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Stuff I've Been Reading #4

by Nick Hornby, Silvia Piraccini (Translator)

"Il tempo trascorso con un libro non è mai del tutto sprecato, nemmeno se l'esperienza non è stata felice: qualcosa da imparare c'è sempre." Fedele a questa affermazione alla base della sua "filosofia di lettura", Nick Hornby ci accompagna in un viaggio tra i suoi variegati acquisti libreschi, cogliendo l'occasione per parlarci non solo di libri, ma anche e soprattutto di amore, di figli, di sesso, di calcio, di musica... in una parola, di vita. Che si tratti di un poderoso saggio di oltre seicento pagine su sei anni di storia della Gran Bretagna, imprevedibilmente avvincente, o di un classico come Dickens (letto però su un e-reader per provare il brivido del contrasto...) oppure ancora di una serie di libri per ragazzi letti insieme ai suoi figli, i consigli e i commenti di Hornby sono sempre dettagliatissimi, fuori dagli schemi e molto divertenti. Piacevoli come e più dei romanzi di cui scrive. Certo, ci sono anche dei momenti di interruzione dovuti a cause di forza maggiore, per esempio i Mondiali di calcio. Capita allora che, sotto una montagna di cartelloni dei risultati e ricevute di scommesse, si ritrovino sparsi un po' dovunque avanzi di romanzi sbocconcellati, ma nulla che non si possa recuperare dopo il fischio finale e a televisore spento. Perché bisogna ricordare che "quello che mette la palla in rete, la persona che conta davvero, è il lettore. È lui a calciare, è lui a segnare".

Genres: Nonfiction, Essays, Books About Books, Humor, British Literature, Criticism, Literary Criticism

168 pages, Paperback

First published August 7, 2012

About the author

Nicholas Peter John Hornby is an English writer and lyricist. He is best known for his memoir Fever Pitch (1992) and novels High Fidelity and About a Boy, all of which were adapted into feature films. Hornby's work frequently touches upon music, sport, and the aimless and obsessive natures of his protagonists. His books have sold more than 5 million copies worldwide as of 2018. In a 2004 poll for the BBC, Hornby was named the 29th most influential person in British culture. He has received two Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay nominations for An Education (2009), and Brooklyn (2015).

Reviews

[Richard Derus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hornby's mix of personal life, professional writing career, and lifelong reader-of-stories is perfect for a grazing read, pieces of just the right length to amuse without burdening the pleasure-seeking reader with interesting but useless information.

This review can now be found in its entirety at Shelf Inflicted!

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first I was going to give this fourth collection of Nick Hornby's columns from The Believer four stars. I enjoyed it and found myself even chuckling out loud a few times in public will reading it. But as I thought about the book, I realized that I didn't enjoy it as much as the two previous collections I'd read, or maybe I enjoyed it more (I'm not really sure if there was out loud chucking done when I read the others, it's been a while), but the two previous collections inspired me to want to read some of the books he had reviews. That didn't really happen here. He made some of the books sound very interesting, and like something I would either enjoy reading or should read (he reads an awful lot of non-fiction in this collection, and they are generally the kind of books you feel like you should read, the smartish books that make you a good topical person, the kind of books he refers to as the ones businessmen read who only read books where they can learn something and never for such a frivolous reason like enjoyment or artistic merit (what do serious minded people like these watch on TV? Just wondering. Probably endless shows about WW2 on the History Channel)). Or maybe I'm just not in the 'I'm looking to be inspired to read anymore goddamn books right now, I have two three foot high piles of books sitting near my bed that are on my "really want to read soon" list, nevermind all the other books that I've forgotten about and would probably be on that pile too if I happened to see them in my room and if adding anymore books to those piles wouldn't result in an inevitably catastrophic collapse of both piles'-mindset.

Nick Hornby's columns are frequently quite funny and always down to earth. They are the sort of book reviews that some people hate here on goodreads (and are quick to let the reviewer know their feelings), he talks about himself as much if not more than he talks about the books. And he comes across as a regular guy who enjoys to read, but who also has a life, a family and would prefer at times to watch sports than read. He's also not trying to impress anyone with what he reads, quite a few of the books fall into the literary fiction side but he's quite clear that he likes to read to enjoy the book and not just because it is something you should read to look smart.

