How to be good - Nick Hornby

Y’know when you first buy a book, you sit with a hope and glint in your eye that this one may take away a couple of hours a day for a week or so, well when I bought ‘How to be Good’ I had a quiet hope that this time Nick Hornby would be able to write something that could last me more than a couple of days – how wrong I was, its less than 48 hours since I started the book – and well, I just finished it. Now don’t get me wrong – I’m not saying I have a dislike of Nick Hornby, in fact if I was being honest I’d say that theres only 3 authors that I’d buy a book by solely because they’re involved in it ...  Read the complete review

We all want to be good citizens don’t we. You know, donating money to Children in need every year, helping old ladies out with a seat at the bus shelter, you may even spare 50p to give to someone begging in your local subway. For some people, being good is not just a lifestyle choice, it’s a job too. Look at firefighters, police officers, teachers, and of course doctors. They are good people from nine to five. Helping people is what they do. So if there so many of these good people floating about our streets, then why on earth do we have so many problems? The above question is one which is tackled in Nick Hornby’s latest offering, ‘How to be ...  Read the complete review

I have previously found Nick Hornby to be a hit and miss author. I enjoyed Fever Pitch; I thought I enjoyed High Fidelity, until I re-read it and the book's innate shallowness shone through, if shallowness can shine? I found About a Boy to be even more shallow, crammed full of metaphors and clichés that were supposed to be funny, but left me feeling that here was a book that was glib. However, all three were well written and supremely easy to read. Why then did I read How to be Good? I suppose its Booker long list nomination and some favourable reviews in newspapers that I respect, persuaded me and after all in all of Hornby's previous books, there ...  Read the complete review

Hornby's back! And readers, get this. This time he's wearing high heels and mascara - would you Adam and Eve it?! If like me you already love this mans work, you will no doubt be champing at the bit to read his latest. Well, I have no patience. I got the damn thing from my book club and was unable to delay the gratification - ripping through it, eyes aching, in three nights. (Note: I can *only* read in bed. Don't ask why.) So, what are we expecting here? Well, if you've read his other stuff, you'd be forgiven for thinking this may be another journey into the psyche of the middle class North London lad/bloke/man - with ...  Read the complete review

This is a delightful little book however it must be said that it will not be to everyone’s tastes. This is the second book by Nick Hornby that I have read, the first as Fever Pitch which was based upon his own, quite understandable, obsession with all things Arsenal and how that obsession impacts upon basic human relationships. In How to be Good he is once again on the subject of relationships however this time the story is told from the female point of view. I always imagine it must be a bit harder for a writer when they write from the perspective of the opposite gender however in this book Hornby makes a pretty good job of it, having said that as I’m male ...  Read the complete review