I first encountered Nick Hornby when I happened upon one of his lesser-known novels, How to Be Good. Published in 2001, I read it after a time of separation from my husband and before the birth of our second son. Although I couldn't tell you what the book is about, I vividly recall feeling that the author must have climbed inside my head and taken dictation. I scrambled for a piece of paper to copy resonating passages. Surely those scraps are somewhere in my basement in the piles and piles of paper my husband wishes I would sort and purge.
I also thoroughly enjoyed About a Boy. Hornby weaves such a tender relationship between the adolescent and the young man (who uses the boy in a twisted plot to woo women). While his books on music or sports never drew me, I eagerly joined my book club in reading A Long Way Down, several years ago. Sadly, I didn't connect with the characters, despite having experienced their struggle. (I even wrote a second review, worried my first review sounded insensitive to those suffering suicidal thoughts).
A reader cannot look for book advice from just anyone. You seek someone whose interests and thoughts parallel your own. This explains my dissatisfaction with Will Schwalbe's End of Your Life Book Club. So few titles mentioned in that book were on my radar. Although I wouldn't say Nick Hornby is a book twin (a term from Anne Bogel's I'd Rather Be Reading), someone whose reading tastes align with my own, I could enjoy many of his discussions over books I've read. At 464 pages, I admit I skimmed many paragraphs detailing books that didn't interest me, but sought Hornby's opinions on my favorite books, like Gilead, The Man Who Was Thursday, Ready Player One, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, and any and all references to Charles Dickens (my one-time favorite author, but rarely read now).
I came away with plenty of books I'd like to look into further. He mentioned a series of funny books with boy appeal (Andy Stanton's Mr. Gum books) that I intend to seek for my youngest son. After writing his one YA novel, he recommended several interesting YA authors I've never attempted: David Almond, M.T. Anderson, Phillipa Pearce, and Philip Pullman. He referenced several books about writing/creativity: Like a Fiery Elephant, Ghosting, Imagine: How Creativity Works, This is Your Brain on Music, and The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers. And he raved about Cheryl Strayed's Wild, a book my book club read, but I missed (a timing issue).
During his initial columns, it seemed Hornby was one of those atheists angry with the very entity they deny. But, over time his attitudes softened. Indeed, later book purchases indicated he was more spiritually receptive. First, he purchased 36 Arguments for the Existence of God. When he bought and read Francis Spufford's Unapologetic: Why, Despite Everything, Christianity Can Still Make Surprising Emotional Sense, he wrote: "I'm not as young as I was: I am fast approaching the age where I need the answers to questions of metaphysical speculation," and acknowledged "the increasingly pressing need to find out whether He [God] is real." His conclusion seemed fair: "The best reason to read the book is that it enables thought, specifically thought about who we are and what we're doing here and how we intend to negotiate the difficulties and tragedies that are unavoidably a part of being human.... I have not become a Christian as a result of reading this book, but I have a much greater respect for those who are. And I intend to read it again, soon; there was a lot of thought enabled--too much, maybe, for a tired man at the end of a hard year."
Reflecting on Hornby's columns, I'd have to say I would much prefer to write my blog in Hornby's monthly structure (although I seldom buy books). Still, I hope my blog achieves his dual goals: encouraging other readers, and providing a glimpse into who I am based upon the books I select and either love or disdain. And if he didn't offer enough titles to add to my TBR list, I can always seek a further resource he cited: 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. Hopefully, I have enough mentally conducive years left in me to reach that number.
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