If you're like me and generally shun reading magazines this is a good collection to read some good stuff that you've been missing. If you regularly read The Believer maybe you want to have all the columns in a handy to access volume, but there is no new material you wouldn't have already come across.

[Sam Quixote · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was surprised to hear Nick Hornby had another book of "Stuff I've Been Reading" columns as he said the previous one, "Shakespeare Wrote for Money", would be the last of them (not a bad decision as I felt it was tired and unenthusiastic). More surprising was that when I decided to buy it, I really enjoyed reading it. It's like running into an old friend after a few years apart and it turns out you both have a lot to talk about - or in this case, one person has a lot to say and the other wants to read it.

After a nearly 1 and a half year break, the book picks up the first column in May 2010 to the last in December 2011. Hornby's humour is as sharp and effervescent as ever but more importantly his enthusiasm for reading and the books he's read is infectious. I think what made me like the book more was that this time around he picked books that weren't necessarily well known in the mainstream and consequently I wound up picking up some excellent titles from the columns, one of which I'm two thirds of the way through and enjoying the heck out of - "The Driver's Seat" by Muriel Spark.

Recommendations like "Book of Days" by Emily Fox Gordon, "Whoops!" by John Lanchester, and "Charles Dickens" by Claire Tomalin, are all books I wouldn't have heard of without him (maybe not the Tomalin) nor would I have felt the urgent need to read them. It's also enjoyable to read Hornby’s reviews of books I've already read. Books like "The Anthologist" by Nicholson Baker, "The Psychopath Test" by Jon Ronson, and "Huckleberry Finn" are all reviewed well (except "Finn" which is just one word - "meh". The Believer, which publishes these columns, doesn't believe in negative reviews so Hornby has to keep the pages bile-free).

One of my favourite things to do after reading a book I liked/disliked is to go online and read what others felt about it. Sometimes it's cathartic if I hated it and sometimes I learn something about it I missed when reading it; but reading others' reviews is always enjoyable and when it's someone famous for their writing doing it, so much the better.

Hornby's ingenious format of putting two lists at the start of the column "Books I've Bought" and "Books I've Read" is still fascinating to look at from the perspective of someone who loves books as much as Hornby and buys far more than he reads.

Well, I'm glad he's back doing it. This is a fantastic read which I flew through in two sittings writing down titles to pick up and laughing at Hornby's assessments of some books as well as digs at his publishers, and I really had a great time with this book. For bibliophiles everywhere, this is a must-have.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I effing love these columns of Hornby's, both because they are laugh-out loud funny and because they direct me to buy books I might not have picked up otherwise. (Thanks to this newest collection I've already picked up the Montaigne bio How to Live, as well as Michael Ondaatje's book-length interview with the great Walter Murch, The Conversations, the latter of which I may actually already own, but unearthing it from the box buried at the back of the closet would be such hardship that shelling out cash for a new paperback seemed the less onerous way to read it. My wife, the super-tolerant Beth, loves me enough not to look too squintily at my reasoning here.) But he's also inspired me to move to the foreground things I've already picked up and intended to read before now—a few Dickens novels, the whole of Marilynne Robinson, more that languishes on the shelf.

The structure of the pieces—a list of books bought versus a list of books read, and then a few thousand words about the books read—is so winning that I almost feel compelled to do the same myself, perhaps in a blog form. But then I realize that the imbalance of the list, especially in a month like July that I spent slogging through Murakami's endless (but fun) 1Q84 and Gaddis's endless (and not so much fun) J R would make for a very grim picture of my reading habits. It's true, sometimes: I can't handle the truth.

My only real complaint about these collections is that they don't come out more frequently. I suppose I could always read The Believer and get my Hornby fix that way, but ... No, that wouldn't work at all. Best to just down these columns all in one delirious go.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the other books in this series slower, usually one column a night, in order to make the books last longer. This one I read straight through, not for any particular reason, just because I wanted to.

