Rambling and light. The odd humorous or striking reference, but not worth compiling these offcuts into a book. Breezed through a few chapters, but I won’t be reading on. Even resorting to the index to find the references to books or writers I cared about didn’t make it sing for me. ( )

a lot of great inspiration as to what I should read. some of the best books I've read this year were picked up as a result of these articles.
highly recommended to dip in and out of for reading suggestions. ( )

This is a collection of articles from the The Believer magazine that Hornby writes most months. In every article he starts with two lists: books he has bought, and books he has read. These lists rarely correspond...

He is an eclectic reader, and his lists make for fascinating reading in themselves. He some months says that he will never read fiction again, and the next month is reading Skallig as he discovers what YA fiction has to offer. He has a soft spot for comprehensive historical tomes, and quirky non fiction. he works his way through some of the classics, and extolls the virtues of Claire Tomlinson, a literary biographer.

The best thing about this book though is his attitude to reading. He is a great lover of all things book, he has completely disregard for celebrity books that inhabit the best seller lists, and goes on personal recommendations and what takes his fancy as he looks in a book shop.

Great book and a fascinating take on books from the perspective of the reader. ( )

Of course, filmmaking has an enormous advantage when it comes to insider accounts, because every movie could have taken a different path, had crucial elements not fallen into place at crucial times. Robert Redford wanted to star in The Graduate; the writers of Bonnie and Clyde were desperate for Truffaut to direct their script, and Warren Beatty, one of the producers, saw Bob Dylan and Shirley MacLaine as the leads. (If only literature could be this interesting. You know, 'John Updike was scheduled to write Catch22 until right at the last moment. He pulled out when he was unexpectedly offered the first of the Rabbit books, after Saul Bellow's agent couldn't get the deal he wanted for his client. . .' As usual, books get stiffed with all the dull stories: 'He thought up the idea. Then he wrote it. Then it got published.' Who wants to read about that?)

In June I read and enjoyed The Complete Polysyllabic Spree, and this month I borrowed the follow-up book from the library, which contains the author's Stuff I've Been reading columns from 2006 to 2011, along with one Stuff I've Been Watching Column.

I haven't read many of the books Nick Hornby mentions in his columns, but his columns are always amusing, and there is an overlap in our tastes when it comes to Muriel Spark. One of the reasons we both like her is that her wondefrul books are so short, often under 200 pages long.

I happened to pick this book up at just the right time. Brooklyn is now out at the cinema and doing very well, and this book contains Nick Hornby's thoughts on reading Colm Toibin's book twice in six months, once when he had just been asked to adapt it for the cinema, and the second time while he was writing the screenplay. ( )

A series of engaging essays on reading from Nick Hornby's columns in the Believer magazine. Nick Hornby has a wonderful writing style that makes you feel like you are reading the in-jokes of an intimate friend. ( )