Rating: 
Summary: Flawed but well worth reading
Review: What is a good life? That is the question posed, but not answered, in this book. The story opens with Katie Carr - burnt out by her efforts to be a "good" doctor, mother, and wife - on the verge of divorce from her perpetually angry husband, David. But then David undergoes a spiritual transformation and begins to challenge everything Katie ever knew about how to be good. His newfound righteousness provides a bizarre and hilarious backdrop for Katie's own spiritual journey.Hornby's powers of observation and satiric wit are sharp as ever, but if you're expecting a light romantic comedy, you won't find it here. Rather, Hornby paints a portrait of a marriage poisoned by years of discord. Your enjoyment of this book will probably hinge on whether you find the character of Katie Carr to be sympathetic and believable. I found her efforts to maintain her moral compass while trying to regain a passion and sense of self lost in the demands of her daily life to be shockingly true. However, Katie's humorous musings eventually overwhelm the thin, rather confusing plot. The resolution of the story is not especially satisfying, and the contrived final image provides an equal measure of hope and despair.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining but not Hornby's best
Review: Quick review: it had some funny moments but was more down and less upbeat than Hornby's previous novels. While Hornby addresses issues beyond relationships this time, he loses some of the spark that was in his other novels. Unfortunately Hornby seems to be better at humor than writing about social problems in G.B. and the Western world. On the other hand, there ARE quite a few parts that made me laugh and I smiled plenty of times- just not as much as I did while reading High Fidelity and About a Boy.
Rating:
Summary: Amusing but not his best
Review: Hornby's female character lacked the punch of his male predecessors and though I laughed aloud a dozen times in the third quarter of this book, the rest was fairly bleak. If you need another Hornby, check out John Hawes "White Merc with Fins".
Rating:
Summary: How to Be So-So
Review: I've been a fan of Nick Hornby since I read High Fidelity a few years ago and liked Fever Pitch and About a Boy fairly well. This book has some great Nick Hornby touches - real, sarcastic children, lovable characters with murky motives, funny, witty dialogue - but doesn't leave much of an impression once you've read it all the way through. This book reminded me of Martin Amis' novel Success and I guess was also intended as a Jacobean comedy of sorts but the overall effect is rather flat. Zeitgeist and irony aren't enough - I want to care about the characters! (That goes for Amis too!) Buy Nick Hornby's other novels and check this one out from the library.
Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant Book!
Review: I loved this book. I read it in three days. Nick Hornby is a master at writing the way people actually speak. I laughed out loud at almost the entire book. It was wonderful. All of Nick's books are well written and easy to read.
Rating: 
Summary: Depressing
Review: I don't think Hornby can write from a female point of view. The whole time I was reading the book I felt like the protagonist was man saying the things what he would say, if he were a woman. I never felt like I truly understood what Katie was about or why she did the things she did. She seemed to bounce through life, simply reacting to those around her. Plus this book was incredibly depressing statement on marriage - do not read it if you are thinking about getting married or are recently married. I loved High Fidelity and About a Boy but did not enjoy this one.
Rating:
Summary: Nick Hornsby failure
Review: The very idea of the main characters is so very repulsive to the reader, it never got me to do anything except hate them thoroughly by the end of this short story about fiddling about nothing. Where 'About a boy' had interesting characters from all walks of life, this objectionable work only expresses the characters in a shallow fashion, jerking to a halt to explain unbelieveable stories about less than interesting people. The only juicy parts of the book were cut short, as confrontations came to a head only to be rigidly cut off to be explained later, as if the writer wanted to convey the story in the fashion of "Bridget Jones' Diary", but then never coming back to the original issue. Horrid novel. Can't waste any more of my time with it, but I did warn you.
Rating:
Summary: Brisk, fearless, and pointed
Review: A great book to escape into for laughs and thoughts. Hornby beautifully weaves humor with paradox. The book made me think about things in new ways, and asked some simple questions that proved unanswerable. I would recommend "How to be Good" to anyone who: (1) is a bleeding heart liberal, (2) isn't a bleeding heart liberal, and/or (3) doesn't mind having their middle-class sensibilities tugged at a bit. While I was somewhat dissatisfied with the ending, it couldn't have credibly ended any other way. I look forward to seeing it as a movie.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting concept
Review: For some reason, this book really disturbed me. It took such a cynical look at marriage and relationships, and broached the fragility of identity and a person's ability to control and or forge it. The couple at the center of this book is in in an unsatisfactory marriage whereby the man is always angry and cynical and the woman is miserably ensconced in a less than satisfying affair and wanting to get out of her marriage. That is, until the door is opened for her. The man meets some street guy who has supernatural healing powers brought on by too many drugs, and suddenly has an epiphany. No longer angry and out to save the world as well as his marriage and relationships, his wife decides she likes him better as he was. This book took on an interesting concept -- that of altruism, and of what would happen if one suddenly decided to be good? Of course, this book takes that to the extreme in all sorts of directions. Hornby somewhat carries it out with witty dialogue, but with some quirky and annoying characters. Although Hornby is a great writer, and his other books are surefire hits, this one was painful for me. The subject matter bothered me and there was nothing refreshing or enjoyable about the ongoing cynicism. Not to mention the characters, all of whom were unlikeable. In fact, I put this book down after skimming the second half, and will not pick it up again. There was nothing positive to be gained from this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Thumbs down from a Hornby fan
Review: Among my favorite reads are "About a Boy" and "High Fidelty." And, truthfully, Hornby writes just as well in "How to Be Good." His characterizations provoke reaction, the depth of Katie's thoughts are very real, and the wry, sarcastic humor is on target. Even so, I did not enjoy this book. Finishing it was just a hair less than a struggle. I don't necessarily read to feel good all the time (though that is among the reasons), but this book _really_ doesn't make the reader feel good. It's downright depressing and frustrating. I wanted to shake Katie so many times; admonish her for not standing up for herself more. Then again, I also wanted to shake her for relying so heavily on her profession to make her "good." It is highly annoying. But I suspect that is part of Hornby's point, so I won't go any further down that road. A talented writer, yes. An interesting, though somewhat dubious storyline. Worth your time? Perhaps. Unfortunately only you can answer that question.
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