I always appreciate Hornby's humor and sincerity, and I always come away with at least one recommendation that I want to read right away. This time I think I read more of the same books that he had than ever before, and it was interesting to compare our reactions.

[Ammar · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first nonfiction I read by Nick Hornby. This is a collection of his column about books and his reading and reviews of them that was published in the Believer.

He describes the books that he bought and read during 2011.

It's simple and anyone who loves books would enjoy the wit and sometimes the insight that Hornby provide.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always said that I prefer Hornby's non-fiction to his fiction. He himself has the self-awareness, maturity and wry self-criticism that his characters always lack. Reading the collection of his essays written for the Believer Literary magazine about the books that he bought and read each month (where there was often little overlap between the books that were bought and read) gives one the distinct pleasure of inhabiting his world. His messy home with non-perfect children; his interests in everything from North Korea to the entertainment world; the gentle and humanizing mockery he uses to defuse what could be the self-importance of the task of writing book reviews for a literary magazine that, as its philosophy, refuses to print negative reviews; the genuine enjoyment he gets out of his reading life. You don't always understand and agree with this choices, nor did I always agree with his impressions, but I always enjoyed the way Hornby interacted with the books, the way what he was reading was an offshoot of his life or how when one of the books integrated itself in the choices he made. In my reviews and in other's reviews, I'm often less interested in the summary of the book itself - I can get that off the back of the book or on amazon - instead, I'm more interested in what, in me, recognized or didn't recognized something in the characters or story; in the reaction that the book created in me. Hornby seems to have the same reaction to literature. It is true that sometimes you could see his fatigue with the project and the articles were more synopsis over which he tried to put a theme. All in all, these were the literary equivalent of a warm blanket, a couch, a cup of tea (or wine or scotch) and a comforting night in.

[Reviewers Note: I am using the same review for all four books because there is nothing to distinguish the volumes other than their dates and the number of review which the editors decided to include. I will say that the first and last were my favorites if only because I found more universal truth nuggets and those copies had more underlines and he read more books that I had also read.]

[Kaethe · Rating 5 out of 5]

What does it say about me that I've already read this, and didn't realize it?

Nick Hornby's memoirs of reading as published in the Believer each month are my favorite writing about reading. I read the new collections as they're released and come back to them, either because my memory is so bad I forgot I already read them, or because they are awesome: take your pick.

***

10/11/12

My reading taste doesn't overlap all that much with Hornby. Nonetheless, I love his writing, especially his writing about being a reader. These four books of Believer columns are one of the highlights of my reading life. I've no idea what it is like to be flown into LA to attend the Oscars as a nominee, and can't really imagine it. But I do know what it is like, sitting on the sofa between two children, desperately trying to finish the last 25 pages of a good novel when someone else wants you to look at what's on the TV, and the noise is escaping from someone else's headphones. That I know very well.

It doesn't matter what he reads, it matters that he loves reading. Pretty much the same attitude I take toward my friends and folks I follow at GR [and now, here at BL].

Library copy.

[Maurizio Manco · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Io, quando all'improvviso mi lascio spaventare dalla mia ignoranza, prima provo un desiderio impellente di leggere nonfiction e poi, di solito molto presto, capisco che non c'è nonfiction che tenga: è tutta inadeguata, limitata. Se sapessi di dover morire fra una settimana, avrei decisamente voglia di leggere tutto quel che è stato scritto sull'aldilà; tuttavia, in mancanza di saggi autorevoli sul tema (niente consigli, per favore), probabilmente preferirei leggere la grande narrativa, qualcosa che punti molto in alto e magari centri il bersaglio, piuttosto che la storia del casato dei Borbone." (p. 147)

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much fun to read. Nick Hornby is one of my absolute favorite authors. He just has a voice I find both eminently readable and highly intelligent, which is not usually the case. These columns succeed because Hornby makes me interested in books that I would never read (the Kynaston histories) or reminded me of books I already meant to read, but then forget about (the Montaigne biography and the Batuman).

