What I read in July 2026

This July, I read a book called "Anxious People" by Fredrik Backman – a crime mystery, psychological fiction, or humorous fiction.

So many genres, right? When I bought it, I thought it was a crime mystery. But once I finished, I felt the other two genres fit just as well.

Plot

What is intended to be a bank robbery turns into a hostage situation when the robber fails to rob the bank and enters an apartment to escape the police.

This story is about the group of hostages and the robber – in other words, idiots (sorry, I'm not calling them that – the author did). It's about how the hostage situation brings them closer, and what happens to the robber in the end.

My Thoughts

This book isn't really about the robbery or hostage situation. It's about how quickly people judge others, their quirks, and who they become in the present. It also touches on the private battles everyone in that room is fighting, and the empathy that helps them through it. And that's what stuck with me long after I finished it.

My favourite quote from the book goes:

They say that a person's personality is the sum of their experiences. But that isn't true, at least not entirely, because if our past was all that defined us, we'd never be able to put up with ourselves. We need to be allowed to convince ourselves that we're more than the mistakes we made yesterday. That we are all our next choices, too, all of our tomorrows – Fredrik Backman, Anxious People

My Ratings: 4.5/5