Or Is That Just Me? by Richard Hammond Orion, HK$104

Or Is That Just Me? records Richard Hammond's preoccupation with turning 40. It's a mid-life crisis book by the Top Gear short bloke that shows how men cling to boyish fears and predilections. Written with his trademark good nature, it covers everything from having kidney stones removed (in a chapter called Falling Apart), to fearing for his life while riding on the footplate of a traction engine (which travelled at 4mph), to living out a bad dream by performing Billy Ocean's Red Light Spells Danger in a band with fellow Top Gear hosts Jeremy Clarkson on drums and James May on keyboard (Hammond played bass). He then pens a chapter on cycling to work and trying to look good doing it, which will be the point at which non-fans will refuse to read further owing to Hammond's repeated reference to his fear of 40. Although he can turn an interesting phrase, one comes away with the sense this book was squeezed out of him: the stories are padded, they lack punch and, unfortunately, are just not funny enough to justify publication. The only advice one can give Hammond now he is middle aged is 'enough already'.