I recently completed two books that I’ve been reading for a while, Mike Gayle’s Turning Thirty and Nick Hornby’s Slam.

I’ve long been a fan of Hornby’s. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that his book High Fidelity (yes, the same book that the movie starring John Cusack is based on) is one of my favorite ever, up there with Catcher in the Rye and The Lords of Discipline.

I’ve only been introduced to Gayle in the last couple years. He’s one of the many authors that emerged as a part of the Hornby movement, guys who write stories about guys who are relationship-phobic and completely flawed, but lovable. These authors are almost all British as well, although accents don’t really translate into print. I’ve read a couple of Gayle’s earlier novels…really enjoyed My Legendary Girlfriend but not so much Dinner for Two. Turning Thirty seemed an appropriate read for me (at least a couple years ago when I bought it) and I enjoyed it well enough, but not sure if I’d recommend it. Thirty-year-old unmarried males might find it a good read and it has some decent characters, but it’s just lacking somewhat.

As far as Slam goes…this book represents Nick Hornby’s first foray into the world of “young adult literature” as it centers around a 16-year-old kid who is interested in skateboarding and Tony Hawk and ends up getting a girl pregnant. I actually started reading Slam about 6 months ago and put it down with less than 75 pages left. It’s been sitting on my nightstand as a reminder for the past several months, but I’ve never been motivated enough to finish it until this week. If that’s not a condemnation of my feelings for the book, I don’t know what is.

I shouldn’t be that surprised. Slam was, afterall, written for the “young adult” set and I’m not really in that target demographic. However, I’ve always felt like Hornby’s ability to describe characters could supercede the genre and still manage to be compelling. Unfortunately, Slam really comes off more as a public service announcement against teenage pregnancy than anything else. I just want to junk-punch the main character Sam (another reason why I’m unlikely to be a dad) because all he does is make one bad decision after another. I suppose that’s the point, considering that is what most teenagers typically do, but at the same time, it just annoyed me.

My penchant for reading has really gone in the crapper lately, but I’m trying my best to get back into it. With a vacation coming up in July, it will be to my benefit to have some good stuff to read. I’ve got a stack of books about 2 feet high on my “to-read” table…now I just have to put them in order.

What are you reading?