Book Description
'Intimate, funny and wise ... Hornby at his most persuasive'
Tim Adams, Observer

'Songs are what I listen to, almost to the exclusion of everything else. I don't listen to classical music or jazz very often, and when people ask me what music I like, I find it very difficult to reply, because they usually want names of people, and I can only give them song titles.'
Nick Hornby writes about 31 songs - most of them loved, some of them once loved, all of them significant to him - beginning with Teenage Fanclub's 'Your love Is the Place Where I Come From', ending with Patti Smith's 'Pissing in a River', and encompassing singers as varied as Van Morrison and Nelly Furtado, songs as different as 'Thunder Road' and 'Puff the Magic Dragon' (reggae style).
As the former pop music critic on the New Yorker and author of bestselling High Fidelity, Hornby puts forward a passionate defense of pop. He discusses, among other things, guitar solos, singers whose teeth whistle, the sort of music you hear in the Body Shop, songs that drive you pleasurably potty, tracks you imagine loosing your virginity to and whether it's okay to walk out of a bad gig.

Synopsis
In his first non-fiction work since "Fever Pitch", Nick Hornby writes about 31 songs - most of them loved, some of them once loved, all of them significant to him. He discusses, among other things, guitar solos, losing your virginity to a Rod Stewart song, singers whose teeth whistle and the sort of music you hear in Body Shop.

This will be a bookring as i am trying to make some room here!
Please journal when you receive the book, and when you send it on.
Let me know if you need to keep the book for more than 4-6 weeks cos I worry!
Sending surface mail is fine.

Participants so far:
abrokenstarr
vicar-of-dibley
jamesmum
Thebowiefollies
stardustnf
Cinnamon-Girl
Panzeranzi
hetku77
Iojima


Back to me

Arrived today. Thanks sunlightbub! Have a few ahead of it.

An interesting book. Got me thinking about my own list -
1.) Thousand eyes - ELO
2.) Yellow - Coldplay
3.) At My Most Beautiful - REM
4.) If... - The Bluetones
5.) Perfect - Alanis Morrissette
6.) American Pie - Don McLean
7.) Achilles Heel - Toploader
8.) Wasted Time - The Eagles
9.) Hey Matthew - Karel Fialka
10.) Wires - Athlete
11.) Austin - Blake Shelton
12.) Karma Police - Radiohead
13.) Travelin' Soldier - Dixie Chicks
14.) (I Am) The One and Only - Chesney Hawkes
15.) Big Yellow Taxi - Counting Crows
16.) Don't Dream It's Over - Crowded House
17.) Empty - Del Amitri
18.) Hurt So Bad - Linda Ronstadt
19.) It's so Easy - Sheryl Crow
20.) Another Day in Paradise - Phil Collins
21.) Remember - Dust Junkys
22.) Red - Elbow
23.) Crazy - Gnarls Barkley
24.) Iris - Goo Goo Dolls
25.) You Held the World in your Arms - Idlewild
26.) Worry About You - Ivy
27.) Secret Smile - Semisonic
28.) Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
29.) Don't Look Back in Anger - Oasis
30.) Stay - Lisa Loeb
31.) Hearthammer - Runrig

So there! ;P

will post on when I have an address.

Posted on to vicar-of-dibley second class today.

bad bad vicar was in mid journal and got called away colleague turned off the comp and i never got back to it

im enjoying it will be finished this week i hope

I really enjoyed this book. Some of the songs I knew others I didn't. In the Album section he talks about Nick Cave and anything which has him in it fine by me.
If only I had something to play all my old vynal on.
In one section he speaks frankly about what it's like having a child with autism and how all your ambitions are reduced from my child will be prime minister to thank god he's listened to 5 secs of something other than post man pat, that brought a wee tear to my een

Im about to pm the next in line for this one

RELEASE NOTES:

off to the us of a

Caught in California - can't wait to start on this one. I loved "The Polysyllabic Spree", so this will be a treat.

September 2006: I don't know why it took me so long to get to this book - I apologize for the delay. It was enjoyable to read, and has motivated me to look into some music I haven't previously considered. Funny - "The Polysyllabic Spree" introduced me to new books, and "31 Songs" introduced me to new music. I wonder what I'll pick up next from Nick Horby?

On its way to BowiesFollies today.

