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).

Given the diary-structure, there isn't a clear narrative thread, but that doesn't matter. Instead, we get a gossipy, often-funny and lively look at Stibbe's London life and social circle. This includes a lot of famous friends - I loved that Stibbe's room was previously Sathnam Sanghera's (in Deborah Moggach's house!) and both Nick Hornby and Cathy Rentzenbrink turn up regularly. I'm assuming they have all approved this diary for publication, but it's an often-affectionate look at the quirky cast of characters who help Stibbe through this tough patch in her life. Alongside the big names, there's people we met through 'Love, Nina', plus new locals like the launderette owner and more members of Stibbe's extended family.

The diary format also allows Stibbe to grapple with topics which may be considered taboo or personal - there's a lot about menopause, Rachel Dearborn's waterworks problems, kegel exercises and HRT. This unflinching warts-and-all approach was refreshing and also educational - there was a lovely sense of female community as the women swap advice and support each other. Other topics are also surprising - there's a taxi driver story that was both shocking and made me snort with laughter, such is Stibbe's comic handling of the storytelling.

In 'Love, Nina', Stibbe was 20 - in 'Went to London, Took the Dog', she's 60, so it's definitely a different perspective as she's older, wiser and more scarred by life. However, she hasn't lost her keen eye for finding humour in situations and recording snippets of funny conversations - this book is charming and funny, albeit with a thoughtful and sometimes slightly melancholy edge.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys chatty, witty musings on a range of topics. Some people may be deterred by the lack of narrative structure due to the diary format, but there are lovely threads running through the book that hold it together nicely - things left in the house by Sathnam Sanghera and Debby's fixation with watering the garden to give a couple of examples. It's like spending time with a gossipy friend who's happy to open her heart to you - and you're left grateful for the experience.

I honestly struggled with this book. I was initially attracted by the synopsis and being a dog lover by the dog. However I found I just didn’t connect at all with the diary and found it rather flat and repetitive. Maybe a case of the right book but at the wrong time for me as I see that other readers have loved it. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the ARC of this book in return for an honest review I’m just sorry it couldn’t be more positive.

After two decades away, Nina Stibbe returns to London with her dog, Peggy, settling into the home of writer Deborah Moggach in Camden for what she calls a 'year-long sabbatical'. This escape serves as a respite from her married life in Cornwall, perhaps signalling a fresh start.

Debby's requests are simple – Nina is tasked with watering the garden, watching for toads, and occasionally defrosting a pie. This leaves Nina with the freedom to rediscover the city she once called home. As she navigates her son's online dating escapades, deals with the intricacies of the local pool's politics, and seeks detergent advice at the laundrette, this diary captures the experiences of a sixty-year-old runaway. The narrative reunites readers with the distinctive voice of Nina Stibbe, known from "Love, Nina," as she reflects on becoming, in her own words, 'a proper adult' at last.

The E-Book could be improved and more user-friendly, such as links to the chapters, no significant gaps between words and a cover for the book would be better. It is very document-like instead of a book. A star has been deducted because of this.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

Although I have never read anything by this author, I thought this sounded like an interesting book when I requested it & I have tried to get involved with this intermittently for a few weeks, but I just couldn't make a collection. It seemed to just be full of namedropping & not much in the way of events so eventually gave up.

Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me try & read & review this book. Sadly it was not one for me.

Enjoyed previous Nina Stibbe but and this is no exception. A diary of her time as a lodger in London. There are lots of amusing anecdotes, but also concerns about illness and aging. And sadness surrounding the death of a fellow author and the death of a marriage. Worth reading.

Having not read Love, Nina, I didn't know what to expect, but I expect the first book was more harrowing after all the reviews and praise it received.

In this memoir, I loved the multiple formats of twitter posts.

Some people live exciting lives and Nina is one of them: going to live with a fellow writer/author in London for a stint after her divorce.