I read this to give myself a break from a book that I was increasingly not enjoying. I found myself behaving like a crazy person and mentally ranting about this mystery author's serious deficits in the whole writing department. Hornby is my panacea for the crazies (some of Hornby, I'm not a sycophant). I mention this because it really made me appreciate Hornby's writing. When I think of Hornby, of course I think of his voice, but I also think each column is structured and organized well. Each column feels spontaneous in its voice, but planned in its structure. Hornby is very competent in his organization. The use of transitions is textbook. A little too textbook sometimes, but sheer competency was exactly what I was craving.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nick Hornby writes a column on and off, 'Stuff I've Been Reading", for The Believer magazine, and this is another book in a series collecting those columns.
Each month the column starts with the list of books bought the past month, and the list of books read.
They don't often overlap. And the former list is invariably longer than the latter. So already I know I like this guy. He too has problems controlling his book buying. (I wonder what the bibliophile equivalent of 'my eyes are bigger than my belly' is...)
And then he just chats. About the books he read, maybe why he chose that particular one, possibly telling us how it fit into his life at that moment, what he liked about it, maybe about how it inspired him for something, or not. This is what makes the columns interesting -- he is writing about that interface between him and the reading of the book.
He's funny, affable, intelligent, well read, and not pretentious.
Of course, the drawback or side effect of reading such a book is that now my own TBR list has needlessly but predictably grown yet longer.
Like I needed that.

[Tamsin Barlow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nick Hornby I kiss your shiny bald head in gratitude for making me so happy as I read this book. xxxxx

[Lavinia · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's time you guys read Hornby's nonfiction. No kidding.

[Lesley Potts · Rating 5 out of 5]

After recently watching the new Nick Hornby movie, “Juliet, Naked” I checked when I had read the novel. In doing so I discovered a few more of his books I hadn’t read and ended up with this little gem, only because it was available as a Kindle read from my local library. The title refers to a book he read and reviewed for an arty journal I had never heard of. Hornby wrote (still may for all I know) a column in which he listed the books he had bought that month and the books he had read, or partly read that month, and then wrote about each one. Wrote entertainingly, delightfully and at times hilariously. It didn’t matter that I’d probably never even pick the book up, let alone read it. I had read a few of his choices as it turns out. And I just picked up a copy of “American Rust” from my local library, based solely on his review.

What really interested me was his refection on reading itself. I read quite a lot, and always have done. As a child, I finished “Heidi” one night by the light of the street lamp outside my bedroom window. I’ve always had, and used a library card. I love reading. Before Goodreads came along, I kept lists of books I wanted to read in handmade books ( yes, I know how to make books, too). So I found it very interesting finding out about Hornby’s reading habits. He buys a lot of books and never reads them. He starts books and sometimes reads them furiously and at other times pecks at them until they’re finished. He sometimes plows through books he’s not especially enjoying. And he admits to having glaring gaps in his literary history and to having biases about some classics. He also ties reading in with his love of music. I can relate to all of this.

I love Goodreads for a variety of reasons: I can keep track of what I want to read, I can keep track of what I’ve read and I can get suggestions for books I might want to read. I love reading the reviews, and writing them, too. It’s a kind of journal thing for me, I think. So this book was like a glorious Goodreads session. The title, by the way, refers to a book about marriage. Oh, and he admits to sometimes reading books that aren’t too lengthy, just so he has a book or two finished and he can review it. Damn the Goodreads Reading Challenge! Except sometimes I’ve been tripped up by the slim volume being so special that I’ve had to read it slowly to savor each word.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Weirdly, maybe my favorite Nick Hornby? I love how, unchained by plot or concept, we just get distilled wit, insight, and jokes. I want to read all of these. I also want to steal this idea and write monthly missives about what books Ive bought and what books Ive read.

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hornby returns to his collection of books, writing about his adventures in reading. This time around, however, there is a faint note of despondency, as he seems to be forever writing these pages instead of novels, and marking note of his more successful brother -in-law Robert Harris. To be fair, his period of writing covers his own Oscar-nominated screenplay for An Education, and the release of his latest novel, Juliet, Naked. His research into artistic creativity shows up in a few of his monthly choices, perhaps most tellingly as he tackles the literary output of fiction's reigning champion, Charles Dickens.

