Nick Hornby is one of my favorite authors. I started with About a Boy, which was made into a movie with perfect casting starring Hugh Grant. "Will Lightman is a Peter Pan for the 1990s. At 36, the terminally hip North Londoner is unmarried, hyper-concerned with his coolness quotient, and blithely living off his father's novelty-song royalties. What interferes with Will's career arc, of course, is reality, in the shape of a 12-year-old boy." Then High Fidelity, also made into a great movie with perfect casting starring John Cusack and Jack Black, was an amazing read. "Rob is a pop music junkie who runs his own semi-failing record store. His girlfriend, Laura, has just left him for the guy upstairs, and Rob is both miserable and relieved. After all, could he have spent his life with someone who has a bad record collection?" I loved both these books and the movies made from them, and made me a lifelong Hornby fan. How to Be Good is also excellent and takes the piss out of people like me. I also liked A Long Way Down. "Meet Martin, JJ, Jess, and Maureen. Four people who come together on New Year';s Eve: a former TV talk show host, a musician, a teenage girl, and a mother. Three are British, one is American. They encounter one another on the roof of Toppe's House, a London destination famous as the last stop for those ready to end their lives." Slam was well-written, but about a subject that made my stomach turn, teenage pregnancy. The two exceptions have been Fever Pitch, about the Arsenal football club, and Songbook, about Hornby's love for music and certain songs. While I love listening to music, and watch football on occassion, these are not subjects I get passionate reading about. But if you are passionate about football or music, you will probably enjoy these.