This is definitely one of those books that you have to be at a certain point in your life in order to savor it and feel like it was written for you. I think the best time to read it would be in your late 20s/early 30s or at any point in your life when you're freaking out about how little you've got your shit together and you're worried about how old you're becoming at a scarily rapid speed. I've got some of my shit together (steady job, marriage, etc.) so it didn't totally click into a huge a-ha or eureka moment for me, but I could relate on the becoming older stuff and Hornby describes growing up (or in Rob's case, refusing to for as long as he can) eloquently and accurately. All of the characters felt very real and I could picture them all perfectly in my head - they're grungy and raw and genuinely fragile. It's rare to read a book in which all the characters actually feel like they could be real people instead of just cardboard cutouts. I'm going to have to watch the movie now and see how it compares.
Don't Panic - Megan's BookLikes
I really like books. Some favorites: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (duh), Pride & Prejudice, The Martian Chronicles, True Grit, The Idiot, Daughter of Smoke & Bone, and so on. I tend to be pretty eclectic in my reading habits. I definitely favor sci-fi & fantasy, classic literature, YA fiction, memoirs, and non-fiction (usually art-, craft-, or history- related). I might have a book hoarding problem, but that's okay. I don't mind.
This is definitely one of those books that you have to be at a certain point in your life in order to savor it and feel like it was written for you. I think the best time to read it would be in your late 20s/early 30s or at any point in your life when you're freaking out about how little you've got your shit together and you're worried about how old you're becoming at a scarily rapid speed. I've got some of my shit together (steady job, marriage, etc.) so it didn't totally click into a huge a-ha or eureka moment for me, but I could relate on the becoming older stuff and Hornby describes growing up (or in Rob's case, refusing to for as long as he can) eloquently and accurately. All of the characters felt very real and I could picture them all perfectly in my head - they're grungy and raw and genuinely fragile. It's rare to read a book in which all the characters actually feel like they could be real people instead of just cardboard cutouts. I'm going to have to watch the movie now and see how it compares.
