. His approach to talking about early parenthood is nothing short of hilarious and heartwarming. So grateful to have read this and looking forward to sharing it with many parents in the future.

How can you not appreciate the jumbled and convoluted mind that is Fredrik Backman? His way of looking at the world through his eyes, his wife’s eyes, and that of his child, will make you laugh and reflect on your own years of parenting and nodding in agreement at all the ridiculous good intentions that you had.

Child rearing is universal and Swedish author Fredrik Backman hits childrearing squarely on the head. With his witty and touching essays, there is no subject that he does not tackle, and in doing so, answers life’s questions and possibly causes his son years of therapy.

At times you are going to laugh out loud and others you may have a tear, but it is all good. No one prepares you for this path in life, but once you can make it through the hard years, ok, all the years are hard, and can look back, you realize that the most stressful times also contained the best stories.

So, curl up, read, reflect, read again, share the best parts with your friends, then swear that you will buy this book for the next baby shower that you are invited to since dad’s need a gift too.

I am a huge Frederik Backman fan and love his fiction. This collection of essays, written to his 18 month old son, is his first nonfiction. Like his fiction, these essays are sweet. They’re cute. They bring a smile, not necessarily a belly laugh. Although the little mini-chapters, the just sayin’ ones? They’re spot on hysterical as he admits this parenthood thing isn’t nearly as easy as it looks. And no matter the point he’s making, what shines through it all is the love he has for both his wife and son.

The book is a super fast read. It’s the perfect palate cleanser in between heavy fiction. He hits the nail on the head more often that not. My favorite chapter was on how to be a man. The difference between the generations was priceless.

I can’t say I loved this book but it was an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon.

My thanks to netgalley and Atria Books for an advance copy of this book.

One of our favorite authors does it again! This collection of musings and short stories is fun, thought-provoking, and just flat out makes you smile. Backman's insight into the heart of the old and young is present in all of his novels. It is even more upfront in Things My Son Needs to Know about the World. Full disclosure, we do not even have kids, but I was still touched by his words. I can't wait to share this book with our new parent friends!

I really enjoyed this book by Fredrik Backman, but I really enjoy most books by Fredrik Backman. He just has this way of writing where the sentences are short, but filled with so much emotion. This book was both very emotional and very funny.

As a parent, I found this book hilarious but I'm not sure you would find it as funny if you were not a parent. There is a lot of total dad humor in there. His son is definitely rolling his eyes. He probably loves it deep down, but externally he is definitely rolling his eyes. There were some really funny parenting moments in this book that I can absolutely relate to.

I also found this book very emotional and his love for and the way he speaks about his wife is just so sweet! His son will love reading all that when he grows up. His description of how masculinity changes and what it means to be a man was very interesting. And equality between women and men. I actually teared up a bit in that section. How different the generations of men are. Lol, very true in my experience! The robbery story and talking about his wife. Man, the tears! And I think literally every parent can agree with his talk about how electronics and the internet have made us so scared of not doing absolutely everything perfect! There are some really great topics in here for sure!

There were definitely a few topics though that were overdone a little bit, poop and IKEA, but it didn't ruin the book for me or anything. The one part I didn't like was the stuff about playing soccer so you fit in, so life is easier, because then you won't be alienated. He tried to explain himself there and I get what he was trying to say, but it still came off as really judgy to me. I wasn't really feeling that part.

Overall a really sweet book that I think parents will find hilarious and his son will treasure for life.

I received and ARC copy of this from Atria books through Netgalley

This book came to me at the right time in my life. The author and I are more or less the same age. I also have a 10 month old daughter. So I could relate to almost everything in this book.⁣
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It's meant to be something that the author wants to write to for son, giving him life advice and also unwanted advice about how to fry things in beer. ⁣ ⁣I laughed out loud many times while reading this and I also shed a few happy tears. It's also apparent how much he loves his wife - the mother of his son , and I can think of nothing better to give to your children.⁣
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Needless to say I will be buying a physical copy for my shelf.⁣ My only complaint is that the book could have been longer.
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Also this is my first 5 star book of this year. Yay!!!

Fredrik Backman is an auto-buy author for me. I'll read just about anything he writes and though this book was a little different from his fiction, he brought to it similar wit and humanity, which made it an enjoyable, moving read.

This book was everything I was hoping it would be. I adore Fredrik Backman and especially his writing on Parenting is always gorgeous and spot on. These are his personal thoughts for his son, written when the son is a toddler. They are funny, sweet, and full of SO much love. I laughed and cried. Just perfect.

Surprisingly, I hadn't ever read anything by Swedish author Fredrik Backman, though his books like A Man Called Ove and Beartown get rave reviews. Thus, I was excited to pick up his new book release for May 2019 - a collection of essays about life written to he young son. I so wanted it to be perfect - charming, interesting and funny. But, it just wasn't. While Backman has some amusing anecdotes, overall I felt I was just forcing myself to get through the essays. I think it's sweet that he wrote this for his son, but if you plan to read it, be sure to lower your expectations quite a bit.

First I need to say that this book should not have taken me that long to read but I started it and then got sick... don't you hate being that kind of sick where you cannot read?? Your eyes just hurt. If it hadn't been for the illness, I would've read this book in one day. And I will probably read it again. And probably listen to the audio version... many, many times.

