Life’s a Banquet by Robin Bennett. What an easy read. This was a great book which blended honest memories of tough experiences through childhood, adolescence and working life with humour and pragmatic, positive attitude. I love how Robin remains positive and embraces the tough stuff as learning and character development. I don’t think the book is a “how to succeed in business” book per se but I love how Robin has managed to avoid becoming bitter about those who treated him badly and absorbed this to inform his strategic goals, and indeed his everyday life and relationships. I knew my husband would love this book - and he’s an avid non-reader! Robin’s writing style just hooks you right in with its honesty and fantastic humour. The humour is used perfectly to highlight (and soften) the hard lessons, making a great impact but it is used appropriately sparingly so that it doesn’t distract from the messages. Loved this book. Read it to help restore or maintain your perspective when life throws you the curveballs- and, of course, for a good laugh.

Many of the books I've read start very slow, and then get better and better. This one has a tease (about the father) in the beginning, and then it's mostly boring all the way. Not because it's badly written, but because it's a description of a rather ordinary life.

really enjoyed very special kept me turning pages Made me think would definitely recommd to a friend Very special

I can’t honestly say that I enjoyed this book, because I didn’t. In fact I just could not get involved with it so I’m afraid I did not finish it

I had never heard of Robin Bennett before, but thought this might be an interesting read.
For the most part it was, but I found the jumping around a bit irritating and all the foot notes were a pain in the proverbial. You couldn't click on the number to take you to the footnote, you had to wait till later to read them and then try and remember what they were in reference to. Kindle footnotes should be clickable both ways. This broke the flow of the book.
For someone heavily involved with language, the creeping in of the expression “fed up of” as opposed to “fed up with” was surprising.
What was not surprising I suppose was the fact that in all probability the studying of a degree was probably unnecessary, or at least in Robin's case. He may have learned other life skills in this time, survival skills, but as he doesn't have a certificate to prove his degree and has never actually needed to, it seems it was a waste of money. Would they be allowed to refuse the certificate today?

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When an author tells you they like to be liked, you would hope that the narrative they want to impart is one that makes them likeable. For Mr Bennett, I am sad to say, the narrative he wished to impart was oddly disjointed and painted him as flighty, at times entitled, rather childish and a little too obsessed with getting inebriated for me to really like him.
However, his book did shed light on a question I've been asking for a long time now: does anyone else really KNOW what they are doing? Or are we all, mostly, just making it up as we go? To which, it seems, the answer is yes.
This book seemed to lack clarity of purpose and was a photo album of vignettes and anecdotes that were not delivered with meaning or much love.
Not one I would recommend sadly.

I'll be frank and say that this book isn't in my usual genre of books to read but having said that if was intriguing, well written and made a good change from my usual reading list.

Interesting and entertaining read. I liked the humour and the writing style and how personal this story is.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Initially this biography seems fairly predictable. Life lessons from the kind of man one frequently sees at the Kingham Plough, wearing bright red cords and braying his way through the sous-vide scotch egg. But no; Mr Bennett is much more interesting than this and infinitely more charming.

Undeniably he’s a bit of a cocky sod but clearly I like those, having married two of them.

There is a strong streak of genuine decency which makes this book very enjoyable and enough interest to keep the reader turning pages.

I was left wanting to know more, the best endorsement.

'It's not really the "guide book 'to negotiating your way through life" promised in the description. Rather it's an unashamed and highly individual autobiography of someone who's enjoyed moderate success in life, and now has an enviable lifestyle. How? Well, it seems luck, some judgement, application and a lot of chutzpah.

It's highly readable and entertaining,. There are reflective life lessons along the way. The author seems very open and honest. I read it over a couple of days.

This book has such a catchy title and is an interesting read! People are all different and it is interesting to learn about the lives of others that are not like your own. This young man has had quite a ride and yet has kept going through it all! This book serves as both an interesting memoir as well as being motivational.

Interesting autobiography with a lot of simple and smart learning points and advice. Easy to read and easy to follow if own life. Everyone has different situations in life and we all learn from them. I think that smart ideas and learning situations from others can help us to be better and react differently in our own lives. Relaxing and enjoyable book.

** Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with the digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review **
No tengo claro lo que me atrajo de este libro, pero me alegro de que lo haya hecho. Es una autobiografía del autor, pero es mucho más. Me sorprendió lo interesante y lo aprovechable de este material. Ademas es fresco, no es difícil de leer y es interesante como esta organizado, a partir de lo que propone y brinda.