"Danny McQueen has dreamt of being a pop star since he was 13 years old. At the age of 29 he's still dreaming. Now he faces a dilemma. His girlfriend Alison wants him to sort his life out. She's given him an ultimatum: find a record deal by the end of the year or find a new girlfriend."

I mentioned this at the York meet last night and Shaker wants to read it, so it's reserved to go to him at the next meet.

RELEASE NOTES:

Snaffled at York. I've flicked through this casually already and it looks fun. To be honest, I probably wouldn't have been interested if it wasn't by someone I'd heard of - but as it is, I am!

I'll pass on to Shaker when I (eventually) read it! Which, this time, shouldn't take too long... once I start!

I haven't read this yet - but I'm going to try to pass this onto 'shaker', if he's at the Great Northern BookCrossing Meet tomorrow (so he doesn't have to die waiting)...

Steve - could you chuck it back in my direction after reading, if possible? Ta.

Collected! er a couple of weeks ago, i am a naughty bookcrosser. I will make sure it gets back to you greenie.

passed back to me by 'shaker' at the April 2007 Leeds Bookcrossing Meet...

Well, I finally got around to reading this!

And very enjoyable it was too. Louise Wener (lead singer of the indie band Sleeper) shows she can indeed match Nick Hornby at his own game - and arguably go one up by, as a female writer, creating (by-and-large) such a convincing male first-person narrative voice!

Obviously Hornby is an influence - as is, I would suggest, the brilliant chronicler of the entertainingly down-at-heel, Martin Miller - but Wener's own rock-'n-roll experience is inevitably writ large over this story too.

The tale itself was good fun - and resonated occasionally with my own fleeting experiences of what it means to make music in a dodgy band whilst dreaming of greatness. Wener's characterisation was engaging to such an extent that I ended up really caring about what happened to the individuals in the story. For that reason, the ending packed a suprisingly emotional punch for what is otherwise generally quite a 'light' and fun book.

I guess this will probably appeal *most* to readers in their late-twenties through to their early-forties who lived through and enjoyed the UK indie-music boom of the 90s (including 'Britpop') - but it is such charming and well-written example of this type of book in general ('bloke-lit' (yuk!)), that I would recommend it to anyone really...

RELEASE NOTES:

I hope someone at the Meetup goes for this...!

Picked this up last night as it reminds me of my youth - ha ha, because I'm so old now. Sleeper were a band of my teenage years. Funny to see she's become a writer now. Funny, but you think when a band finishes, the members just somehow cease to exist.

I haven't read this book - sorry! I don't think I am ever going to be interested enough in it to read it. Ok, I am curious about what the ex Sleeper singer is up to now, but the book itself is just not grabbing me. I'll soon have had this sitting around for two years, so I think I am going to get it moving again soon.

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

Taking to the York February bookcrossing meet up.

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

left on the shelf...

retrieved a while back from the (previously bankrupt and suddenly closed-down) Lamb & Lion !

Planning to release at this evening's 'music'-themed meetup in York...

releasing as promised...

Picked this up at the York BC Meet-Up... it looks a bit Nick Hornbyish so I'll give it a go.

Well, I've read it and it was a bit Nick Hornbyish!!

It was good fun, the main character, Danny, was quite funny... reluctant to let go of his dreams of making it as a rock star he's given an ultimatum by his girlfriend.... You can just imagine someone like him holding on to his dream as long as possible!!

If this is your introduction to bookcrossing, welcome. Please make as few or as many comments about the book as you choose.

The book is now yours to do with as you choose. Keep it, pass it on, but please leave the label, so it can keep in touch with us.

Well I remember Sleeper and always admired Louise Wener for holding her own with the brit-pop boys so I'll give it a go.

Released at Graduate, Lendal, York at April 2014 meet up

Picked up at the York BookCrossing meetup

Well, the good news is that Louise Wener writes better than she sings (Sleeper were never a favourite of mine). She can also be funny and this book captures the grubbiness of the 90s music scene, which I remember well from my own teenage years, albeit from the point of view of the audience rather than the band. It is a shame that so many of the characters seem to have been borrowed from the Nick Hornby Big Book of Blokes and Birds, though. There's Danny himself, the directionless but likeable manchild who likes his mates, his music, and his beer. There's his girlfriend Alison, the slightly dull, naggy one who's much wiser and more responsible than Danny and thinks he's spending too much of his life messing about. And the hippyish Kate is just a stock kind of pointlessly spiteful bitch. Perhaps Wener had to spend a lot of time being one of the blokes when she was in a band herself and it's rubbed off on her writing style...

Released at York BookCrossing meetup