Wonderful book about "unplugging" from technology. I really enjoyed this book. I think we could all learn a valuable lesson and spend more time together rather than on devices. This is my first book by the author. I look forward to reading more!

I loved this book! Such a funny look at modern life and how we have become slaves to the internet and how it stops us connecting with the world around us. Yes it was a bit cringeworthy in places, but somehow even those bits worked, I think we can all relate to someone like Ollie who can’t even order his tea without checking the reviews on the internet, I’m sure it would make a good gift for many people we want to give an unsubtle hint to.

I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley and Amazon Publishing. The narrative looks at a very modern problem - how many times have you been out with friends to find they spend have their time with fingers twitching over the phone? How many times do you stay up late just to finish something online? Technology os overtaking Andy's life leaving him with both physical and psychological issues. He jettisons people in favour of online gaming until things deteriorate enough to send him to the doctor who prescribes an technological detox. His best friend, a journalist, decides to follow his journey reporting on it in a local paper.

What follows is an hilarious journey through life without the aid of facebook, twitter or google. There are times when Andy's inability to do something as simple as use a road atlas seemed a bit ridiculous but there are other parts that really did make me laugh out loud. However it is not only a story of hapless non tech life but also carries a message about building dependence on anything. It typifies the writing of Nick Spalding which I invariably enjoy, it is a really engaging and pacy read set in the climate of our times

On NG it is classified as Women's lit and I find this slightly confusing as its MC is male and its message is gender neutral. To me this book fits contemporary fiction and humour, although there was rather too much information about bowel movements for my liking it was overall a real escape from real life

Utterly brilliant.

Logging Off is, on the surface, a light-hearted romcom about a man detoxing from the online world and finding love, laughs and friendship in the real world outside. There is plenty of truth and food for thought hidden under the jokes about bowel movements and blind dates.

Andy, the first-person narrator, is adorable. Not only is his tech addiction (and hypochondria) eminently relatable, but so is his narrative voice – witty, wry, self-deprecating and full of the charming, hopeless helplessness exuded by Brits like Hugh Grant and (the fictional character, portrayed so well by Renee Zellweger) Bridget Jones in romcoms. Reading his story feels like having an intimate chat with your best mate; the one that can narrate their woes in a way that has you howling with laughter, even as you sympathise.

His ‘journey’ of giving up technology for a couple of months is made far more believable because the author doesn’t just show us a one-sided, Internet-is-evil argument. Instead we see that some of Andy’s trials are caused by the Internet, but just as many are caused by lack of it. It is a more nuanced take than I had expected from the tongue-in-cheek tone, and made me think about the issue much more deeply than a preachier take on the subject would have achieved.

Plus, Andy just doesn’t come across as the lecturing type. If anything, he’s more like Brian from Monty Python’s famous satire, trying to tell everyone to stop following him and think for themselves, with about the same effect for the most part!

A few of the side characters are just cyphers – the Instagram star, the conspiracy theorist – but the ones that got more than a bit part, like Grace, Fergus, Colin, Wilberforce and Puggerlugs are all great too… very memorable.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a fun, easy read, with some romance, some laughs and some interesting takeaways about finding your own individual balance.



I’ve spent the morning googling digital detoxes to see if anyone can give me any advice that can help me.
The Internet is full of conflicting reports on their effectiveness. Some people swear by them, some people think they are the work of the devil.
This is no surprise.
I’ve already proved that one of the laws of the Internet is if you punch a load of symptoms into a search engine, it gets you diagnosed with terminal cancer every single time. Another law is that if you seek an opinion on a subject matter – any subject you like – you will get as much fulsome support for it as you do harsh criticism.

– Nick Spalding, Logging Off


Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog

If potty humor - literally, lots poop - doesn't hinder your ability to appreciate this book, you will find that it is full of many keen insights regarding our modern day dependence on technology. The contrast between the humor and the moments of understanding provides a good balance, each one keeping the other from becoming too much.
I appreciate Andy's ultimate realization that the goal is to find balance so that one can experience genuine connection with others; it is not a trite or easy answer like complete technology avoidance might be, but rather the more complex challenge of using technology intentionally.
I laughed out loud at many parts, and find myself still thinking about other more serious sections even weeks later in my own daily attempts to stay connected to both the world and those closest to me.

CAUTIONS

LANGUAGE: several uses of F***, as well as taking the name of God in vain
POOP humor: think Dumb& Dumber or teenage boy and you have the right idea, nothing too crass but be in the right mindset :)

Perfect reading for me as with this covid-19 I've been glued to every kind of media. Thought provoking, funny and relevant! It throws up lots of thoughts about how you'd cope without all the technology we use on a daily basis, I found the lack of sat-nav particularly funny and, for me, very relevant as i use it all the time..so what if??

I chuckled away all through the book and vowed to 'log off' more often myself. I just wonder if I'll cope?

Great book, thoroughly recommend to everyone!

Thanks to Amazon Publishing UK and Nick Spalding for a complimentary ARC of this novel via NetGalley and the opportunity to provide an honest review

Always an enjoyable read, I have read several of Nick Spalding's books and they always make me giggle. His writing is easy to read and the characters are always relatable. The topic of a society that is constantly 'plugged in' is very apt!

