While it didn’t set my world on fire or anything, I think of the last few Nick Hornby books that I’ve read (Songbook, A Long Way Down, Fever Pitch), this was my favorite. It was sweet, light and enjoyable, mostly due to the very likable characters. “We wrote about whatever we wanted, and we ended up with eighteen million people watching us. That’s the thing about television comedy, isn’t it? It makes us all a part of something. That’s what I love about it.” Barbara wants […]
A frustrating read about living with an obsession.
I received a free copy of this book from the Goodreads First Reads Program, but that has not affected the content of my review. I wanted to like this more than I did. I’ve read several of Nick Hornby’s novels, and as I generally enjoy reading about sports and I enjoy memoirs and humor, I figured this book would be a gimme for me. But sadly, it wasn’t. To say that Nick Hornby was obsessed with football/soccer is an extremely large understatement. And like all […]
I Loved This One, Until I Didn’t Anymore
This was going to be a four star book. It had it all made. I was reading dialogue out loud to my roommate and giggling along with the characters. These are usually the hallmarks of a book that I love. And it’s Nick Hornby. We had taken a break from each other in the last few years (the description of How to Be Good just didn’t catch my attention) and I was ready to fall in love again. And I did. Mostly. Is it possible […]
McSweeney’s #10 (McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern #10)
I saw the cover of this book at a book sale and I fell for it, hard. It’s a compilation of “genre” short stories: westerns, sci-fi, horror, crime, etc. The reason for my instant need to own? Contributing authors include: Michael Chabon (who also edited), Elmore Leonard, Neil Gaiman, Nick Hornby, Stephen King, Michael Crichton (who sadly contributed a rather lame tale), Dave Eggers, Harlan Ellison, and more. Love at first sight, I’ll tell you. It mostly lived up to my expectations as well. The majority […]
A look into the mind of a single guy
I promised myself I wouldn’t do this again, that I would not get behind in writing up my reviews. Yet somehow it’s happened again. Oh well, perhaps someday my willpower will live up to my unrealistic expectations. Although I’ve seen “High Fidelity” with John Cusack, it was awhile ago and I barely remembered it. I probably wouldn’t have picked up High Fidelity–the book (1995) by Nick Hornby except that it was the most recent choice of my book club. I had mixed feelings about this […]