Book Review; As You Do

I ought to feel ashamed, since I actually finished reading this book several weeks ago, but to be honest I just haven't felt like updating the blog. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy the book; I enjoyed Richard Hammond's "As You Do" immensely. I guess I've just been lazy.

Still, my better half is snoozing and I feel like being mildly productive. That, and I'm patient enough to write this review entirely on my phone, so it's lazy streak over and away we go!

"As You Do", by Richard Hammond is one of those books that drew me in immediately, just from reading the description that would be included on the jacket (in this case, it would be the Amazon product description). I mean, come on! He writes about the race to the north pole, the trip across Africa in a tiny little car, and meeting Evel! How cool is that!? Hammond has a particularly conversational writing style, and since he's on Top Gear it's pretty easy to hear his voice while reading the book. Since this book is a behind the scenes sort of affair, that writing style is well served. I could see how that style could be grating in other literary formats, though.

I loved the humor in the book, I don't think I've laughed that much while reading since the last time I read Bill Bryson's "A Walk In The Woods". Completely different types of humor, mind, since Hammond derives his humor from interactions from others while Bryson's humor is more internally driven. Still, giggles while reading is a good thing, and I was happy to have a book that put me in a good mood after reading sessions.

No obvious grammatical or spelling errors that I could pick out, though the book has a way of jumping around in time that I didn't like. I also didn't really appreciate Hammond's negative attitudes towards hunting, and Americans. Then again, he's British, and those folks just seem like they are born to be arrogant and condescending.

All in all, it was a jolly good read that was quick to get through. Hammond is no Heinlein, not even close, but he holds his own. I'd give this book a 77 on my scale, which could have been several points higher if he'd kept some of his sillier opinions to himself.