I enjoyed reading about Andy and his digital detox. Fast read, funny, slightly far fetched story about ditching the internet and finding balance.

The beginning didn’t grab this 6th decade of life reader, as I already try to balance my logged-on time with life. One third of the way in, narrator and graphic artist, Andy Bellows starts his digital detox and things become much more amusing. “Being offline has made me slow down. An awful lot. My life feels like it’s being played at half speed. It’s very frustrating. Annoyingly, it’s also quite relaxing.” He reflects on how he’s had to interact with more people since he quit tech.

Spaulding comes up with some great word pictures. “I beetle my way down the A-roads...If you’ve never had the joy of traversing the B-roads of the United Kingdom, then allow me to fill you in. They are a living, hedgerow-covered hell. They are the Kardashian family of roads.” He writes of Thorngumbald, which I looked up. It’s a real village.

The plot is what one would expect, as far as Andy meets a woman and they have fun escapades together. By this time, I am truly enjoying this light read. I appreciate the reflections on social media, relationships, life and balance.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

To be honest... I didn't give this book a fair shot. I was very off put by the beginning. Anything that starts out talking, in detail, about bowel movements is not a book for me. Everything I read after that just annoyed me.

This was a fun book to read making the topic of too much connected time easy to understand with a twist of comedy to it.. Everyone has heard the need to turn off the electronics but this resonated in a fun way.

Logging Off is a must read! Light-hearted and comical at times, but also very insightful. As an educator I have often told my students that social media can be deceiving. Nick Spaulding has shed light on this matter in a way that makes it personal. I will be recommending this to friends, family, and students!

This book made me laugh and it made me think about my own social media and presence online. Simple read and fast paced but something that I really needed at the moment. Really recommend it if you would like to have something light and fun to read.

I had only read one Nick Spalding novel prior to this, but very much enjoyed his flippant comedic writing. I was seriously worried in the beginning of this novel that it was simply going to be a regurgitation of that first read, but it turned out to just be some clever nods to his previous work.

Spalding's writing style is hilarious and realistic in its conversational style, making the interaction between characters and the internal monologues of Andy feel incredibly natural. This approach may be seen as some to be unpolished, but for me it was entertaining in a way that helped the personality of his characters really shine through. The characters themselves may be occasionally farcical, but they also have a ring of truth about them that create a bit of internal retrospection.

There were definitely a few moments of corniness and over-the-top drama, but it was all fun to read. This is a great book for those looking for some quick summer beach read fare. It is an entertaining story and cautionary tale all rolled up in one. And...once again, I will continue to seek out more of Nick Spalding's work so long as it keeps being this enjoyable.

Found this book to be exhausting, and the whole 'being connected' aspect was driving up my anxiety to the point where it turned reading this book into something I wanted to steer clear of because it just ran and ran and ran and this felt exhausting! Plus the whole emphasis on poop at the start (once is okay and even funny and quirky, but it kept going on and on like a bad teenage joke) really didn't endear the writing, the character, or the story to me

This book is definitely what you need right now in your life. Andy Bellows is addicted to his phone and lets face it technology as a whole! He is in self0destruct mode and has been told he has to follow doctors orders and take a step back from what he loves most - his mobile phone.
Follow Andy on his journey of a technology detox. From Him learning how to shop out in the wild with no apps to deliver his food or transport at a click of a button.

I really enjoyed this book. I mean it was funny but also hit home as well. I spend far too much time on my phone, especially on Social Media it made me really look about what is important whilst also making me laugh out loud. With a bit of romance that made me smile to several accidents that made me chuckle this book is definitely light-hearted and I liked that even though I know at times it has some serious incidents there is humour running throughout. It is definitely an eye opener and made me think about how much time I am sitting on my phone.

Definitely worth a read.

Andy suffers terribly from anxiety, insomnia and a range of other mental health issues. The solution? Step away from all his beloved technology and just live in the real world for sixty days.

Nick Spalding’s novels always present great social commentary, this time abut the amount of time we spend online.

Logging off took me a long time to get into it. It dragged on and I felt like telling the main character SUCK IT UP
I now understand why the character started out like a pain. It was so you the reader could see the change in him as he went through detox of tech. He became much nicer and easier to read then in the beginning. I honestly did not think I was going to finish it. I have several other books I am reading and this wasn't holding my interest until he started changing. I loved his outings and the crazy things he became involved in. His date was my favorite. The places and environment he starts to see because he isn't worried about what is on his phone. The characters he meets are too funny. Sometimes I just want to befriend him and tell to stop acting like a baby. The book changed as I did as a reader while going through his detox. What a great idea at a time when most of society is too involved in social media and really need to detox themselves from forms of tech. I would recommend this book. I just want to say to keep reading you will enjoy it.










https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3360320186

If you're not a Luddite, you'll relate to this book. Who among us can't benefit from a lesser dependence upon technology? Andy is an extreme example. This chronicles his attempt at detoxing. The obvious (yet important) message was diluted for me somewhat by the abrupt sentences, though I'm sure that's how Andy talks.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC.

Another cracking book from Nick. It is so current with everyone with their heads in a phone or tablet of some kind and as normal provided laugh out loud moments as well a lingering love story