Loved it! The protagonist was so appealing and the winding ways of his thoughts and the events of his life were compelling. The writing style was tight, descriptive and so amusing. I read this in one sitting.

I'm afraid I found this book lacking in pace and nothing really happens. I kept on until the end thinking that there might be some revelation or event that made it worth reading. Sadly I wasted my time and I was disappointed.

I haven't been reading a lot lately but I as I set up my iPhone I added the Kindle app and remembered I had a copy of this from NetGalley. As I read it I wasn't sure if I'd like it even though I thought the premise was interesting enough. The problem is that when you read someone's diary you have to feel as if you're peeking into someone's most intimate thoughts. It's a running commentary on who the person is. You get them as they really are, not how you expect them to be. James' creation is an interesting read that shows us a man who is just like everyone else. If you saw him on the street he wouldn't really stick it. That's what makes this work so well. It's the reality that's injected here. Arthur could, in fact, be any one of us. We all have the same frustrations, the same ideas. These are the intimate thoughts that you never speak of. Instead, you allow the frustration to drip onto the pages of your diary. The thing is, Arthur wants people to read it.



As the book evolves you begin to see him become someone else. That's where the book strays a bit and even though he's a nobody he's still a human who's wife could be having an affair, and the struggles he faces in his life resonate because we've all been there. We understand exactly where he's coming from. A lot of people may find this tedious, but there's a great deal of humor throughout the novel. This isn't just an account of his day to day life, but a glimpse into his thoughts, his ideas about his life and of course everything else he decides to write about. Arthur is the kind of guy who has fallen into adulthood and has no idea how he got there, and as the diary goes on we see a new side of him emerge. That's when the novel begins to slip a little, but despite that, it's still an interesting read and one that doesn't fit into normal categories.

Oh Canada!

Laughed my way through it. As a Canadian expat, I forget the unique humor and thinking of my fellow Canadians - and this made me homesick for Canadian neighbors. Lots of details but will keep you amused on a commute or at the beach.

What's great about this book is that you can relate to some if not most of the struggles of the narrator.
It's never old or cliche reading someone's diary, and perhaps, there's an even surreal feeling which is better than watching a reality show.
I received a digital copy of the book courtesy of NetGalley and BooksGoSocial in exchange for an honest review and aside from the much needed advanced formatting, this book had me laughing (especially on tiles, pink tiles and the cat) and there were moments when I wanted to lean in and hug the narrator and say it's going to be okay.