Nathan James, creator of The Foodies, a group of food characters who sing mind numbing children’s songs, is diagnosed with a brain tumor that is incurable and unpredictable. Nathan is given anywhere between 6 minutes and 6 months to live, or possibly longer.

From here on out we follow Nathan’s story as he takes a long hard look at himself and his life and starts making changes. Ditching his shallow, gorgeous girlfriend Sienna, meeting Alison and trying to do something worthwhile with the short time he has left.

This story sounds like it could be a doom and gloom journey of self discovery, but as it is written by Nick Spalding, it isn’t.

This book is so funny! There are laugh out loud moments such as Nathan’s encounter with Pipsqueak the donkey, and his experience at Light Havens commune. The way that’s it’s written means that it is not a depressing story and it is filled with plenty of hilarious characters such as Cleethorpes the self help guru and Mr Chippy the clown.

Although there are plenty of funny moments, it doesn’t make light of the serious situation Nathan is in and it is interesting to follow how his brain tumor affects his life and relationships.

Final Scores
If you like previous Nick Spalding novels, this one doesn’t disappoint. It’s filled with his usual style of witty one liners and comedic scenes. If you haven’t tried one of his books yet then this is a good starting point although the “Love…” Series will always be my favourite!

I give this book a 4 star review and would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a light hearted read that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Nathan has a headache- one that won’t go away. When his words are not quite what he expected and no alcohol is involved, he decides he needs to see a doctor. It turns out that he has an almost unpronounceable brain tumour and may have anything from six minutes or 6 months or maybe even longer to live - or not. This is about how this affects his relationships with those around him- as well as of course how others deal with him- one refusing to believe his diagnosis- as well as how he is dealing with things himself. I didn’t quite know what to expect from this book in that it’s a sensitive subject- and found that it is very well dealt with indeed. A book that makes you think about life and how fragile we can be, whilst at the same time dealing with things with a smile and seizing the moment. Some very philosophical words, and so very true. Very well written, very enjoyable and one I would recommend. Carpe Diem and One life- live it.
For more reviews please see my blog http://nickibookblog.blogspot.co.uk/
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OG i loved this book. This author is super talented when it comes to writing comedy! The Donkey bit had me laughing so much I had tears running down my cheeks! I didn't want this book to end!

I am obviously a big fan of Mr. Spalding's irreverent humor. In this story, Nathan, the founder of a food-based version of Teletubbies, finds out he has a brain tumor. This throws cold water on his horribly decadent life with his ditzy super model girlfriend, Porshe 911, and plans once he has sold The Foodies concept. Luckily for us, Mr. Spalding has the ability to infuse both humor and compassion as Nathan comes to terms with his condition. I never thought I would enjoy reading about someone dying so much!

So I have pretty much loved about every Nick Spalding book I have read. There have been two misses for me, but for the most part he is always enjoyable. In his latest we follow 33 year old Nathan James who though he has about everything to live for (has a fat bank account and a hot girlfriend) is told that he is an inoperable brain tumor.

Spalding has Nick going through some of the stages that you would see someone go through if someone died (hello Mr. Anger) as well as him trying to find meaning in his life by trying to find those left fortunate than him (the donkey sanctuary scene had me in hysterics). Ultimately though, Nick realizes that no matter what he does, he eventually is going to die, he just needs to determine how he plans on living until that occurs.

I adored Nick. Usually Spalding's book has a double POV. For this one we stay firmly in Nick's head the whole time. What works though is though you may realize that Nick is a little bit superficial (okay a lot) there is no maliciousness in him. So when he gets his diagnosis you do feel as much grief as the character does. When Nick goes around breaking the news to his family and girlfriend, Spalding still manages to mix the absurd with the tragic so you will find yourself torn between tears of sympathy and laughter while reading.

