If you liked
Books like A Man Called Ove
by Fredrik Backman
A Man Called Ove is the grumpy-widower novel that turned Fredrik Backman into a global name: a man who has given up on life keeps getting interrupted by neighbors who need him. It is funny, then it quietly breaks you. If you want more books that pull that exact switch, here they are.
The shortlist
What to read next
Anxious Peopleby Fredrik Backman
“Anxious People by Fredrik Backman 2020 review. A failed bank robber takes a Stockholm apartment-viewing hostage. Backman's structurally most ambitious novel and the basis for the Netflix limited series.”
Beartownby Fredrik Backman
“Beartown by Fredrik Backman 2017 review. A small Swedish forest town stakes its identity on its junior hockey team. An assault by the star player splits the town. Backman's most ambitious novel and the first of the Beartown trilogy.”
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fineby Gail Honeyman
“Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman 2017 review. A thirty-year-old Glasgow office worker develops her first adult friendship. British Book Award Book of the Year 2018.”
The Maidby Nita Prose
“The Maid by Nita Prose 2022 review. A neurodivergent hotel maid finds a guest dead in his suite and becomes the primary suspect. New York Times bestseller and the basis for the Florence Pugh film.”
Lessons in Chemistryby Bonnie Garmus
“Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus 2022 review. Elizabeth Zott, a chemist pushed out of academic research in the early 1960s, becomes the unlikely host of a hit cooking show. A debut novel that became the basis for the Apple TV+ adaptation with Brie Larson.”
The Thursday Murder Clubby Richard Osman
“The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman 2020 review. Four Kent retirees who discuss cold cases weekly land an actual murder in their retirement village. Canonical contemporary British cozy mystery.”
FAQ
Common questions about A Man Called Ove read-alikes
- I want more Fredrik Backman.
- Anxious People is the closest in tone, a bungled robbery that turns into a warm group portrait. Beartown is the heavier, more serious Backman, a hockey town after a terrible night, and it is his most acclaimed work if you want something with more weight.
- What is the best non-Backman match?
- Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine. Gail Honeyman writes the same lonely, prickly narrator whose humor hides a deep wound, and it earns its tears the way Ove does. This is the book people most often recommend right beside Backman.
- I want the warmth with a mystery or a hook.
- The Maid by Nita Prose pairs a big-hearted, literal-minded narrator with a dead body, and The Thursday Murder Club sets a cozy whodunit in a retirement village. Both keep Backman's balance of gentle and genuinely moving.
- I want a charming underdog fighting the odds.
- Lessons in Chemistry follows a 1960s chemist shoved onto a TV cooking show, mixing wit, injustice and warmth. Funnier than Ove, and just as easy to hand to a friend.
The original