High Fidelity by Nick Hornby - PPPP

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High Fidelity by Nick Hornby - PPPP

Rob Fleming has just been dumped. But the indie music store owner is quick to inform us that the breakup doesn’t even make his Top 5 Heartbreaks. He’s been through much worse.

He kicks off the book by recounting those horrible Top 5 experiences, setting the stage for a comedic narrative about love and heartache, and the influential role that music plays.

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A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby - PPP

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A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby - PPP

Before I begin this review, please note that I read a different version of this book than you will likely read if you decide to do so – the Japanese version! Please also note that the main reason I am writing this review is to impress with the fact that I read books in Japanese. Sure, I read them very slowly pronouncing each syllable out loud, but I read them nonetheless. Impressed much?

Now down to business.

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Self Care by Leigh Stein - PP

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Self Care by Leigh Stein - PP

Self Care by Leigh Stein is a plot-less avalanche of sentences like this:

On my body, I used exfoliating yoga soap, made with shea butter and marine nutrients, with an aquatic bouquet of sea kelp and coconut. On my vulva, I used Drop of Hope from Lush, made with rapeseed oil and tofu.

If that did it for you, than praise the Lord, you’re in for the ride of your life. If it didn’t, then bail on this book, and even this review, right now. Here’s another taste:

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The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare - PPPP

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The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare - PPPP

Lucentio, the son of a wealthy merchant, arrives in Padua, Italy to study philosophy and comes across a young woman named Bianca. She is a vision of loveliness and grace. He falls for her instantly and wants her desperately. Her father, however, has declared that no one can marry her until a husband has been found for her older sister, Kate.

Kate is the titular shrew. She is short-tempered, loud, and prone to physical violence. She has publicly declared that if she had a husband, she’d keep him in line by hitting him over the head with a stool, scratching his face, and treating him like a fool.

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A Man With One of Those Faces by Caimh McDonnell - PPPP

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A Man With One of Those Faces by Caimh McDonnell - PPPP

Paul Mulchrone has one of those faces that are so ordinary and ambiguous that you could mistake him for your nephew. Which patients at the hospital he volunteers at do all time.

When a case of this intentional mistaken identity leads to him being stabbed by an elderly man on his deathbed, he becomes embroiled in one of the most famous cases in Irish criminal history. An unsolved, high-profile crime that went cold 30 years ago.

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Managed Care by Joe Barrett - PPPPP

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Managed Care by Joe Barrett - PPPPP

Frank Johnson is 33 years old, yet he lives in a managed care facility. There’s nothing wrong with him physically, he’s there on principle. His grandfather passed away just before he was scheduled to move into the facility, and because the owner won’t refund the money, Frank is exploiting a loophole to make damn sure that he gets his money’s worth.

This absurd situation is taken up a notch when he meets a pair of middle school students through their social outreach program. Elroy is an orphan with a stutter, and

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