Road To Rouen - Ben Hatch
Published: 23/05/13
Publisher: Headline
Pages: 334
Non-fiction bores me. Non-fiction reminds me of mind numbing afternoons slaving over a university textbook and of books about animals or boring people in history.
When Ben Hatch offered me a copy of his book I inwardly sighed but, being the book lover that I am and never turning down a review copy, I accepted his offer and quickly logged into amazon and read the sample chapter. I was pleasantly surprised by what I read and instantly got excited about the book arriving. I did a small amount of research into Ben (mainly by looking through his twitter pictures) and discovered that
1. he loves cheese (I instantly loved him. Cheese is the master of all foods and, whilst I am slightly more conservative in my cheese choices than Ben, cheese lovers must stick together)
2.he is a very funny man in his everyday life, not just in his books.
When it arrived I stroked the cover for, what would be considered, a disturbing amount of time. It was very pretty and all bumpy and just glorious. I started to read but then was interrupted by the arrival of my friend (other human beings are just so inconvenient) so had to, painfully, tear the book from my hands and put it out of sight until I could pick it up again. Once the friend had left I dived straight back in and was wrapped up in Ben’s world. He is genuinely the funniest author I have ever come across. I cringe when people say books are ‘laugh out loud’ but this was LITERALLY laugh out loud. I cried with laughter, I ached with laughter and at times I couldn’t breathe because I couldn’t stop laughing. My neighbours were probably a bit concerned.
Unfortunately, life got in the way AGAIN so I had to put this book down for longer than I wanted to but looked forward to the few quick chapters I managed to read before bed over the weekend. I finally had the chance to sit down with this book again this afternoon and devoured the final half. It was superb.
Ben goes on a tour around France with his wife and two young children. What ensues is quite possibly the funniest holiday ever. From an angry donkey called Tarquin, a swimming pool disaster, a dramatic boat incident to the never ending conundrum of whether it is acceptable to put pants in the microwave. Ben’s children are just the cutest things ever and the things they come out with are gems.
Ben is the wittiest and cleverest writer I have ever come across and even the smallest things he wrote about made me laugh, especially the ‘Squishy Bag Packing System’. The love and affection he has for his wife and children comes across so strongly in the way he writes and really made me warm to him and his family.
I honestly don’t think I can say anything else about this book apart from BUY IT! You seriously will not be let down. His sense of humour will appeal to every single reader and I guarantee you will love this book.
I will re-read this book over and over again because it will never ever get old!
I am also about to place an order for Are We There Yet? which is Ben’s last book!
Publisher: Headline
Pages: 334
Non-fiction bores me. Non-fiction reminds me of mind numbing afternoons slaving over a university textbook and of books about animals or boring people in history.
When Ben Hatch offered me a copy of his book I inwardly sighed but, being the book lover that I am and never turning down a review copy, I accepted his offer and quickly logged into amazon and read the sample chapter. I was pleasantly surprised by what I read and instantly got excited about the book arriving. I did a small amount of research into Ben (mainly by looking through his twitter pictures) and discovered that
1. he loves cheese (I instantly loved him. Cheese is the master of all foods and, whilst I am slightly more conservative in my cheese choices than Ben, cheese lovers must stick together)
2.he is a very funny man in his everyday life, not just in his books.
When it arrived I stroked the cover for, what would be considered, a disturbing amount of time. It was very pretty and all bumpy and just glorious. I started to read but then was interrupted by the arrival of my friend (other human beings are just so inconvenient) so had to, painfully, tear the book from my hands and put it out of sight until I could pick it up again. Once the friend had left I dived straight back in and was wrapped up in Ben’s world. He is genuinely the funniest author I have ever come across. I cringe when people say books are ‘laugh out loud’ but this was LITERALLY laugh out loud. I cried with laughter, I ached with laughter and at times I couldn’t breathe because I couldn’t stop laughing. My neighbours were probably a bit concerned.
Unfortunately, life got in the way AGAIN so I had to put this book down for longer than I wanted to but looked forward to the few quick chapters I managed to read before bed over the weekend. I finally had the chance to sit down with this book again this afternoon and devoured the final half. It was superb.
Ben goes on a tour around France with his wife and two young children. What ensues is quite possibly the funniest holiday ever. From an angry donkey called Tarquin, a swimming pool disaster, a dramatic boat incident to the never ending conundrum of whether it is acceptable to put pants in the microwave. Ben’s children are just the cutest things ever and the things they come out with are gems.
Ben is the wittiest and cleverest writer I have ever come across and even the smallest things he wrote about made me laugh, especially the ‘Squishy Bag Packing System’. The love and affection he has for his wife and children comes across so strongly in the way he writes and really made me warm to him and his family.
I honestly don’t think I can say anything else about this book apart from BUY IT! You seriously will not be let down. His sense of humour will appeal to every single reader and I guarantee you will love this book.
I will re-read this book over and over again because it will never ever get old!
I am also about to place an order for Are We There Yet? which is Ben’s last book!
Laura