Book Review: ‘Went to London, Took the Dog’ by Nina Stibbe

As a big fan of Stibbe’s writing (and her previous autobiographical book, ‘Love, Nina’), I requested this without actually knowing what it was about. I don’t regret this at all!

In fact, it’s kind of tricky to pin down what this book is actually about. It’s Nina Stibbe’s diaries covering her move to London (with dog, Peggy, as indicated by the title) in the period of an impending divorce. Leaving her home in Cornwall, Stibbe takes a spare room in the home of author Deborah Moggach (‘Debby’) and spends a year navigating a new life in the city. Surrounded by friends (including lots of other writers) and her grown-up children, Stibbe reevaluates her life and muses on a range of topics – from the big things (life, love, family) to the very small (toads, internet adverts, swimming at the lido).

Continue reading Book Review: ‘Went to London, Took the Dog’ by Nina Stibbe

Fantastic Non-Fiction

I read a lot of non-fiction – probably something that makes me a bit different from a lot of book bloggers who (quite rightly) focus on the wealth of glorious fiction out there. I love fiction, read fiction and spent my academic life on (classic, modern and feminist) fiction.

But I have insomnia and a night-time non-fiction audiobook habit!

With this in mind, I thought I’d update on some of the brilliant non-fiction books that I’ve listened to or read recently.

Continue reading Fantastic Non-Fiction