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Available
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Publication
McSweeney's, Believer Books (2013), 464 pages
Description
Culling the best of his monthly column "Stuff I've Been Reading" in The Believer magazine, the bestselling author presents hilarious observations on a vast array of topics, and provides a wide-ranging reader list that serves as a reminder as to why we read.
User reviews
LibraryThing member TurnThePaige
Reading this book was just plain fun. It didn't even really feel like reading (not that reading isn't fun, but it can certainly have it's sad/depressing/make-you-think-really-hard moments. Ten Years in the Tub isn't actually a book so much as a collection of about ten years of English novelist Nick
It's quite nice to hear that even someone who writes for a living often gets distracted with everyday life and other passions (soccer or "football," music) to read all that he'd like and all that he buys. Or in some cases, how these passions influence what he reads. Hornby also shares tidbits of his family life (musings about his autistic son, quips at his marriage) and offers his own insight about how and why we read.
But as I already noted, the column is in essence meant to be funny, often even satirical and it made me giggle quite a bit. (though after reading a series of very American novels, I guess that wry British sense of humor got me quite easily).
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Hornby's columns from the monthly magazine, The Believer. Every month, Hornby catalogs the books he's bought that month and the books he's read that month (the former usually exceeds the latter, something I think a great deal of people here at LT can empathize with) and then writes a short, usually quite funny article explaining his choices in both categories and his experiences with them.It's quite nice to hear that even someone who writes for a living often gets distracted with everyday life and other passions (soccer or "football," music) to read all that he'd like and all that he buys. Or in some cases, how these passions influence what he reads. Hornby also shares tidbits of his family life (musings about his autistic son, quips at his marriage) and offers his own insight about how and why we read.
But as I already noted, the column is in essence meant to be funny, often even satirical and it made me giggle quite a bit. (though after reading a series of very American novels, I guess that wry British sense of humor got me quite easily).
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LibraryThing member pgchuis
Apparently Nick Hornby has been contributing a column about the books he has read to an American arts magazine called The Believer for more than ten years and this is a collection of said articles. I had never even heard of the magazine, although it still exists and he still seems to be
I would have given it five stars, were it not for the fact that I read almost exclusively fiction and have only a superficial interest in football and rock music, so the overlap between what Hornby read and what I was reading during the period covered was not enormous. By the very end I was losing interest a bit, though; it would probably benefit from being read in smaller chunks.
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contributing to it. I enjoyed this book very much and entertained (?) my husband by insisting on reading chunks of it to him. The Britishness and the humour appealed to me, although I enjoy a critical review as much as the next person (critical reviews not allowed in The Believer).I would have given it five stars, were it not for the fact that I read almost exclusively fiction and have only a superficial interest in football and rock music, so the overlap between what Hornby read and what I was reading during the period covered was not enormous. By the very end I was losing interest a bit, though; it would probably benefit from being read in smaller chunks.
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LibraryThing member thoughtbox
This is a book for readers. ... Even more so than all other books, which kind of by definition are also for readers. There's not a single book, or even publication, that has so drastically blown up my to-read list in the last year or so. Hornby is a person who loves books in the same way most
I appreciate that Hornby doesn't assume we've all read the book before he gets around to talking about it. Like a good (regular) book reviewer, he largely avoids spoilers and (unlike most regular reviewers) is forbidden by decree from slagging on those things that don't meet his taste.
Even past the book recommendations, though, are Hornby's insights and quips about reading, life, and other redundancies. His idea that some books are bad but also sometimes they're just not read properly, for example, is one of the best arguments in favor of a "no negative reviews" policy I've ever heard. And even if you hate Arsenal (or don't care about sports in any way), his excuses and slackening reading pace through some months will give comfort to all those who sometimes can't find the time for books in a given month (or two).
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millenials love television — enthusiastically, unrelentingly and with numerous exhortations as to why you should love it, too.I appreciate that Hornby doesn't assume we've all read the book before he gets around to talking about it. Like a good (regular) book reviewer, he largely avoids spoilers and (unlike most regular reviewers) is forbidden by decree from slagging on those things that don't meet his taste.
Even past the book recommendations, though, are Hornby's insights and quips about reading, life, and other redundancies. His idea that some books are bad but also sometimes they're just not read properly, for example, is one of the best arguments in favor of a "no negative reviews" policy I've ever heard. And even if you hate Arsenal (or don't care about sports in any way), his excuses and slackening reading pace through some months will give comfort to all those who sometimes can't find the time for books in a given month (or two).
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LibraryThing member jms001
A book about a collection of articles in a magazine about books and some other stuff.
Having never previously read Hornby, neither his books nor his columns in The Believer, I decided to give this one a try. I mean, what could be better? A book about his thoughts on books? What could be better?
But when it came down to it, I began to realize that my interests weren't exactly aligned with Mr. Hornby's. Therefore, there was only so much I found interesting before I started trying to scan the book for some chapters of interest. So if you're a fan of Hornby, The Believer, or simply know what you like, then more power to you.
Having never previously read Hornby, neither his books nor his columns in The Believer, I decided to give this one a try. I mean, what could be better? A book about his thoughts on books? What could be better?
