Richard Novak is a man apart. Literally. Living in the Los Angeles hills, financially sustained in his successes as a stock market daytrader, he has shed all meaningful contact from his life, eschewing family and friends in favour of an isolationist existence. Richard's rather aimless malaise of a life is suddenly interrupted by an indeterminable pain. Initial worries of a life-threatening heart attack prove false, but the scare is sufficient enough to set in motion a journey of discovery, the intimate and often surreal details of which becoming the story's focus. In a nutshell, this includes Richard broadening his social circle, learning the joys of altruism (if ...  Read the complete review

I was out in my local supermarket the other week. I fancied something sweet. I stood in front of the Krispy Kreme doughnut cabinet for a while trying to figure out how many more miles I would have to walk if I bought one when I spotted 6 calorie free doughnuts in the next aisle. Not another self-help book I thought to myself when I walked into the paperback book aisle, staring at the title page showing a selection of 6 delicious looking doughnuts with the words “this book will save your life” printed all over them in large black letters. But I was mistaken, it was not a self-help book but a novel. At £3.72 it wasn’t going to break the bank so I picked it up ...  Read the complete review

don't be fooled by the donuts, its not a book about donuts, they are merely a backdrop to the main story. a story that comes across as it was written. uncomplicated yet meaningful. the story revolves around richard novak, a man for whom life has become as repetative as the sun going down and the moon coming up. that is until a health scare turns his life upside down. no longer do the small things matter, getting back in touch with his human side is what counts now. no more treadmill, no eating the perfect diet, no more being a loner. that of course is the main theme of the book. right from the start you get a feel for richard's lone, repetative existance. until of course  Read the complete review

Of course it's not going to 'save your life', it's a fictional book! But I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, and I have no idea why. There isn't much of a plot; the story doesn't ever seem to be going anywhere. Richard Novak is a rich man living in LA, who experiences a lot of physical and emotional pain. His whole character appears to be quite childish - he buys doughnuts and makes friends with the shopkeeper, he fears a lot of things, and he lives a life where everything is handed to him on a plate. I loved the way the book was written becuse life seems so easy where the characters live. I think negative reviewers are expecting too much from the story - maybe the title ...  Read the complete review

'This Book Will Save Your Life' by A.M. Homes has a balance of everything you need in a good book as far as I'm concerned, some is touching, a lot of it is very funny, and the disconnection felt I think is pretty easy to relate with for most people. This is a book about a man who appears to have everything, he is very wealthy, and has an amazing Hollywood home and extremely expensive car, from the outside he has everything you could want. However he seems to have lost touch with life outside his Hollywood home he has all this money to hire a housekeeper, personal trainer, and nutritionist, but these people become the only people in his life, and the only ones ...  Read the complete review