The secondary characters were really good. Nick's mother and her sculptures sounds like the stuff of nightmares. And heck at least Nick realizes that his girlfriend though hot is terrible. There is another love interest in this one that I really did enjoy and thought worked well. I do wish that we had been able to spend more time with Nick's cousin and her son, there seemed to be a lot going on there. Maybe Spalding will follow up with a second book since there are still some loose ends to follow up on in this one.

The writing was great. I had tissues nearby due to some sniffles, but also because I laughed so hard I cried three times while reading this book. The flow was great. Spalding tops off the top of each chapter with the month so you know how much time has passed. That is important cause a doctor Nick sees initially mentions 6 months for him to live.

The book takes place in England. There are some mentions of Trump and his terribleness in this one, so apparently taking place in our current timeline. I did have a question about something though. Spalding via Nick mentions at one point downloading the Uber app to his phone. I didn't think Uber could operate in England?

The book ends on a bittersweet note. I like that Spalding didn't try for some third act deus ex machina.

Very unexpected story, all of Nick Spalding's normal humour is there and on the whole this is an incredibly fun book, but at the heart of it is a more serious medical condition, and a character, Nathan who has no idea how to deal with this life changing news.

For Nathan has been told he has a condition that means his death could he imminent, or he may be fine for ages. There is nothing the doctors can do, for him and he just has to try to get on with his life.

However this is not a deep emotional story, there is plenty to keep you smiling and laughing. He is the creator of a children's music sensation The Foodies who play their part, and we get to see some of their songs too.

The majority of the most memorable scenes involve sex, and not in a hot and steamy way, ina pure I can't believe Nathan is getting himself into these situations sort of way.

There are some fabulous characters, Alison who is a lovely girl and potential girlfriend, Eliza, his cousin and Calum her kid, who were really heartwarming, there is Alison's grandfather who although only a small part is easily very memorable.

However my absolute favourite character and scene that had me a laughing my head off is Pipsqueak, and that is all I am saying on that, if you want to know read the book yourself.

I absolutely love this author and Checking Out is no exception. It may have had deeper elements to it than I was expecting but still with Nick Spalding's excellence for comic timing, lightening the mood and generally fun storytelling.

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

Nathan is 33 years old. He's just sold the rights to a show he had created for a lot of money, his girlfriend is a gorgeous but vain model (and he's okay with that) and he's trying to figure out what to do with all his money. Then his doctor tells him he has a brain tumour and there's nothing that can be done. He could pass away at any time. Not the kind of news he wants to receive.

Unexpectedly he meets Allison and they fall in love ... except Nathan hasn't told Allison that he could drop dead at any second. He wants to find something worthwhile to do with what life he has left so sets out to figure out what that is which has interesting results.

This is the fourth book I've read by this author and I liked it. I liked the writing style ... it was funny and sarcastic. Despite the subject matter, the book is a comedy. It is written in first person perspective in Nathan's voice. The author is English and the story happens there so some of the references aren't common to North Americans. As a head's up, there is a lot of swearing and some adult activity.

I look forward to reading other books by this author.

Thank you so much for this review copy, I loved it, laughed the whole way through. I had previously read fat chance by this author and enjoyed that too but not as much as this one, it's brilliant.

I love Nick Spalding book and was so pleased to see he has a new one, whenever I need a fun pick me up kind of book I always turn to Nick’s books, they take you away from reality but yet at times I read his books and think, “yep I can see that happening”.

Checking out introduces the reader to Nathan, a young male in his 30's who has it all or so it seemed until he was diagnosed with a brain tumour. Nathan sets out to look at his life in a very different way, through this journey he gets himself into funny situations that had me laughing out loud.
While other books by Nick had more memorable characters, this book excelled in making a somewhat tragic matter funny and quirky.

I've read Nick's previous books and was delighted to see this available. It took quite a difficult subject matter and did make it humorous in places. I would recommend this to read, and I did need to keep tissues nearby, even though it is labelled as a 'comedy about death'. Thank you providing me with a copy of this to read