Fredrik Backman writes fantastic stories about ornery lovable crudmugeons, cranky women who people just don't understand and serious hockey competitions involving rape. I think he truly refuses to be defined by one category. But with this book, he shows us two things. One... just how much he truly loves his wife and son and two, just how funny he really is.

This book had me agreeing with him through so much of it (he says things that we've all thought) while laughing out loud at his humorous take on it all. I think whether you have kids or not, you will love his take on it all because what this book all comes down to is LOVE... and not just love for his family but for his love of Manchester United, wrestling (ie, the Undertaker) among others.

I'm beginning to think that Fredrik Backman could write the tax code and I would devour that too.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

What a sentimental and funny read. As a mother, so much was relatable and I laughed, cried, and went and hugged my kids.

Thanks to the publisher for an advanced copy!

Emotionally exhausted after reading this. Backman covers a bit of everything in this new collections of essays that cover a range of parental experiences and important life milestones.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, for this free eARC.

Fredrik Backman has quickly become one of my favorite authors. I loved Beartown and loved Us Against You, even more. Those two books will remain two of my favorites, for years to come.

Things My Son Needs to Know about the World is a collection of essays, to Backman's son. In between he also tells us the story of falling in love with his wife, and learning to live a life that revolves around the people you care and love for.

I really enjoyed each essay and what he wanted his son to take away, from each one. Backman's humor is contagious, and there were so many times I was laughing out loud, and reading some out loud to my finance. I loved how Backman conveys who he is, and doesn't shy away from the truth.

This was a quick read and I read it in just a few hours. As always, I can't recommend Backman's books enough, and this one will be another one that I suggest. This book would be perfect to gift to a new parent!

Pub date is May 7th, 2019.

This is, in part, a memoir of Backman’s own life, a reflection on love in the romantic sense, the marital sense, and the parent-child / father-son sense; a reflection on life, and all the small (and large) life lessons we need to learn along the path from infant to adulthood; and on religion in a somewhat broad and sweeping sense that allows for this being a choice one eventually makes, one way or the other. Overall, it is a life manual - love letter for and to his son, sharing his insight into these important lessons in life, love, and ultimately happiness.

Some of these life lessons are about his experiences as a father, the amount of poop involved in raising a child, others about how to survive the sleep deprivation months / years as a parent, all the how-not-to’s of fatherhood, of life in general, of love. Also, how to make something he calls the “L’Oréal Sausage” because, as he says, “I’m worth it.”

There is more practical advice, if you will, practical depending on your needs and frustrations. How to navigate life – from the mundane parts of life, like motion-sensitive bathroom lights and changing tables to IKEA, Soccer, how to beat Monkey Island 3, how to Start a Band, Love, Finding you Team, and perhaps most of all - the need to be kind whenever possible. Life Lessons for a Kinder, Happier Life.

Written with love, this was funny and touching, heartwarming, and back to funny again. Delightfully charming, witty and wise. Another lovely gift for us from Fredrik Backman, he shares his wisdom about navigating this life.



Pub Date: 07 May 2019

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Atria Books

Fredrik Backman rarely disappoints me in his fiction. It turns out he’s pretty good with non fiction too. This short book is a funny, self-deprecating and loving letter to his two year old son. It is an apology of sorts for Backman’s character flaws and for loving his son too much. It is advice on a panoply of useless and not so useless life issues and skills. The bottom line is be kind to other people, don’t be an arse, adore your mother, forgive your father for his flaws but understand how much he loves you and, if possible, avoid peeing in the ball room at Ikea. Light but lovely. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read an advance copy.

I enjoyed reading this book full of advice from a father to his young son. I thought that a lot of the stories were well written and funny, just what I'd expect from this author. The only problem I had was that it seemed to jump around on topics and didn't seem to really be organized in any particular way. However, it was still a good book.

Fredrik Backman's done it again. I love his voice and the fact that he's ok saying just how much he loves with wife and child. While not on par with his novels (but how does one compare fiction to nonfiction anyway) I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I'm sure partly because I have a 3 year old at home and can certainly relate to the spirit of what he was saying. Early on in the book I liked the little side note/take away parts after each essay a bit better then the essay themselves. But as it went on I began enjoying the essays more and more. Especially the final "What You Need to Know About When I Hold Your Hand a Little Too Tight".

Thank you the the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this wonderful book!

Now excuse me while I take my family to Sweden to befriend the Backmans!

I'm a big fan of Backman's work, but this is the least I've liked any of his books or novellas. The material is well-intentioned, often amusing and very relatable for fellow parents, but I found his writing less satisfying and enjoyable without the structure of a story to follow. At times the musings feel one-note and repetitive, and the strain to make readers laugh is sometimes painfully obvious when it comes so effortlessly in his novels. The saving grace here is the final chapter, "What You Need to Know About When I Hold Your Hand a Little Too Tight," which successfully fuses humor with Backman sharing how he survived being shot in the thigh and how the event changed the rest of his life. This passage captures the essence of what makes Backman's work so wonderful and rewarding to read; it's too bad so much of what comes before it never quite measures up.