There's a Hole in my Bucket: A Journey of Two Brothers

Written by Royd Tolkien

Narrated by Drew Cullingham

An inspirational, life-affirming memoir from the great-grandson of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Having grown up on their great-grandfather’s stories, Royd Tolkien and his brother, Mike, have always enjoyed adventures. So when Mike is diagnosed with motor neurone disease, also known as ALS, the brothers decide to use the time they have left to tick off as much as possible from Mike’s bucket list, from remote camping in Norway to travelling through Royd’s beloved New Zealand.

Yet, when Royd loses Mike, he discovers his brother had been writing another kind of bucket list: fifty things he wanted Royd to do after his death. His first task? Mike wants his mild-mannered brother to trip up on his way to the lectern to deliver his eulogy. What follows is a set of emotionally charged tests that will push Royd firmly out of his comfort zone.

This is the story of Royd’s journey to accomplish a challenging, humorous, and often heartbreaking list of unknown tasks that chart the brothers’ lives from childhood to adulthood. But above all, it is a story of the sibling bond, of grief—and of treasuring every moment.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: Aug 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781713592532

Royd Tolkien

As the great-grandson of J.R.R. Tolkien, Royd grew up on a diet of storytelling and entertainment, with the characters of The Hobbit firmly entrenched in his imagination. Following acting roles in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Royd was inspired to become a producer. He went on to produce two films and was developing more when, in 2012, his younger brother, Mike, was diagnosed with motor neurone disease. Royd put everything on hold to care for Mike until he passed away, on 28 January 2015. Since then, Royd has completed There’s a Hole in My Bucket, a feature length documentary that follows his journey around New Zealand fulfilling the bucket list bequeathed to him by Mike. He lives in Wales.

Reviews for There's a Hole in my Bucket

[judithrs · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

There’s a Hole in my Bucket; a Journey of Two Brothers. Royd Tolkien. 2021. Royd is the great grandson of J.R.R. Tolkien. Before his brother Mike died of motor neuron disease (British term for ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease), he left Royd a bucket list of things to do. The result is this book which include silly and daring deeds such as the following: Royd trips at the funeral to lighten the occasion; he dresses up like Gandalf and stops people boarding a plane; he goes sky diving and bungee jumping. In between the deeds Royd talks about their childhood, and the diagnosis of ALS, and Mike’s decline and death. Proceeds from the book will go to research for a cure of this disease. Not a shred of Catholicism in this book, J,R.R. must be weeping in his grave.

[ellenh_28 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Somewhere between 3 & 4 stars. Definitely a thought provoking, brotherly love kind of book, combined with challenges for Ryod as he goes about doing his brother's bucket list for him. As the Grandson of the great Tolkien, he has access to the Hobbit places and history and the movie settings are the backdrop for some of this. Worth the read!

[tjsjohanna_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Royd's memoir is a labor of love and a beautiful way to honor the loss of his younger brother. As Royd completes a customized bucket list left by his brother, he also works through his grief and gives the reader glimpses of the life each of them led and their unique relationship.

[edwardsgt · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Bittersweet account of Mike Tolkien's decline from Motor Neurone Disease and older brother Royd's attempts to complete Mike's Bucket List of, sometimes horrifying, challenges he left him following his death.

[scottjpearson · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

At first glance, two things stand out about this book. First, the featured two brothers are great-grandsons of the famous JRR Tolkien, who wrote The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Although this fact will attract much attention, it is fairly tangential to the unfolding of this tale. The author Royd’s journey takes him on the movie set of The Lord of the Rings, and some characters play small roles in this tale. The book is set mainly in New Zealand, home of the movies’ filming. However, most of the book focuses on the love of two brothers. For the themes congruence, it does not matter whether they were Tolkiens or Smiths.Second, for a thematic premise, one brother Mike dies of ALS (or in the British medical system, called Motor Neuron Disease, or MND). This is a progressive and fatal medical condition commonly known in the United States as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, after the 1920s Yankees baseball great. Mike leaves behind a “bucket list” of fifty items for his brother Royd to complete, almost all in New Zealand. Royd, a movie producer by trade, raised money to produce a documentary that tells the story of how he completed the list. He also writes this narrative with short, easy-to-read chapters.The bucket list consists of items like driving a race car, bungee jumping, singing a song in front of a large audience, and asking strangers to dance with him. Each story has an interesting twist to it, and Royd conveys this well. Clearly, he holds his brother Mike in high regard and in deep love. The resulting creative venture of this book illustrates just how dynamic that relationship was.It’s hard to criticize a work based on such a pure love and whose theme is living life to the fullest regardless of limitations. However, this story is probably better suited for the documentary than a book. Royd does not possess the story-telling strengths of his great-grandfather. (I did find a few British words sprinkled throughout the book and enjoyed the challenge of looking them up. The elder Tolkien would likely be proud!) The stories are not terrible; rather, they seem more adapted to a screen. This book appears to be a secondary thought rather than a primary vision of the project. After finishing this book, I would like to see the documentary. Again, Royd produces movies for a living, and the documentary seems much more natural of an endeavor for him.The audience for this book is targeted yet still broad. Themes of brotherly love and a romantic ideal of manhood permeate every page. Adventure-seeking males will like this book. Those who travel to New Zealand might also find much to explore here, both in life and in the country. The nation comes out quite well in this book with adventures overflowing from each chapter. Medically inclined readers will also benefit from reading an up-close account of the debilitation of ALS. This condition deserves continued focus due to the lack of effective treatments. Even readers interested in the human psyche will find deeper understanding in Royd’s complicated grief and how practices can facilitate healing. Overall, Royd’s take – and Mike’s take – on life is something most humans can learn from. I’m glad these loving brothers shared it with us readers.