Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Books 49 & 50 of 26 -- Housekeeping vs The Dirt by Nick Hornby and Last Man Standing by David Baldacci

In a follow up to his book of essays entitled The Polysyllabic Spree, Nick Hornby published another set of essays in Housekeeping vs. The Dirt. These essays all appeared in a publication entitled The Believer.

Each month, Nick Hornby writes about the books that he purchased and the books that he read. He makes distinctions between "important" books and mass media books. One of the comments that I like is that he doesn't want to see a difference between the two because ultimately, it is about entertaining the reader... whatever the reader wants to read.



One of the hard things about reading a book of essays such as these is that they are often self serving. They are written in a way that makes it hard to follow the excitement of the author's enjoyment of a book -- especially if you haven't read what he has read.

On the flip side, the self serving part is entirely appropriate. Hornby loves what he reads... and the book is a celebration of the act of reading... no matter what he reads.

This book isn't for everybody... but it is an interesting read.

Book 50 was Last Man Standing by David Baldacci. I have very little to say about this book except that it seemed to drag and I was never too excited to pick it up. I am going to step away from this author for a bit and read some other books I recently picked up.



Peace be with all of you.

2 comments:

steakbellie said...

do you read a book a day or are these pamphletes you are reviewing????

I am afraid of you

Smelmooo said...

I read a lot in spurts... for example.. the San Fran trip saw me reading three books...

I am already done with #52 and I will get to it at some point.

I need a nap thinking about this.