Have not read this author’s previous title, but I saw this on Net galley and was intrigued with the storyline, after all how many of us would like to escape with our trusty pet to a different place of discovery. Not my usual type of book, but loved it and feel the need to now read her other book

This autobiographical tome has attracted mixed review so far, which made me all the more determined to read it. After twenty years away from London and nearing her seventh decade, the author moves back to the capital city to rent a room from fellow writer Deborah Moggach for a year’s sabbatical, chiefly to immerse herself once more in the literary world that she is missing in her Cornish home. In various diary entries, the reader finds out how this reacquaintance with a world left behind to raise children elsewhere has gone: there are musings about contemporary culture, familial relations, female menopause, and the seismic changes that London has undergone over the last twenty years. As reviewers before me have said, it would have been good to know how Nina’s writing unites all these different strands and musings on life as this would have lifted this book from other sexagenarian’s diaries to something special. Nevertheless, I am grateful to the publishers and to NetGalley for letting me have the free ARC that enabled this honest review, and I remain curious what Nina Stibbe will write next.

This diary is an utterly absorbing observational account of sixty-one-year-old Nina’s life as she uproots herself from Cornwall to drop herself and her cockapoo Peggy into London for a year-long ‘sabbatical’ while she navigates a break-up with her husband. She takes up lodging in Camden, in the house of fellow writer Deborah (Debby) Moggach, from where she explores the city, socialises with her growing children (who she adores) and her many literary friends (including Cathy Rentzenbrink and Meg Mason) and potters her way back to normality. She joins Hampstead swimming ponds and wades through the associated politics: she rubs shoulders with acclaimed authors and artists in encounters which should feel name-droppy, but just don’t, and still has to tackle completely mundane decisions about whether to defrost a Charlie Bigham fish pie or not, or which detergent to use at the laundrette. The overall effect is somehow completely enthralling – even her short lists of Instagram posts that she’s scrolled past are compelling. In parts hilarious, in parts heartbreaking, you can dip in and out or splurge in one sitting: either way, this is an empowering and uplifting read that feels like you’re strolling around North London in Nina’s company – and how often do you get the chance to spend time with such an interesting individual?

Featured in the December issue of Cambridge Edition magazine (print and online)

I am sorry but I had to stop reading this when it got to May. I didnt find any of it funny and it was dragging on and on. There didnt seem to be any oomph in any of the characters in the story and I didnt get why the dog was important. It read like someone complaining all the time about dog shit and rubbish in the big City and instead of doing something about it they kept complaining to themselves. It seemed as though the author of the diary didnt want to offend any of their potential readers - the other people in the book - and this appeared to hold them back on what they were truly thinking making the book organised and contrived.
The part about her peeing herself was a little funny but more cringey in line with the rest of the diary.

A book I was excited to try having read the title and synopsis.

Nina is moving to London, and she is taking her dog. Nina gives you snippets of her life and everyday troubles.

I gave this book 1 star as I appreciated the format and change in reading style, however, I could not get into the writing and found this really difficult to read. It didn’t make me want to keep turning the page which is a shame.

I enjoyed some conversational elements this book tackled such as menopause etc which I think is really important at the moment.

Not something I would press to read again, but sure someone will appreciate this title and style of writing.

Thank you to Netgalley and Picador for giving me this ARC for a honest review.

Nina is 60 and in need of a change of scenery so she decides to spend a year living in London with her beloved dog. The next 12 months are documented in this diary which contains comments about her landlady Debby, details of various meals consumed at home and in local eateries, meet ups with her adult children and her interactions with fellow members of the literary world. There's no mention of her husband or why she is moving to London until part-way through the book.

I really wanted to like this, as I have enjoyed her other writing but the book just didn't make me laugh. Maybe, I didn't get the jokes and even though there's a cast list at the front, I kept forgetting who people were. Overall, I enjoyed this book but found it lacked the humour of her other books. Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this book.

Nina Stibbe decides to move back to Primrose Hill after spending 20+ years in Cornwall. Her dog comes with her. She lodges with a fellow writer, Deborah Moggach. Life moves on inbetween coffee, famous people name dropped into the diary. I thought reading a writer’s diary may be fun to read but I did not really enjoy this much at all. Maybe it is because being a diary it is a little bitty to read. This was not my type of story and did not finish it in the end.