He takes a few swipes at the type of readers the Believer magazine attracts, pointing out how they will never be on the same playing field as the politicians examined in Heileman & Halperin's Game Change, nor will they face the mundane challenges of monogamous marriage, as can be found in reflections upon Perel's Mating in Captivity, whence the title of his current collection originates: a North American guy and his Japanese gal find it easier to communicate through bathing and cooking as opposed to speaking a shared language. Sounds awfully familiar to my situation, except English is frequently spoken. However, I did end up reading the last half of this book in the bath, so perhaps there is some truth to the bathing for communication.

Another chief interest in this book is Hornby's ideas on e-books, Especially as the period covered also runs concurrently with my educational technology degree. Initial research shows that e-text might have been a bonus for schooling, however, by the end of my two year degree, it turns out that paper beats computers hands-down. The tables will eventually turn some day when tablets are the ubiquitous learning tools. Raises the question whether Hornby will be a writing a Polysyllabic blog instead of writing monthly issues of believer. Who'd pay for that when it's just another bookish blog? He gives a fine example of why we continue to read literature near the beginning of this book, commenting on Haynes' Who Is It That Can Tell Me Who I Am?, how the big names in literature "have all created grooves that our narratives frequently wobble into, helpfully, illuminatingly" (p. 34) so I will remain hooked to his books, blogs or any other form Hornby's writing takes.

[Anmiryam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nick Hornby's collections of Believer columns should come with warning labels: 'Reading this book will severely damage your budget and transform your house into an uninhabitable maze of teetering stacks of books waiting to be read.' The hazards are only slightly mitigated by opting to do your reading on an ereading device. The monetary sink hole is about the same, many of the books he promotes are only available in paper form, and you may download so many that you will consume all available storage space on your device, thereby requiring that you spend even more on a newer, faster and more capacious replacement. I dare you to not want to read 'Austerity Britain', or 'Red Plenty' after Hornby gets through with you.

I am thankful that I am only getting to these compilations long enough after initial publication that I have already read some of the books he extols or at the very least had them on my crowded shelves waiting patiently to be read. It also means I can find good used copies (sorry, I know authors want to sell new ones, but sometimes the difference between a $1 copy and a $15 copy feels like a lot) or get them easily from the local library an institution which probably regrets allowing me to check out an infinite number of books at one time.

Sadly these time lag benefits are about to vanish. I've ordered a subscription to 'The Believer'.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hornby has to be one of my favorite authors. And while I think article compilations-turned-books are a total cop-out, I still enjoyed it. (I think I just feel bad for the people that actually spend money on stuff like this. Not me, library all the way!) If only because I had not read this stuff before. And I am a nerd, I like reading book reviews sometimes, even though I know a lot of people don't. That is just the time in my life I am in at the moment. This book is a collection of articles that Hornby wrote for a mainly highbrow magazine, which is why not only had I not read them before, I had never heard of it either. Yay me! Every article, Hornby listed the books he bought that month and then the books he actually read. I think I can relate a lot to this. And I have to say, maybe like 40% I have actually read!! YAY ME! That was my favorite part of the book, when Hornby would write about books I have actually read. I could think back and see what I took away from the book, which would almost always be different then what I took away. I love stuff like that. Otherwise, a very easy read. Library only.

[GloriaGloom · Rating 1 out of 5]

La finzione messa in atto da Hornby col suo status parallelo di recensore pop, ovvero quel far credere di essere un comune lettore - emotivo, distratto, istintivo, autoreferenziale - alle prese con letture incastrate in mezzo alla quotidianità più ovvia - partite di calcio, questioni familiari, aneddoti spiritosi - alla lunga, alla terza raccolta, stanca e fa un po' girar le palle. Quel sottinteso "lo vedi, io scrittore di successo, benestante, progressista ecc... son come te, vivo come te e leggo come te" suona come una logora presa per i fondelli ( a meno che non siate persone di successo, benestanti, progressiste ecc...). Quella tradizione della comunicazione populista che parte dall'alto delle conversazioni al caminetto di Roosvelt fino ad arrivare al molto basso del linguaggio fasciopop di Beppe Grillo: avere potere e far finta di non averlo. Magari il simpatico Hornby è anche in buona fede, ma, per usare un francesismo, mi han rotto il c....

