High Fidelity by Nick Hornby: Book #3 for 2017
This book opens with its main character and narrator, Rob, listing his top five relationship breakups, addressing the character Laura, who has just broken up with him, mocking her because her name isn't even on the list. The opening chapter of the book is all Rob talking about his previous relationships and why they ended, before the main story has Rob addressing the reader directly and talking about his life following his break-up with Laura.
This is quite a different type of book to most romantic novels, and although Laura does mention that there is a chance they will get back together, it doesn't really feel like that, particularly as she quickly moves on and finds another boyfriend, while Rob spends some of the book attempting to contact his former girlfriends to find what went wrong.
I remember not enjoying this book on my first read through, but this time I really enjoyed it; it is a very funny book, and Rob is a very likeable character, despite the fact that he seems to be full of self-loathing. Because much of the novel revolves around Rob working in a music store, there are also a lot of references to music and songs, as the characters discuss favourite bands and tracks.
I found myself gripped by this novel this time; although a lot of the book is just characters talking to each other, Nick Hornby's dialogue was enough to draw me in and keep me reading.