That’s 400m people saying, on average, 1,500 words a day. Week in, week out. You’d imagine, then, that every single combination would have been used up years ago, and yet we can be certain no one has ever said: ‘I name this ship HMS Vulnerable.’ Or: ‘The thing I love most about my husband is his herpes.’ Or: ‘Look at that maniac in that Saab." How Hard Can It Be? is a sequel to "I don't know how she does it". I did not read the first book and I did not feel that I was missing anything but not having read that book first. This book worked very well as a standalone novel for me.

Meanwhile, dementia, class expectations, menopause, self-harming teens, and the stresses that can break a marriage get dealt with . . .and the book finds a balance between compassion, insight, and wish-fulfillment that finally pays off splendidly. In the end the young clueless young guys at the investment firm are saved from their own fumbling of relations with an important client by our protagonist using her experience and cunning to save the firm. In the process of doing so she reveals her true age which is no longer a problem because she's now a hero. Limited-edition Insanity sauce is ridiculous. It’s made in Costa Rica, from hot pepper extract, crushed red savina peppers, red tabasco pepper pulp, green tabasco pepper pulp, crushed red habanero peppers, crushed green habanero peppers, red habanero pepper powder and fruit juice. Well, that’s what it says on the tin. But I don’t believe it. I think it’s made from uranium, plutonium, fertilizer, sulphuric acid, nitric acid, hydrochloric acid and ammonia, with a splash of mace. I do not believe it’s a foodstuff. It’s a weapon." To add to the stress of being the only present parent and main breadwinner Kate is also going through menopause... i’m not quite to this point in my life yet (and if I am I am in complete denial about it) but nothing about it sounds all that fun.... but as Kate does with all aspects of her life she adds a splash of humor to it(Intentional or not) that I just absolutely loved in this book... this book is a sequel, but it absolutely can be read as a standalone, I don’t believe I lost anything having not read the first book... however I plan on eventually reading the first book so I can visit a younger Kate....

Perceptive and funny....Allison Pearson has a gift for comedy, but the best bits of How Hard Can It Be? are her sharp asides about modern life." — The Times (U.K.) First of all the seat is warmed- and there is no way for the round-eye to know this, which means I had to sit there imagining the heat had come from the lorry driver who'd been the last person to use the motorway service station cubicle. This is unnerving. Soon I become convinced that it was possible to catch encephalitis from the latent heat of a Japanese lorry driver's bottom. This book is for those women whose children find them annoying, whose husbands take them for granted, who feel their best years are behind them and whose workplace is filled with bros with more hair gel than acumen, but who forge on because what other choice is there? In other words…something for every woman. That being said, I could see most of the plot twists coming a mile away, and you couldn't help but get frustrated that Kate couldn't see them too. Overall, while I found parts of this novel funny, refreshing, and quite apropos, I couldn't really get over Kate's obsession with her looks or her one-sided relationship with her children. In the end, 3.5 stars, probably bumped up a bit for a little Kate Reddy nostalgia.

Allison Pearson writes with great insight - the characters literally come to life in her hands. It's funny, it's sad, it's delightful, and as a woman it's easy for me to recognise the challenges and conflicts that Kate has to face. Loved it!Jeremy Clarkson is outspoken. We all know that, given recent comments that made worldwide media headlines. He’s also very funny, not only on the TV, but in print too. How Hard Can it Be?, which Top Gear fans will know as one of the show’s catch cries (along with ‘Loser!’ and ‘That’s not gone well, has it?’). This is not a book of Top Gear anecdotes (how good would that be?), but the fourth collection of his newspaper columns published in the UK. This may be a detractor for those readers in the UK, but not for those Down Under. (These are not motoring columns, although cars and other transport do feature occasionally, but articles on what is wrong with the world at large). This book was really funny and interesting and I had a lot of fun reading this book. I think that the style that this book was written in was really good and entertaining. Overall I enjoyed this book a lot Pearson has found a way to explore pressing questions—the delaying of marriage and childbearing, the dangers of social media, the growing anxiety of teenagers and their trouble gaining independence as young adults, the crushing pressures on people caring for both their kids and their parents—without sacrificing story for sermon." — The Weekly Standard