DITT NYA STJÄRNTECKEN – YOUR NEW ZODIAC SIGN
By Jonas Karlsson
IN JONAS KARLSSON’S short story collection Your New Zodiac Sign, we meet, among many others, a recently separated man who one day suddenly starts receiving imperative messages from the spines of books in his flat; work colleagues whose roles in the group change during a joint cottage holiday; and a man who discovers that the public emergency alarm has changed key. And then we get to read about a lost hat at Härnösand train station.
WITH HIS USUAL combination of humour and seriousness, Jonas Karlsson writes about human shortcomings. About individuals and existences at odds with themselves. If it’s not their self-image, it’s their surroundings that mess things up. Or their fixed ideas.
ABOUT THE BOOK
First published by Wahlström & Widstrand, Sweden 2026
RIGHTS SOLD
Sweden, Wahlström & Widstrand
REVIEWS
I often laugh out loud whilst reading. Those around me become curious about what I am reading. And rightly so.
– Göteborgs-Posten
[Karlsson’s] hallmark is, after all, the seemingly simple, gently humorous short story, in which the everyday gradually begins to take a twist – sometimes just a little, sometimes enough to throw the whole of reality into question. It is when he achieves this blend of realism and mild absurdism that his craftsmanship truly shines.
– Svenska Dagbladet
His cast of characters find themselves in entirely everyday situations – in a way. But there is always a twist, portrayed with absolute precision.
– Sydsvenskan
I am transformed from a convinced admirer into an ordinary reader who realises that this author knows what he is doing. He has mastered his craft.
– Göteborgs-Posten
Karlsson has an almost infallible eye for human behaviour and, above all, human failings.
– Jönköpings-Posten
And that’s when it sinks in; that’s when I begin to see a slightly harder core in Jonas Karlsson’s writing. Imagination and good humour are certainly a constant, but the fictional advocacy for the deviant, the lost, the unhappy, and those who’ve simply ended up a bit off the beaten track – he’s actually quite hard-hitting here. […] [Karlsson has] made me look at his writing with fresh eyes through these short stories. In Your New Zodiac Sign, he writes in such a way that I discover that very same quirk in myself; suddenly I noticed a shift in how I was reading. I like it.
– Sydsvenskan
Karlsson’s unique ability to create grand humour from everyday flaws and setbacks works particularly well in short story form. Combined with serious elements and relatable drama, Your New Zodiac Sign is a string of well-composed short stories, where both characters and destinies linger long in the reader’s mind. 5/5
– BTJ
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