Bitmo Sunday book review

Sunday Book Review – Building The Beast by Jacqueline Lambert

Published on by dgkaye

Welcome to my Sunday Book Review. Today I’m delighted to share Jackie Lambert’s new release – Building The Beast. This book is so much more than just the build as Jackie takes us on her journey of fulfilling her and her husband’s dreams of revamping an old army vehicle into a roadworthy mobile home to tour Europe and Mongolia. Adversity at almost every turn, yet did not flounder.

.https://hhwww.amazon.com/stores/Jacqueline-Lambert/author/B07L4ZK1CL

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Blurb:

A Vintage Truck: An Amateur Team: An Immovable Deadline
The Comic Memoir of a Crazy Idea
Awarded a Readers’ Favorite 5* Seal!

In this captivating true story, join an intrepid married couple as they take another wild leap into the world of nomadic living.
Four years previously, Jackie and Mark gave up work to embark on a permanent road trip with four dogs. However, one Friday the 13th, forces beyond their control cause them to throw caution to the wind and buy a 30-year-old army truck sight unseen from the internet.

Their goal: to create an expedition truck fit to drive overland to Mongolia.

Follow them as they dive headfirst into the daunting but thrilling task of converting this rugged vehicle into a perfect off-grid tiny house on wheels.

Yet their first ever DIY van conversion proves to be a rollercoaster ride, when they sell their house to fund the build, and Friday the 13th comes back to haunt them.

Is their confidence that, ‘there’s always a solution,’ misplaced?

With their relationship, sanity, and finances on the line, can they navigate the pitfalls of their first-ever build and avoid becoming homeless?

Filled with quirky van life friends and unexpected twists, this is an inspiring tale of perseverance, friendship, and finding the courage to conquer the challenges that face those who dare to chase their dreams.

* The Beast made a guest appearance on Ben Fogle’s New Lives In The Wild

My

My 5 Star Review:

This book is an incredible read. It may be called Building The Beast, but this is so much more than the build, and so far away from a ‘how-to’ manual. This is a memoir about the author and her husband and their big dream to build a roadworthy mobile home to travel and live in. It is wonderfully written with rich descriptions about their retirement dream and every single obstacle they encountered from searching for the right vehicle to the many trials and tribulations they faced on the way to the build. They found a thirty-year-old decommissioned Volvo in Rotterdam, which once belonged to the Belgian army. Mark had to travel to Rotterdam to purchase it, and the nasty journey back to the U.K. with it, and of course – Covid setting in, in a most untimely fashion as well as a blizzard, to disrupt all deadlines. The fact that this author can write with such humor about situations that were far from humorous adds to the intrigue and fun of reading the book.

The author details their initial research to find the ‘Beast’ and much more research to learn how to convert the vehicle to adapt to their lifestyle, as well as finding someone who could do the converting task. Details of what is required to build the beast, along with the many characters who helped to put the vehicle together are stories in themselves. With so many delays and interruptions, crises, pandemic, deadlines, right down to the quick of becoming homeless, these two travelers invite us into their world of chaos that will keep us turning the pages and rooting for them all the way.

We’ll also learn some interesting facts from some of the aside chapters where the author states her opinions on her extenuating circumstances, such as: Brexit, another problem that landed in the middle of the build, calling it ‘The Death Knell’ for many Brits’ retirement plans. There is also a wonderful chapter devoted to the economics of the beast, climate change, the flack they took from some for driving such a big machine, a lesson on the evolution of batteries and so much more!

What a great read this book was! It was inspiring to read about the chutzpah and tireless ambition this couple experienced despite the ongoing missed deadlines, agonizing situations, a pandemic, and weathering storms, all for the price of getting out of Dodge and going after their dreams – all of course, with their four dogs.

©DGKaye2024

38 thoughts on “Sunday Book Review – Building The Beast by Jacqueline Lambert”

  6. I’ve read about this book before and it sounds amazing. I love programmes where people convert vehicles or contraptions to suit their plans, and this one sounds like it would have made an incredible viewing experience as well. Thanks, Debby, and congratulations to the authors.

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  8. I’m fascinated by people like Jackie who can take a leap of faith. I follow a couple of nomads already and enjoy reading about their adventures. This book sounds perfect for me.

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  10. Jacqueline says life begins beyond your comfort zone. That’s probably true for someone with more vim and vigor than I have right now. I can relate to living in a mobile vehicle but not a decommissioned Volvo. I’m thinking now of our mutual (nomadic) friends Liesbet and Mark, who could probably relate to some of the rigors described here. Thanks, Debby! 😀

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  12. Hi Jacqueline, Unbelievably, I’m an nonagenarian who has also had a few travel adventures in her time…although probably nothing that will match yours…but I’m full of admiration and suggest you take many notes! What a Memoir or Autobiography it could be! Here’s to Safe and fascinating travel experiences. All the very best. (Feel free to send snippets… from time to time.) May love and safety travel with you and your doggies. Cheers. Joy xx

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    1. What a beautiful comment Joy. It is fun when we can read a book and live vicariously through the author, if only for a short time. Hugs ❤ xx

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  15. What an amazing thing, to follow a dream that is so drastically different from most people’s. Kudos to this couple for having the vision, and then the determination to make it happen. No wonder it makes great reading!

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