Fredrik Backman Books in Order

Fredrik Backman is the Swedish blogger whose debut novel about a grumpy widower and his cat was rejected by so many publishers that he wrote a blog post about giving up - and then A Man Called Ove sold twenty million copies, became films in two languages, and made him the most reliable tear-generator in translated fiction. His range is wider than the fame of Ove suggests: the Beartown trilogy is a brutal epic about a hockey town and its cover-ups, and My Friends (2025) - a long, structurally wild novel about art and youth - became his first #1 New York Times bestseller and is arguably his best book. One thing trips up every reading-order list: the Swedish and English publication years differ, so lists disagree. This page uses the English-translation years throughout (2013–present).

Where to start

A Man Called Ove (2013) - the door the whole world uses, and a fair one. Readers who want the stronger novel go to Beartown (2017); readers who want the warm-crowd pleaser go to Anxious People (2020). My Friends (2025) rewards having read anything of his first.

Does the reading order matter?

Two things to know. First, the years below are English-language publication - Ove appeared in Sweden in 2012, English 2013, and the lag explains why lists disagree by a year here and there. Second, the only true series is the Beartown trilogy: Beartown (2017), Us Against You (2018), The Winners (2022) - strictly in order, it is one continuous story. Everything else is standalone; the novellas (And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer, 2015; The Deal of a Lifetime, 2017; Sebastian and the Troll, 2017) are hour-long, giftable and fit anywhere. My Friends (2025) stands alone entirely.

Which one is the best?

Beartown (2017), the best thing he has written; A Man Called Ove (2013), the phenomenon; and My Friends (2025), the #1 bestseller and the late-career swing.

Related guides

Readers finishing this shelf usually want the map next door: Khaled Hosseini books in order, Jodi Picoult books in order, Liane Moriarty books in order. Every guide follows the same format — the shelf, the entry point, the honest answer about order.

Make it a project

Pick a session size and let the days accumulate — at the pace our reading speed test measures, most shelves above clear in a few weeks of half-hours. Every guide on the books in order shelf follows this same format, and when a book lands, its 8-question quiz is waiting on the original book quiz.