We had a charity book stall at work last week and despite Mount TBR being ridiculously huge, I couldn't resist. This is one of the books that I picked, as I love Top Gear and all the presenters. The pictures from his crash look pretty horrific and I'm interested in hearing his own views of it.

I don't usually go in for 'celebrity' biographies, but I do like Hammond as a presenter and have met him a few times, so I decided that I had to read it. It's different to other biographies in that it isn't a blow-by-blow account of a life only vaguely interesting - instead it purely focuses on his accident and recovery, with the only flashbacks the reader is given being relevant to that.

It's an easy read - the style is simple and yet descriptive, interesting and yet entertaining. Hammond's sense of humour comes through, even in the most harrowing bits. I read it quite quickly (most of it during the Eurovision Song Contest, which added a weird backdrop to the words!), but because it was compelling rather than short!

For me, the hardest chapter to read was the first one by his wife, Mindy, as she describes getting the phone call while trying a horse out at the local college. As well as being a completely horrible thing for anyone to go through, it was made more real for me because I know that college well, have ridden my own horse there many times and have driven the lanes that she describes tearing down in a state in shock. That 'local-ness' added to my own shock, empathy and fear as I read it.

It definitely gave me a better understanding of brain injuries - Hammond's fight just to understand what was going on around him is heart-breaking in places, frustrating for friends and family, and difficult to understand, and yet he wins through. But in the end I think this is story more about Mindy and her battle to keep family together while looking after her husband, fighting tiredness, shock and frustration on a daily basis.

Overall, well worth the read and highly recommended.

Off to America as a surprise wishlist RABCK - enjoy!

Oh wow! A true RABCK--I did NOT expect to find this in my mailbox. And I am THRILLED! Thank you so much for sending it my way. I love watching Top Gear... and I don't even have a passion for cars! It's so hard to come by anything related to it here in the states, so it is such a treat to receive this! My home library is currently moving from one house to the next, but I will make sure this doesn't get lost in the shuffle so I can read it sooner rather than later.

Thank you for your kindness and thinking of me! Definitely made my day to receive this!