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Granted, I realize only now it's important to check out the books that he likes to read, and see if that matches my interests accordingly. Every now and then I'd find him reading a book that I have previously read, and enjoyed some of what he had to say on the topic. Of course, the fun should be in reading about books that I haven't read yet. And of course, there was a bit of that as well. A few books were added to my to-read list. Eventually.But when it came down to it, I began to realize that my interests weren't exactly aligned with Mr. Hornby's. Therefore, there was only so much I found interesting before I started trying to scan the book for some chapters of interest. So if you're a fan of Hornby, The Believer, or simply know what you like, then more power to you.
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LibraryThing member LeonardGMokos
I love Nick Hornby. I do not love this book. It's a throw-together of random bits that somebody told him, hey if you put a cover on that with your name, you'll make a big box of money.
Too bad it's so bad. Like, like your birdcage bad. Possibly this can make an interesting bar napkin. As a book,
Avoid.
Too bad it's so bad. Like, like your birdcage bad. Possibly this can make an interesting bar napkin. As a book,
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it's ____.Avoid.
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LibraryThing member MattMackane
A great book that will introduce you to years of other great reading.
LibraryThing member john.cooper
This was a great book to take on vacation. Being composed of ten years of monthly columns, it's made up of almost 120 bite-sized pieces (he took some breaks). And Hornby, while as smart and literate as you would wish, also has the knack of writing (everything) in the voice of an always cheerful,
There are two problems with "Ten Years in the Tub." One is that Hornby is writing with one hand tied behind his back--the one tattooed H-A-T-E across the knuckles. The Believer, the magazine in which these essays were first published, had a policy of not publishing negative reviews. So if Hornby didn't like a book, he simply wasn't allowed to mention it. And that's sad. Hornby is a good enough writer so that the reader can judge whether he's being unfair to a book he didn't like, and The Believer should trust their readers enough to let them judge whether they should go along with Hornby on not liking it. That's just my opinion; and it may be overinformed by how much I missed seeing a bad book savaged. (It can be a great pleasure and a spice that perks up a bland stew.) The other problem is that each month Hornby lists the books he bought...and the books he read. And, of course, he only reviews the books he read. What's the problem? The books he bought are often, to my mind, by far the more interesting. For example, in his very first column, he mentions that while on holiday at Hay-on-Wye, the UK's famous town of bookshops, he bought ("for a pound, pure maybe-one-day whimsy, doomed to top-shelf oblivion") Michael Heyward's "The Ern Malley Affair," a book I read years ago and have been simply dying to talk to someone--anyone--about ever since. Other books Hornby bought and never read include "Wonder Boys" by Michael Chabon, "The Men Who Stare at Goats" by Jon Ronson, "The Tender Bar: A Memoir" by J. R. Moehringer, "Darkness Falls from the Air" by Nigel Balchin, "Fire from Heaven" by Mary Renault, "The Anthologist" by Nicholson Baker, "36 Arguments for the Existence of God" by Rebecca Goldstein, and on and on and on. It's infuriating. The least he could have done is not mentioned them at all.
But still, this book is a treasurehouse, and as I look through it again I see books and authors mentioned whom I've discovered since I read it first, and Hornby's comments are always spot on. I can hardly put it down. You should both buy it and read it.
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always reasonable friend who happens to be sitting across the table from you at the pub, talking about books. It's been almost a year since I've read it, and I'm probably going to read a lot of it again, because I not only love books, I love to listen to (or read) other intelligent people about why they love books. Sometimes I learn something I didn't know about how to enjoy books, or why I should pick up a book that I'd thought I wouldn't like.There are two problems with "Ten Years in the Tub." One is that Hornby is writing with one hand tied behind his back--the one tattooed H-A-T-E across the knuckles. The Believer, the magazine in which these essays were first published, had a policy of not publishing negative reviews. So if Hornby didn't like a book, he simply wasn't allowed to mention it. And that's sad. Hornby is a good enough writer so that the reader can judge whether he's being unfair to a book he didn't like, and The Believer should trust their readers enough to let them judge whether they should go along with Hornby on not liking it. That's just my opinion; and it may be overinformed by how much I missed seeing a bad book savaged. (It can be a great pleasure and a spice that perks up a bland stew.) The other problem is that each month Hornby lists the books he bought...and the books he read. And, of course, he only reviews the books he read. What's the problem? The books he bought are often, to my mind, by far the more interesting. For example, in his very first column, he mentions that while on holiday at Hay-on-Wye, the UK's famous town of bookshops, he bought ("for a pound, pure maybe-one-day whimsy, doomed to top-shelf oblivion") Michael Heyward's "The Ern Malley Affair," a book I read years ago and have been simply dying to talk to someone--anyone--about ever since. Other books Hornby bought and never read include "Wonder Boys" by Michael Chabon, "The Men Who Stare at Goats" by Jon Ronson, "The Tender Bar: A Memoir" by J. R. Moehringer, "Darkness Falls from the Air" by Nigel Balchin, "Fire from Heaven" by Mary Renault, "The Anthologist" by Nicholson Baker, "36 Arguments for the Existence of God" by Rebecca Goldstein, and on and on and on. It's infuriating. The least he could have done is not mentioned them at all.
But still, this book is a treasurehouse, and as I look through it again I see books and authors mentioned whom I've discovered since I read it first, and Hornby's comments are always spot on. I can hardly put it down. You should both buy it and read it.
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LibraryThing member kemilyh1988
I should probably/shouldn't probably, read this again to get all of the recommendations from Hornby. Even if I don't end up reading the books he recommended, the book was entertaining!
Original language
English
Original publication date
2013
Physical description
464 p.; 6.5 x 1.75 inches
ISBN
1938073738 / 9781938073731
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