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Did you like your pick for this month? Would you recommend it to others? Let us know how your challenge went!

I ended up reading When Beauty Tamed the Beast which was entertaining.

I never put it together when I was reading but saw in the author's notes and other reviews that the male protagonist has a lot of House like qualities to them. Which duh, he totally does. Cranky, doctor with a leg with potential muscle atrophy and requires a cane.

The female protagonist is witty and I found her a bit like Heyer's Venetia, in that she makes fun of her situation and had a mother whose behavior influenced how she grew up. She's a bit more shrewd than Venetia though.

There are quite a few barbed taunts between them, without the heat. Not sure if I'd rec it though. There are definitely better in the HR genre, but it's a bit different than the usual fare.

I read Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, and I loved it. I would definitely recommend it to people if I was good at recommending books to people. It's one of those that I've had on my reading list for a while, and last year when the book club at work read it I for some reason decided not to and thought it wasn't my type of book... but I'm glad this challenge made me read it, because it was great.

I read Murder in Mykonos by Jeffrey Siger about a grumpy Athens detective sent to work on Mykonos who must solve the murder of a Scandinavian tourist.

It had great atmosphere and characters but the pacing was off and the reveal unclear. 3 stars.

I picked up A Man Called Ove. That sort of contemporary fiction without a clear genre isn't my usual cup of tea, but it was entertaining enough, a nice and fast read.

I suspect the appeal is that most of us nordics can still have someone in our lives who is exactly like Ove (although he's a good deal more virtuous than his irl counterparts). The fact that this sourpuss got a heartwarming redemption arc is definitely what makes this book so popular.

I did pull a cowardly move and read this as an english translation, instead of relying on my rusty swedish and going for the original.

I picked A Man Called Ove. I hated it. I learned through this challenge that I hate reading about curmudgeons. I just can't root for them. I see why it's popular but it was not for me.

Also found the situations and relationship dynamics weird and unrealistic.

I read The Hating Game and really enjoyed it. So many romances I've read in the past have fights out of nowhere, classic JUST TALK TO EACH OTHER misunderstandings that nearly break the couple up and this book was a really refreshing change of pace from that.

Unrelated: is anyone else having trouble editing their comment in the challenge tracker post?

I had basically a nervous breakdown the last two months, which is why it took me this long to finish a book that is like, 56 pages. Anyway, I listened to A Christmas Carol (Jim Dale did the audiobook) and I can see myself listening to it every Christmas.

Also I cannot picture anyone but Michael Caine as Scrooge, so thanks Muppets.