I love Nina Stibbe’s writing. Reasons to be Cheerful is the latest episode in the semi-biographical ‘Vogel Saga’ based on her teenage years living (a lot like Adrian Mole before her) as a brainy working class teenager in early 1980’s Leicester with itchy feet and a loveably dysfunctional family.

The story is a prequel to ‘Love, Nina’ and I like it even better than that marvellous book. Lizzie, our heroine, goes to work for the hideous JP, a dentist who would give the demon tooth puller in The Little Shop of Horrors a run for his money; she lives away from home for the first time, she ponders on what she really wants from life and she falls in love, all with the background of that curious period in British social history between the end of punk-rock and the start of Margaret Thatcher tightening her grip. It is very nicely done - evocative, true to life and consistently funny and it pulls gently on the heartstrings without ever being sentimental.

Highly recommended for all fans of British comedy.

Lizzie is finding her way in 1980s Leicester, a girl becoming a woman as she becomes a dental assistant and moves on top of the practice. The novel kept me interested, but I wasn’t overly wowed by it. I picked it up in the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep, coming across a major plot twist that really took me by surprise. It was true to life - happened to me in a way when I was 19 - but this twist felt odd in this story. Thus I have mixed feelings about this book to be honest!

I love Nina Stibbe's writing with every fibre of my being. She is funny and has that wonderful knack of getting the balance between dark and light so perfectly in her writing so you can be hooting with laughter one moment and crying the next. She is perfection when it comes to writing about the strangeness of every day life and the confusion of relationships. I also love that she writes about Leicester. I have lived in Leicester on and off all my life, and am probably only a few years younger than Stibbe. Her evocation of the places I know so well gives me such satisfaction and nostalgia I can't really describe it. Someone described her as the rightful heir to Sue Townsend and I feel that's very true. This is the third book about the trials and tribulations of Lizzie Vogel, starting with Man At the Helm. I was delighted to meet her again in Reasons to be Cheerful and the book was utterly satisfying in every way.

I should start this by saying I am a huge Nina Stibbe fan, and I think it helps if you have read her other books first-Love Nina, paradise Lodge, and An Almost Perfect Christmas. Reasons to be cheerful follows on from the paradise lodge days, detailing Lizzies foray into the world of dental nursing and living alone. I find Nina’s writing so humorous, it’s just like reading your own diary as you fire through it quickly- if I was as witty as Nina that is! I love the references to magazines, shops, even food that take you back in time, and the crazy tales of her family members- in particular her mother. I adore Nina and hope she continues with further autobiographies in a similar vein!

1980. Leicester. Lizzie finds herself employed as assistant to unorthodox dentist Mr Wintergreen, and resident in the flat above the surgery

I had read and enjoyed all of this author's previous books so I was grateful for the opportunity to read this one. Lizzie starts working for a dentist and moves into her own flat, gets a boyfriend, learns to drive.