Are We Nearly There Yet?, by Ben Hatch

Please, I beg you. Don't do what I did and read this on a train.

I was travelling by myself in a carriage full of business types and I got the uncontrollable giggles. It was a bit like memories of being in school assembly and how trying so hard not to laugh just made it even funnier.

At least in school assemblies you were surrounded by mates who got the funny side. I was surrounded by disapproving suits who leaned away from me in alarm.

But I'm not alone.

It turns out that Terry Wogan, John Cleese, Danny Wallace, and Richard Briers all found it hysterical, too. Phew!

This is the true story of two parents and two young children travelling the United Kingdom to write a guidebook. They have practically to live in a clapped-out Vauxhall Astra and travel 8,000 miles with a quantity of luggage, toys, babywipes, and optimism that I can only marvel at.

The parents were bored, burnt out, and broke. So they jumped at the chance of what they saw as an adventure.

There is a chapter where Ben is rather ill (or thinks he is) and that, I am ashamed to say, was the chapter that had me falling off my train seat, snorting with giggles and with tears of laughter rolling down my face.

We're so thrilled that he's coming to Bookish Supper Society. Be warned, though: bring tissues. You may well need them to wipe away the tears of hysteria.

Ben Hatch will be appearing at Bookish Supper Society on Wednesday, February 4. Tickets from Tabl.com