In his second collection of articles from the Believer, Nick Hornby writes his impressions of various books he has read each month. Continuing where The Polysyllabic Spree left off, the articles are from February 2005 to June/July 2006, and include his thoughts on various books from Gilead by Marilynne Robinson to The Dirt by Motley Crue. Humorous and thoughtful by turns, this is a great addition to any avid reader's bookshelf.

These articles really suit my sense of humor, and I found myself nodding in agreement with some of his comments about some of the reading baggage we carry - about reading "good" books, for example, or that reading must be hard work. These themes are dealt with directly in the preface and come up again from time to time in the articles. I wish I could express my thoughts about that half as well as he does, but as it was I found myself reading passages aloud to my family as I read. ( )

For the first two chapters of this novel, I was afraid the book would be filled with Nick Hornby trying to be overly witty and cute. His collection of essays are culled from his column in the Believer magazine and talk about the books he reads.

The writing moves very quickly, and Hornby does tend to try too hard in places to be funny, wry, or witty. But after the first third of the book, I either became accustomed to the writing and ceased to find it jarring, or he toned things down and became a bit more sincere about what he was writing about.

While I don't think I'll be reading too many of the books Hornby talks about, he gave interesting enough tidbits about each book to keep me engaged in his writing. His own preferred reading seems to veer towards more melancholy works, thrillers, and perhaps some sort of reality based fiction genre. There are a few books he wrote about, however, that did make it onto my amazon.com wishlist.

Overall, Hornby's non-fiction collection is worth picking up and reading. It became enjoyable to read about someone reading. ( )

As usual, Hornby was an enjoyable read. He could write a trilogy on the social life of rocks, and it would be a good read. This book is a collection of his column for The Believer Magazine, which are not book reviews or literary criticism in the usual sense. They are merely a collection on his thoughts on what he is reading at the time. They do provide enough of a feel for you to decide if a particular title might interest you.

I am a huge fan of Nick Hornby's fiction. As a lover of books, his forays into literary criticism and his own obvious addiction to reading hold an enormous appeal. His descriptions of his own reading encourage me to venture into unchartered territory and justify my own compulsive need to buy books. ( )

I think I'd probably enjoy reading Nick Hornby's grocery lists. He never fails to entertain me. More delightful book reviews.