Mr. Hornby’s Reading List

Lately, instead of reading on toilet I’ve been playing games on my brand new iTouch or killing our bathroom’s brand new ant infestation, which is why it took me longer to read these last two books in Nick Hornby’s Believer series. Oh, and also because they get pretty repetitive and boring.

Obviously, all of Hornby’s columns are not meant to be read within a week. I can imagine subscribing to the Believer (which I wouldn’t because it’s way too expensive) and being excited each week for the two or three pages of book reviews by someone so clever and goodnatured. But reading them all in a row, you notice how each column in Shakespeare Wrote for Money gets progressively lazier. When he starts writing about “stuff he watched” instead of stuff he read, it becomes obvious how sick of writing for the Believer he really is. And he’s not a great film reviewer (says the girl who writes for filmthreat.com, which has apparently been down for the last three weeks).

I finished the series for the frequent funny jokes and the great book recommendations. I know very little about contemporary fiction, and it’s nice having someone who knows a lot about it sift through to find the good ones. Hornby is a lot more reliable source than Oprah. Here are some of the books I’m most excited about (see my Good Reads account for the complete list):

Death and the Penguin – Andrei Kurkov
What Good are the Arts? – John Carey
A Krestrel for a Knave – Barry Hines
Early Bird: A Memoir of Premature Retirement – Rodney Rothman
The Pumpkin Eater – Penelope Mortimer
Skellig – David Almond
Citizen Vince – Jess Walter

Oh, and it was great to read a funny bit by Sarah Vowell, since I’m reading her first book, Radio On, and it’s painfully boring. I liked being reminded of how great she is now.

Also, I wrote this on the toilet.