I so wanted to read this book, there is little enough relateable fiction or non fiction that is relateable for a more mature woman but sad to say I found it more of a self indulgent, name dropping project for the author rather than a read of much interest. There were personal aspects I could indeed relate to but just not enough. I enjoyed reading about her role as a parent and it did indeed give me ood for thought. But I find the majority of entries to be rather too whimsical.
There are a lot of characters and the book is prefaced by a list informing the reader who they all are but this is of little use to ereaders I'm afraid.

I was really quite excited to read this book. The initial few chapters were intriguing and I thought I was in for a treat. The author was embarking on a journey of self discovery returning to London in the midst of a break up. However the more I read, I became quite disappointed. The “diary” is very repetitive and I soon bored of the constant name dropping. The diary entries are of little interest and do not form a cohesive story when put together. I’m not sure if the author deliberately chose to leave out her relationship issues (although I suspect she did) which was really crucial to the book.
Sadly this book was not for me.

I have never read the book which brought Nina Stibbe fame and acclaim - Love, Nina (though I did enjoy the film starring Helena Bonham Carter). This is effectively the follow-up, forty years later. Nina is exploring a trial separation from her marriage by leaving home in Cornwall and returning to London, taking lodgings with the novelist Deborah Moggach.

Nina takes us with her on her 'sabbatical year' in London through the pages of her diary. As such, it's written in clipped and wry observations of daily life in and around Camden - the etiquette of the swimming pool and the laundrette.

She shares her experiences of being a woman of a certain age - having nightmares about thieves breaking in to the house and leaving the television but taking her HRT patches. There are the emotional challenges of having adult children, and coping with the demands of a book tour - putting her back out at the first gig and forgetting to put her suitcase in the car when she leaves one hotel for another.

As with her other book, she names the people she meets with abandon. While I love to hear behind-the-scenes gossip of well known authors, I'm always concerned that they haven't wanted to be included or known of the reference before it comes out in print. However, at least a couple of the novelists mentioned have given praise quotes, so they can't be that upset!

There's a mention here for Suffolk, when Nina leaves London for a book event at Aldeburgh with India Knight. This is frustratingly sparse on details - and no mention for the organisers, the Aldeburgh Bookshop.

I don't generally like diaries, but I did rather enjoy this. It is funny and light, and great to dip into. And there's plenty here...

The author returns to London with her dog Peggy, having lived in Cornwall for twenty years.
The beginning of the book starts with Nina giving us an interesting who's who list of names, which actually turns out to be very useful.
Her diary begins in March 2022 and ends a year later.
Having lived in London in her younger days, she initially finds it difficult to settle, finding London very different.
Soon though she is visiting and dining with author friends (much name dropping), enjoying meeting up with her daughter Eva and son Alfie and their friends, lots of cafe visits, and back to old haunts.
I really enjoyed the diary entries relating to her son and daughter.
Nina makes ordinary days sound like fun, and there are many witty observations and much humour.
A lovely light read to dip into.

I loved Nina Stibbe's Man at the Helm and the novels that followed. She is brilliantly funny in her observations and thoughts. I've laughed out loud at many of her descriptions, self deprecation, quiet arrogance and clumsiness. So I was looking forward to this book.
It started off well as she and her dog settled into their temporary home with the author Deborah Moggach for a year's 'sabbatical' away from her family home in Cornwall. So far, so good. Fish out of water type of thing. But then it soon became a tedious round and round of namedropping, coffee breaks and meals in restaurants. I know if I'd met her for coffee during her year out I would probably have punched her in the throat. This is unlike me as I know violence doesn't solve anything and is never a good look in a coffee shop.
I didn't finish the book.
Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for sending me an advance reader copy.

Okay, so I LOVED this - spoiler alert, I knew I would before the first page was turned.
I have enjoyed Nina's previous books, there is an honesty and sharpness to the writing that is cleverly understated behind the humour.
I suspect, that many people (read that as women of a certain age) who will hugely appreciate the desire to flit off to London and live at 'Debbie's' for a few months, of course, the reality is a little different, but still enviable.
In a word, this is the long literary lunch of a read with a wonderfully indiscreet insider who moves from juicy gossip and name dropping to menopausal faux pas just to keep things real.

Reading this felt like chatting to Nina, her diary entries are funny, insightful and with a lovely level of gossip which at times you don't know about who which strangely makes it more entertaining.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read Went to London, Took the Dog: A Diary