I started a number of books this month that I didn't finish. One was a really horrible collections of short stories by different authors (well, there were some redeeming stories in the mix). One of the stories almost traumatized me it was so bad and so icky. But, I'm not going to get into it because if I did, you'd want to see if the story was really that bad for yourself and once you read it and realized that, yes, it is that bad, you'd wish you had never read it. Just like me.

I also started a book by Nadine Gordimer, an author that I read a lot of in the mid-90s. I still may finish it, but it seemed like even though it was well written, much of the writing was fuzzy and muddled. Like I was reading a sketch of a book rather than the book itself. I kept having to re-read passages because it wouldn't make sense to me. I'd feel like I was skimming but when I re-read it, there wasn't more to it.

For example, this is the first paragraph in one of the chapters:

You're not there; I'm not there: to see. It's not a traffic tangle in the streets, hands going up in culpability, surrender, owing this, open to the public.

What? It's not better in context.

Anyway, a better book came along and I went with that.



About a Boy by Nick Hornby

Fabulous book. This is the best book I've read by Hornby and it's one of the best contemporary books I've read in a long time. I have seen the movie, but the movie and the book are different enough that you don't just feel like you are reading the screenplay. This book was funny and touching and seriously great.



High Fidelity by Nick Hornby

It's a three-minute single, and I'd had to take it off after about a minute and a half. I played "Holiday" by Madonna instead; I used modern stuff every now and again, at times of crisis, just like people who believe in homeopathy have to use conventional medicine sometimes, even though they disapprove of it.

Good, but not as good as About a Boy. I haven't seen the movie on this one yet, but I'd like to. This book is about a guy in his mid-30s whose girlfriend has just left him. It's funny but also a little irritating. The guy is still living the life of someone in college. He can't get his act together and he can't commit to anyone. He owns a record shop and spends his days making top 5 lists and thinking about his ex-girlfriends. At one point he meets a really nice couple and has a great time and then is shocked when their record collection sucks. He's 35 and he's just discovered that you can still relate to someone even if their musical tastes don't match yours.

Anyway, I think this book sometimes irritated me because the main character seemed so real and I wanted him to do be the good guy and sometimes he wasn't. Still, a really good read.



Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

I read this for a bookclub. It's juvenile fiction and I'd recommend it for teenage girls. Think Mean Girls but rated G. It's about a homeschooled girl who goes to public school. She's quirky and unconventional and quickly goes from being the most popular girl in school to being shunned. She's alright with it, but her boyfriend (who is telling the story) isn't. It's an interesting book about peer pressure and being true to yourself.