Pojken som sov med snö i sin säng

Joel Gustafson makes three important New Year's Resolutions in the cemetery at midnight: (1) he will toughen up and live to be 100, (2) he will see the sea, and (3) he will see a naked lady. Then he sets out to try to make them all come to fruition. Along the way, he introduces us to all the quirky people in his life in the 50's small-town Sweden: a woman without a nose; his father who drinks to excess; his enemy Otto; his friend who runs as fast as the wind, Greyhound; and the beautiful and desirable cashier, Sonja, at the grocery.

My husband and I listened to this audiobook during the six hours of driving we took on a trip last weekend, and the story held us both spellbound. We loved Joel, a boy just moving out of childhood and into adulthood, who was ever hopeful that Greyhound would teach him to kiss and that the mysterious Sonja would appear before him, covered only in transparent veils.