Tag! and so it goes..I have been looking welly well forward to this as your humble narrator is a bit of the ole rock star ( in some circles around lincolnshire like?) 'kin 'ell Hornby is class and cannae wait to have a bianca butchers...sunlight lah wots news witchoo..Missing home and my bloke in Bolton :(
I will be back sehr soon and let yae ken wot I think in retrospect..
cheers jamesmum :)
Alreet (im too homesick forgive the northern vernacular)
Love on ya crookbossers chokboyers and brooksiders xxx

31 sins??
I really wanted to find this visceral and I must say I struggled doing so, because as a musician, and a petulant music critic myself, I cannot believe he only could merely mention IAN DURY and not go on like the Archers about him, not saying he is a blockhead, albeit, this is Hornby and I was not expecting his taciturn turn...
yes i enjoy pissing in the river, but I am crying into my 65 Vox, practically keith relfing it for him to be hail the underwhelming Ani Defranco and completely dismissive of Kate Bush who originated the form.
And perhaps I should be quoting mister black as WHERE IS MY MIND, but I cannot believe he could be so impervious to the Clash, to the Pogues, to the Magnetic Fields, Siouxsie Bowie I can go onnnnnn!!
Ben Folds five makes the grade? Where is the humanity!!! Sorry sunlightbulb I am a fan of yours however! Proper scousers us innit!
Maybe I am the one with the crap taste, but listening to the minimalistic nearly dadaistic rhythm set to the haunting political angst of STRAIGHT TO HELL by the clash, it pains me that such could be ignored!
Well honestly if I had to sum it up in 31 songs, I would be awake months justifying!! still it is Hornby and he usually makes me as happy as Baldricks turnips
I will be posting this to the great white norf v soon.

princeton reverb dreams
may it always be 440 time
electro-VERONIX xx

soz for delay av been immersed in musical pursuits all over the place like dick turpins on the amyl nitrate
this is on its way to canada as of this morning, am heading home to Liverpool in the morn, so sun we should do a hen night like
have trackie will travel!
love on ya la
Verra

soz for delay av been immersed in musical pursuits all over the place like dick turpins on the amyl nitrate
this is on its way to canada as of this morning, am heading home to Liverpool in the morn, so sun we should do a hen night like
have trackie will travel!
love on ya la
Verra

I actually received this a week or so ago, but hadn't gotten the chance to journal. I'm really looking forward to Hornby's take on the music in his life. I measure all of my life against a backdrop of music (which is why I loved High Fidelity so much...and loved the movie version, as well!), so I'm always interested in the musical interests of others.

Will journal again as soon as I've finished reading.

I loved this book....finally, to find someone who thinks about music the way that I do. I swear that my whole life has a soundtrack, and this guy had the opportunity to publish his. While some of his choices were not really my taste, I always like finding out someone else's take on different kinds of music.

This one is now, after MUCH delay (so sorry!)on it's way to the next participant, Cinnamon-Girl. Thanks again, sunlightbub, for sharing this one with us!

It's here! Glad to see this one moving again and will journal again once I've read and am ready to send onto the next reader.

Sorry for keeping this book longer than I anticipated - life got very busy over the holidays and then a new job to start the new year, so this book has been sitting on my nightstand staring at me for weeks, reminding me that I need to pay a trip to the post office. It's finally been packaged up and I plan to have it in the mail this week to Panzeranzi.

Thank you, sunlightbub for organizing this ring - I'd never read anything by Hornby before but now I want to get my hands on the Polysyllabic Spree, too.

The book arrived safely today! I had totally fogotten about this ring, but I'll read the book as soon as possible.

I enjoyed this book, Hornby is always a nice read, but I do feel left out of much since I don't know all of the artists. But I like the passion for music that clearly shines through the text. I have read Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott about writing and So Many Books, So Little Time by Sara Nelson about reading and there are similarities between the books, the passion is one of them, and the personal way of describing the art of writing/reading and in this case listening to music. I like the passages when Hornby writes about how he changes what kind of music he listens to and what music means in different stages in life. I was also very touched by what he wrote about his son.

Thanks for sharing!

I'll send the book to Finland as soon as possible.

5.4. The book had arrived some time last week. Thank you, Panzeranzi!

26.6. I started my summer holidays last Friday and this book was first one on my TBR pile. I finished it yesterday. I've liked the other books I've read by Nick Hornby before this one and there was nothing wrong in this one either. Just that I'm just not that into music that I'd appreciate Hornby's writings about it.

Iojima asked to be skipped as she's already read the book and MieLH because she has too high TBR pile. So, the book will travel back to sunlightbub.

Well, it's taken a while but it's back!! I've not read this book myself yet...and it might be a while before I do, but thanks so musch to everyone for jkeeping it moving :)