Product Description

In his monthly accounts of what he's read - along with what he may one day read - Nick Hornby brilliantly explores everything from the classic to the graphic novel, as well as poems, plays, sports books and other kinds of non-fiction. If he occasionally implores a biographer for brevity, or abandons a literary work in favour of an Arsenal match, then all is not lost. His writing, full of all the joy and surprise and despair that books bring him, reveals why we still read, even when there's football on TV, a pram in the hall or a good band playing at our local pub.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #20771 in Books
• Published on: 2007-06-28
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Synopsis
In his monthly accounts of what he's read - along with what he may one day read - Nick Hornby brilliantly explores everything from the classic to the graphic novel, as well as poems, plays, sports books and other kinds of non-fiction. If he occasionally implores a biographer for brevity, or abandons a literary work in favour of an Arsenal match, then all is not lost. His writing, full of all the joy and surprise and despair that books bring him, reveals why we still read, even when there's football on TV, a pram in the hall or a good band playing at our local pub.

About the Author
Nick Hornby is the bestselling author of High Fidelity, About a Boy, How to be Good and A Long Way Down (shortlisted for the 2005 Whitbread Novel of the Year Award), as well as the non-fiction Fever Pitch and 31 Songs. He is the recipient of the E.M. Forster Award, the W.H. Smith Award for Fiction and the Writers' Writer Award at the Orange International Writers' Festival. He lives in Highbury, North London.

Customer Reviews

A Gold Mine
I just finished reading this book and it is brilliant! Obviously having been written by Nick Hornby it would be but the idea of compiling a selection of book reviews makes a great book in itself, from his reviews it has inspired me to go out and find some of the books he has talked about but I would probably have never heard of...or if I had, i wouldn't have considered myself as the kind of person to read them!

for readers this is a great book if you are in a lull as there isn't a story or a plot to get around, it is just one man talking about the books he has read. fascinating.

Reading about reading
This book was bought for me as a birthday present shortly after I'd added it to my wish-list on Amazon. I like Nick Hornby's relaxed, chatty style, and was expecting this to do for books roughly what his "31 Songs" did for music. I wasn't disappointed. For the most part, he uses his standard playfully passionate tone when writing about his reading, which is very entertaining; however, there are times (particularly near the start of the book) where he comes across as somewhat self-conscious about his tastes. In these passages, I was reminded of his shrill denunciation in "31 Songs" of anyone who didn't like Jackson Browne's "Late For The Sky" (as much as he did), which seems to miss the point of this sort of thing.

I was reading it to see if I agreed with his opinion of books which we'd both read, and to look out for interesting recommendations. Both of these expectations were more than met in this book, in spite of the way Hornby kicks against the restrictions placed on him by the editors of the original versions of these pieces - i.e. to never directly criticise an author or a book (he works around this by simply not finishing any book that he doesn't like, without giving its title).

I found one or two mismatches between the lists of books read and those discussed in the pieces, and it was somewhat distracting to find him referring to Christmas in his March column (presumably because of the time lag associated with the columns going into print). But overall, this was an pleasant read, with some nice insights into the communion that ought to exist between writer and reader.

Highly enjoyable
I enjoyed reading this novel about all the books Hornby had read over the course of two years. The book is presented as a series of magazine articles with each article being just the right length if you are in need of short sections, such as if you read whilst travelling. I liked the fact that his bought column was always longer than his read column! Just like me!

Not only do the articles discuss his love of reading but they also discuss why we feel we have to read certain books just because they are deemed winners or classics. It rang true with me on quite a few occasions throughout my read. You find out about what he has been reading and I liked the fact that he compared the novels to others at times, helping you make an informed decision as to whether it's a one you'd like to read. I came away from his book with a few recommendations of my own.

Written for an American audience he talks about which of the books he's read haven't been published there etc and I suppose his humour may have been presented differently for this audience. Nonetheless it is both informative and entertaining. So although Hornby says he doesn't like Amazon reviewers, well actually he's a little stronger, this Amazon reviewer is saying give the book a go. It's a pleasant read.