Shelf Control – 15-05-19

Shelf Control is a meme run by Lisa at Bookshelf Fantasies.  It is a weekly celebration of the unread books on our shelves.  Pick a book you own but haven’t read, write a post about it (suggestions: include what it’s about, why you want to read it, and when you got it), and link up!

For more info on what Shelf Control is all about, check out Lisa’s introductory post.

I’ve decided that I’m going to tackle my unread books in order of acquisition, starting with the books that have been sat on my shelf the longest.

• Title: Us Against You
• Author: Fredrik Backman
• Published: 2018
• Length: 448 pages
• Bought / acquired: 14 June 2018

What’s It About?

Can a broken town survive a second tragedy? The follow-up to the international bestseller Beartown.

Beartown is dying…

Tucked in a forest in the frozen north, Beartown’s residents are tough and hardworking. They don’t expect life to be easy, but they do expect it to be fair.

Which is why the sudden loss of their hockey players to the rival town of Hed hurts. Everyone needs something to cheer for in the long winter nights. Now they have nothing.

So when a new star player arrives, Coach Peter sees an opportunity to rebuild the team – to take on Hed and restore Beartown’s fortunes. But not everyone in town sees it his way.

As the big game between both towns approaches, the rivalry turns bitter and all too real. Once the stands rumbled with threats to ‘kill’ and ‘ruin’ each other, but the residents didn’t mean it. Now they do.

By the time the last goal is scored, someone in Beartown will be dead…

Us Against You is the story of two towns, two teams and what it means to believe in something bigger than yourself. It’s about how people come together – sometimes in anger, often in sorrow, but also through love. And how, when we stand together, we can bring a town back to life.

Why Do I Want to Read It?

I loved The Scandal (aka Beartown) – it was one of my favourite novels of 2017.  I have to admit that I’ve always been a little sceptical of the sequel – for me this is a novel that doesn’t really need a sequel – which is why I haven’t read it yet.  But, I loved The Scandal so much that I had to buy it, and I’ve heard from fellow bloggers that it works, so I think I just need to get stuck in! 😀