[BookBully · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hooray for Nick Hornby's return to this series. In his last outing ("Shakespeare Wrote for Money") he bid farewell to his fans but fortunately he's baaack! In this hilarious listing of books bought and read, similarly afflicted readers will nod their heads as they read about Hornby's fevered purchases and feeble attempts to read everything. His pithy yet meaty notes on the books he does manage to finish are worth twice the price of the book itself. Keep pen and paper handy as you will be jotting down many, many titles and authors.

If you're someone whose worst nightmare is missing an edition of the NYTBR or Publishers Weekly, this is the book for you. And if you're not familiar with this wonderful, laugh-out-loud series, get thee to a bookstore to nab the first of the four, "The Polysyllabic Spree." You can thank me later.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh Nick Hornby, you've done it again! I was positively giddy when I read that he was back to doing his Believer column, so I snatched up More Baths, Less Talking as soon as it was available. While nothing will ever quite replace my love for the original (The Polysyllabic Spree), I still read this almost in one sitting, added five books to my "to read" list because of it, and dog-eared pages with lovely sections like the following: "Surely we all occasionally buy books because of a daydream we're having - a little fantasy about the people we might turn into one day, when our lives our quieter, more introspective, and when all of the urgent reading, whatever that might be, has been done." A worthy edition to his growing list of Believer books.

[Simona · Rating 3 out of 5]

Questo libro prende spunto, nasce come conseguenza di una rubrica che Hornby scrive sul Believer, in cui collabora dal 2003, raccontando e parlando dei libri che ha comprato e letto il mese scorso.
E' un compendio dei lbri che ha amato e letto in un periodo che va dal maggio 2010 ad ottobre - novembre 2011. In questa rubrica parla di libri, di calcio, di amore, di sesso, insomma di vita declinata in tutti gli aspetti e ritratta nei libri. Si parte da Dickens, il suo scrittore preferito fino ad arrivare a Muriel Spark, Philippe Meyer, Haynes.
Con il solito sarcasmo e la solita ironia che lo contradiddistingue, ci accompagna nel suo mondo di carta offrendoci una guida per i libri da leggere.

[Featherbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hornby's book discussions are are the best. I followed him for years in The Believer and I was delighted to find this newer one. I have all his books and have never been without a To Read list because of him (and a few others). Each essay starts with two lists: Books Bought and Books Read. The two don't necessarily overlap but his discussions of what he did read are always witty and deliciously subjective.

[Sonya]

I don't think I'll give this delightful, small, collection of columns about reading published in Believer a rating. Nick Hornby wrote a column about books he was reading and his narrative voice is funny and properly reassuring. I'll be reading the full volume of this at some point. Carry on, keep reading through all our troubles, is my takeaway.

[Julie Bestry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This makes the third of four of Nick Hornby's collected "Stuff I've Been Reading" columns for The Believer Magazine that I've read. I loved The Polysyllabic Spree and Housekeeping vs. the Dirt, which I own in paperback, but couldn't quite bring myself to splurge on the third edition, Shakespeare Wrote for Money the last collection before Hornby ceased writing the column. (I kept thinking I'd get around to it.) I wasn't even aware that he'd returned to his column in The Believer, let alone that there was another collection, and then there it was on Hoopla, free, digital, and waiting for me. In times like these, it was a lovely surprise.

If you don't know Hornby's column, the concept is simple. At the start of each month, there's a list of the books he bought and another for other for the books he read; there's often some crossover, but not always, and it's fun to read along and see that a book he bought early in the collection finally gets read, months later. The column then talks about why he bought what he bought (at least for a bit) and what he has to say about what he read. There's a twinge of personal anecdotes, but mostly, the book is Hornby, a great reader and a great writer, telling us (ostensibly, other great readers) what he thinks about the books he's read.

