If you’re a music fan then you’ll probably have at least a passing familiarity with the author Nick Hornby who wrote Hi Fidelity (and for the real fans 31 Songs among others).  Whilst writing his books he has also written some music articles for the New Yorker magazine, some of these articles can be found on the The New Yorker Archive.

I’ve just finished reading Jools Holland’s tremendous autobiography – Barefaced Lies and Boogie-woogie Boasts. Its a brilliantly engaging book, describing his slightly unconventional childhood, through how he came to meet Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook to help form Squeeze to the development of his Jazz Orchestra and how the tremendous Later… TV series came about and is driven.

Each chapter is relatively short, and you find yourself wanting to ‘just read one more’.  Jools doesn’t dish dirt on anyone, but then I don’t think having read the book he sees dirt – but just the best of unique individuals.  That is not to say the book isn’t insightful, as he describes the life on the road with some of the hilarious adventures such as chatting to one of The Ramones while they’re given a little ‘oral relief’, and tackles some difficult times such as the tragic death of Paula Yates.

The book also communicates Jools’ immense passion for music with a perspective a bit like that of the late John Peel – that being of a huge fan. 

  I’ve recently been on the road during the day or at home sick so had the benefit of hearing a bit more Radio 4 than I normally would. That includes hearing the programme ‘book of the week’ . This may sound pretty dull, it but proved this week to be far from it with John O’Farrell’s An Utterly Impartial History of Britain (or 2000 Years of Upper Class Idiots in Charge).  The excerpts that have been broadcast have been very funny and educational.  For example in describing the politics of England prior to the Gun Powder plot the different factions have been likened to football teams and the occasional hooligan behaviour.

If history is taught in the manner that this book adopts, then I think we’ll have a lot more history students engaged and enjoying the subject.  On the strength of what I’ve heard I’d recommend the book.

Amazon Link

I’ve just finished reading Doug Coupland’s JPod. Its an odd book, some of the characters seem fairly plausible, albeit exaggerated, and others are just completely improbable.

Set in an IT context, Doug like Scott Adams must have spent some time in an IT office environment, in many respects the book often feels like Dilbert on acid. 

What really irked me with this is the self referencing (Doug is also a character in his own book, and also has his characters make reference his other books – self promotion in extreme?) and the strange ‘interludes’ where he has done things like include wholesale assignments that one of the book’s characters was doing which really don’t add anything to the story.

If you want a light pointless read and like things such as Dilbert and the TV series the IT crowd, then I’d recommend borrowing a copy of the book otherwise don’t pick it up.

I’ve finally got around to reading Chuck Klosterman’s Killing Yourself To Live, and was struck by a quote that just had to be shared:

“I have more CDs than 99 percent of America, but fewer CDs than 40 percent of my friends; if an acquaintance has more CDs than me, I feel intimidated and emasculated. I think about my CDs a lot“.

Chuck used to write for Spin magazine although no contributes to other publications. The book is a chronicle of an trans-American adventure he undertook for Spin. With a straight forward style, the book feels (at least as far as I’ve got) like an modern Catcher in the Rye.

Given that a number of friends are expecting their first or just had their first baby I thought I’d share the reading that we’ve found useful.

There are dozens of books out there for the expectant mum, which go into the mechanical detail of pregnancy and child birth – a little daunting for the first time father, who really just need a rough guide as to what to expect.  I read two books, both relatively light hearted and full if male humour worth reading.  Firstly Jon Smith’s – The Bloke’s Guide to Pregnancy, this was probably the better of the two addressing the basics to pregnancy and both the bloke’s likely reactions as well as the expectant Mum’s, along with Marcus Berkmann’s – Fatherhood: The Truth which looked a bit further on from the pregnancy and arrival of junior.  Jon smith incidentally also has his own website (go here).

Once the baby has arrived – then what can you use book wise?  Well there is Satan herself – Gina Ford.  People’s reactions to her books are very polarized. The problem is that her books are very prescriptive mapping out your day from the time you get up until the time you go to bed and if you slavishly followed it you’d  never escape the house.  From our perspective we used it to simply get an idea for a when we tried to develop a daily routine with our little one.

For the bigger picture over the first year we’ve used the first ‘What to Expect’ book, although probably not an essential read it is certainly a good book to look at in small doses.

For when the little one starts solids we found Annabel Karmel’s New Complete Baby and Toddler Meal Planner really good.  The title sounds more pompous  than the book is.  It suggests meals and provides easy cooking instructions, so even a no hoper in the kitchen like me can cook up baby food rather than resort to expensive bottles.