Lest you think that the last book I read before picking up Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was High Fidelity some nine months ago – I’m a remarkably uncommitted reader considering my profession, but not that bad – I’d like to fill in some gaps. Here are three authors whose books I’ve read in the time between Hornby and Rowling:

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For a decade now, much has been made of whether or not the Harry Potter series has resurrected the art of reading. And while data suggests that kids are turning right back to their technology after reading Harry Potter, the fact that a seven-book fantasy series could so captivate the world is a testament to how tremendously entertaining the books are. The series comes to an end with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, a book that simultaneously justifies the anticipation and points out the greatest weaknesses of the series and author J.K. Rowling. Caution, all ye who have not read the book: There be mild spoilers ahead.

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I’m not by any means a comic book aficionado (I leave that to Pat, who you will get to know better if I ever get that podcasting idea together), but since the outpouring of geek love for comic book movies started a few years ago, I’ve been subscribing to Marvel’s Ultimate Spider-Man and generally enjoying what I read while staying cautiously on the “passive observer” side of the comic geek line. Over the past half dozen issues, thought, I couldn’t help but turn into a bit of a snob as the Ultimate writers rehashed one of the most controversial stories in Spidey history: the clone saga.

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Okay, so maybe I don’t read as many new books as I should, and maybe the last book I read was the bastardized American cousin of High Fidelity, but I couldn’t help but revisit Nick Hornby’s debut work of fiction. What I recalled while reading the book was that it is absolutely one of my desert island, all-time top five favorite books (and the film version probably gets the same distinction).

I’ll not bore you with details of plot, because I’m fairly certain I’ve already reviewed the book. But the gift in re-reading a novel is that you already know what happens and you can more fully become immersed in the writing style. Hornby packs High Fidelity with humorous, touching, relatable prose that makes you want to never stop reading. And once it’s in you’re head, it becomes like the addictive pop single that you can’t stop repeating. You want to stick it in your CD player and put it on repeat, just so you can find new layers of it to love. I’m happy to report that High Fidelity only gets better the second time around.

Rating: * * * * *