I love to read about what other people are reading, but often, columns and books about such stuff, plus the reviews, can be dry. When celebrities write, it can be self-congratulatory or smug. But Hornby's just this great writer who, although he's much better at writing about men than women (like so, so, so many male writers), is nonetheless able to make almost anything he writes about: surveys of Brits in the 1940s, Lucille Ball, global economics, Charles Dickens -- you name it -- fascinating for the duration of his little schpiel. I haven't read all of Hornby's fiction, and of what I've read, some books I've loved and some have left me cold. (And one collection of short stories he shepherded ruined a vacation when it was all I managed to bring along. But it's been more than a decade, so maybe I should forgive him that trespass.) The point is, if you like Hornby's chummy style of writing, where he gives you an ice cream taste of why he likes a book (or doesn't) in order to help you decide if you'd like to read it, then these columns are for you.

As far as I can tell, Hornby stopped writing for The Believer magazine at the start of 2015, but I'm happy to note that those columns from January 2012 onward (taking up where this book leave off) are up on the magazine's website.

[ambyr · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a confession to make: I read this book because I was short, and when you're trying to make progress on an enormous pile of to-read books, the satisfaction of getting to check a bunch of short things off the list exceeds the sense of accomplishment of reading one giant tome. I feel comfortable making this confession because Hornby himself talks about how, once he became a book reviewer, he ceased to read anything over 500 pages, because he didn't want readers of his column to feel cheated if he'd only read one book for the month. We understand each other, Hornby and I.

For the same reason, I will not be reading any more of Hornby's Stuff I've Been Reading volumes--because he is entirely too convincing at selling me on interesting-sounding books, and the last thing I need is more entries for the stack. Sorry, Hornby. You were entertaining (I especially love his grumbling reaction to linked short story collections billed as novels), but your taste in reading material is just too good for me to continue.

...but if I see a copy of Austerity Britain: 1945-51, it might, uh, slip into the middle of my to-read pile. By accident, you understand.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short collection of a year or so of his articles about his reading life in Believer magazine. Each month, he would report on what books he bought and read during that time. Sounds like a few book lovers I know. I'm going to have to spend some time adding some new books to the WL. There are plenty of quotes I could share from this gem (including his love of Dickens), but I'll end with this...

Quotes:
(Some advice on writing that did him no good in his formative years) "Write a minimum of 15 drafts" "A good book takes five years to produce" "Learn Ulysses off by heart" "Read your book out loud to your cat"... Walk into a bookshop and you will see work by writers who produce a book every 3 months, writers who don't own a TV, writers with five children, writers who produce a book every 25 years, writers who never write sober, writers who have at least one eye on the film rights, writers who never think about money, writers who, in your opinion, can't write at all. It doesn't matter. They got the work done and there they are up on the shelves. They may not stay there forever: readers, now and way off in the future, make that decision.

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, I would have never, NEVER picked this book to read had it not been a book club selection - with the topic being, a book about books. There is just something I don't enjoy learning about if I know I am never going to read / do it, so I often tune it out. Especially with so much time since the book was published, some of his comments were very dated and didn't apply. Though he referenced the North and South Korean conflict and this was very timing to hear his take on it at that time. There was a book on his "read" list that we read in our book club, so maybe I am learning more than I think, as I would never have picked up that book either (about Henrietta Lacks). Thank goodness for Nick Hornby's humor and writing style because it was entertaining and I would likely read a regular column by him about books. Just an (oldish) book about (oldish) books was an average read for me.

[Karla Aquino · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5
I might have chosen the wrong book to start with Nicky Hornby. It's was too dense in the beginning but then, in the half part to the end, I just loved it. There are some curiosity about books and authors, something that pleased me a lot and also good reading tips. While I was reading it I made a quick stop to read another of his book, called *Not a star/otherwise pandemonium* and I just found one of my favorite writers. I should have started with it. I intend to reread *More baths, less talking* and give it a proper review.

[Blair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hornby, as always, is riotously funny and it's always interesting to peer into the reading life of some of your favorite authors. This was nice to dip in and out of when you had a few minutes and/or just needed a chuckle during your day.