Oct 2nd 2011, 12:42

I'm sorry, and I shall most likely be shot down in flames for this. I bought One Day when it first came out, in hardback no less, because I believed the hype. It is not a bad book, but then it is not a good book either. As a chronicle of the recent past, it could have been so much, however, it dwells on the mundane and the ordinary. The characters, is it David and Emma, are so unappealing that I am not sure that I have rightly remembered their names. Nothing they do is anything more than mundane and run of the mill, no wonder so many people identify with them, they are boring, middle class and not at all witty. Also, without giving the plot away completely, it is predictable in the extreme. Now this very uninspiring book has been made into a film and we have to endure the sight of girlies and boys who should know better, reading it on the bus, while glancing at the rest of us to make sure we are noticing how clever and 'of the moment' they are, all over again. I know that David Nicholls won the People's Choice Award for this, other better writers with better books in the running, were robbed. If you want to read a good book, can I recommend The Book Thief, A Fraction of The Whole, The Room, The Slap, The Terror of Living, anything by Jo Nesbo, Peter James or Michael Connelly if that's what rattles your cage, or the wonderful John Conolly, Roger Smith or Peter Temple if it's not? Please do yourselves a favour and leave this drivel on the shelves though.

One Day is destined to be a modern classic * Daily Mirror * Big, absorbing, smart, fantastically readable -- Nick Hornby A wonderful, wonderful book * The Times * I finished it last night and I'm still quite wobbly and affected by it. It was BRILLIANT . . . the jealousy nearly made me puke. I wish I'd written this book -- Marian Keyes A genuine tear-jerker as well as laugh-out-loud funny -- Books of the Year * Independent on Sunday * This perfectly executed novel is a reminder that reading can be the finest entertainment there is * Guardian * The book I go back to time and time again is One Day by David Nicholls. I read it every couple of years. It's perfect -- Dolly Alderton, author of GHOSTS A modern classic * Prime * One of the most tear-jerking novels ever written * YOU Magazine * I couldn't think of anyone who wouldn't love this book -- Simon Mayo Books Panel, BBC Radio Five Live Re-reading One Day by David Nicholls is another version of putting on a Nora Ephron movie. It never gets old because the pleasure and comfort is in the language and the observations and the characters -- Maggie Shipstead, author of GREAT CIRCLE One Day changed my life -- Pandora Sykes, author of HOW DO WE KNOW WE'RE DOING IT RIGHT Captivating * Hello * You'd be hard pressed to find a sharper, sweeter romantic comedy * Independent * David Nicholls portrays the bittersweet experience of being a young man so brilliantly * iNews * A total treat . . . by turns bittersweet, funny, touching and sad, but always Nicholls's wonderfully observant and wry touch shines through. A way-we-live-now parable about relationships, disappointments, friendship and expectations; a novel utterly comfortable in its own skin -- Kate Mosse * The Times * An off-kilter romantic comedy with charm to spare * Harper's Bazaar * It's rare to find a novel which ranges over the recent past with such authority, and even rarer to find one in which the two leading characters are drawn with such solidity, such painful fidelity to real life that you really do put the book down with the hallucinatory feeling that they've become as well known to you as your closest friends -- Jonathan Coe, Books of the Year * Guardian * Nicholls has a gimlet eye for period detail . . . A beguiling read * Observer * A totally brilliant book about the heartbreaking gap between the way we were and the way we are . . . the best weird love story since The Time Traveller's Wife. Every reader will fall in love with it. And every writer will wish they had written it -- Tony Parsons, author of THE PEOPLE NEXT DOOR Who doesn't relish a love story with the right amount of heart-melting romance, disappointment, regret, and huge doses of disenchantment about growing up and growing old between quarrelling meant-to-be lovers? -- Top 10 Summer Books * Elle * As a study of what we once were and what we can become, it's masterfully realised * Esquire * A brilliantly funny and moving will-they, won't-they romance tracing a relationship on the same day each day for two decades * Heat * With a nod to When Harry Met Sally, this funny, emotionally engaging third novel from David Nicholls traces the unlikely relationship between Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew . . . Told with toe-curlingly accurate insight and touching observation * Daily Mail * Nicholls captures superbly the ennui of post graduation . . . The writing is almost faultless, there's a great feeling for the period and it's eminently readable * Herald * Nicholls has a gift for zeitgeist description and emotional empathy that's wholly his own . . . [A] light but surprisingly deep romance so thoroughly satisfying * Entertainment Weekly * David Nicholls's One Day needs a special mention for its perfect encapsulation of Edinburgh's university experience. The novel takes place mostly in London but its two main characters meet as students here and almost - but not quite - fall for each other. Therein lies the tale * New York Times * A pleasingly collaborative reading experience * Financial Times * The funniest, loveliest book I've read in ages. Most of all it is horribly, cringingly, absolutely 100% honest and true to life: I lived every page -- Jenny Colgan, author of DO YOU REMEMBER THE FIRST TIME? The ultimate zeitgeist love story for anyone who ever wanted someone they couldn't have -- Adele Parks, author of ONE LAST SECRET Warm-hearted, funny, endearing * Sydney Morning Herald * Page by page, the funniest book of the year * Uncut * Perfect for the beach or summer in the city * In Style * A delicious love story * Sunday Herald * A smart comedy, packed with the mistakes, mismatches and meandering conversations that make up real life * Marie Claire * A modern fairy tale, slickly put together. A gifted story-teller with lots of technical savvy * Scottish Review of Books * A compulsive read you'll want to devour in one sitting * Woman * A cross between Jonathan Coe and Nick Hornby, this is romantic, sharp and very English * Scotsman * Nicholls' unmatchable gift for dialogue and romantic plotting * Evening Standard * An unputdownable romance for the 21st century * She * We could fill a page with descriptive proclamations of its brilliance, but we'll stick with intoxicating, engrossing and verging on genius. If this has never graced your bedside table, then go directly to the nearest bookshop, purchase one copy and start 2010 with a read that has taken the literary world by storm * <i>Daily Record</i> * A moving and feel-good read. Nicholls is an expert at capturing that essence of young adulthood, first love, heartbreak, and the tangled, complicated course of romance . . . Deserves to be the must-read hit of the summer. * <i>News of the World</i> * Nicholls captures superbly the ennui of post graduation . . . The writing is almost faultless, there's a great feeling for the period and it's eminently readable. * <i>Herald</i> * You're gripped from the opening pages . . . Nicholls, author of STARTER FOR TEN, writes faultless, engaging dialogue and keeps up a cracking pace. You will find this hard to put down * <i>Psychologies</i> * An edgy romantic tale * <i>Woman & Home</i> *