I must admit I blew hot and cold with this book. Some bits I loved and other bits I struggled to engage with. I have thoroughly enjoyed Nina's previous books but this one didn't quite hit the spot. It was disjointed which one expects with a 'diary' style book but sometimes totally random with odd clips from Instagram or Newspapers. I found the longer passages easier to read but then once in the flow the diary jumped to something random. Quite enjoyed the descriptions of living in North London and reminded me why I've never been tempted to live in London. There is a lot of name dropping and despite the glossary at the beginning explaining who people were, and I did have to keep referring to it to remind myself the relationships but there was also mention of others who weren't in the glossary. As expected with a diary there is a lot of day-to-day stuff, a lot of fish pie eaten and a lot of dog (Peggy) related incidences. Overall I found it a slow read finding myself having to reread passages and then realising it was a separate subject. I think it might be better read as a dip in and out book which is easy enough to do as each day is obvious.

Everyone I know loved 'Love Nina' and 'Went to London...' doesn't disappoint. The strength of the book lies in her completely direct style which never ever dissembles or sugar-coats her situations, no matter how awful or embarrassing. It is this honesty that drives the book, coupled with her lightness of touch as she learns to navigate London (and other parts of the country), makes new friends and adjust to her new life, HIghly recommended!

I love Nina Stibbe's voice and thoroughly enjoyed this thoughtful and comedic slice of life. Like spending time with a (warm and funny) dear friend.

I’d like a friend like Nina Stibbe. I might already have one. The thing is I haven’t read the diaries of my friends, but I have read Nina’s. Or at least the one she wrote about her “sabbatical year” back in London, because it’s just been published as Went to London, Took The Dog: A Diary.

If you are familiar with Nina’s earlier biographical book, Love Nina, a collection of letters from a 20ish year-old Nina to her sister Vic, then you’ll already be mental friends with her. I wasn’t and only read Love Nina after I read her latest book. The two books feel like companion pieces, with a similar cast of characters, many of which are familiar names from the London arts scene.

After separating from her husband, Stibbe decides she needs to return to London and an opportunity falls into her lap to stay as a lodger with writer and screenwriter Deborah Moggach, Debbie to her friends (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel). Stibbe spends the year mostly in London with the occasional trip to Leicestershire to see her sister and mother, back to Cornwall for a Christmas with her family, and in between, various literary festivals and events. We get a glimpse into that world, and the varying quality of hotels that come with such gigs, including mishaps with suitcases, brain fog and getting older.

In London, Stibbe explores her neighbourhood, its swimming pools (indoor and outdoor), walks the dog on the heath and spends a lot of time drinking coffee at Sam’s Café, owned by Sam Frears, one of Nina’s charges when she was a nanny and son on Stephen Frears the film director (Dangerous Liaisons, High Fidelity, The Queen), and where many of the cast of characters pop in and out. You could probably write a sitcom set in Sam’s Café (I’m surprised one of the many writers and film folk that frequent it haven’t already) and I’m keen to make a cameo there myself on a trip up to town, to see who I might spot. Nina and Debbie rub along well in their lodger/landlady relationship, sharing often a Charlie Bigham’s dinner (fish pie is a favourite) and trying to evict in a humane way a mouse that had also taken up residence.

Disappointingly in “Went to London…”, Alan Bennett doesn’t make an appearance as he did in Love Nina (he lived across the road and would often have supper with the family Nina was nannying for). Though Stibbe’s style of the writing is quite like Bennett’s own diaries, with her knack for wry observation and capturing a moment through spare dialogue.

Nina, if you’d like to bring your dog to Kent for a walk, give me a shout. I feel we will have a lot to talk about.

I believe this could be a very popular book, and certainly I enjoyed the diary style entries. Unfortunately, I struggled to settle into the pace of the book and to engage with the storyline. Perhaps, this is due to age or life experience but sadly this book was just not for me. I do wish the author the very best

Unfortunately I was unable to read this book on my mobile.
What a pity!!
I wish you lots of luck with the book.

What a pleasure to have another insight into the life and times of Nina Stibbe after meeting her younger self in her original memoir, “Love Nina.” As a naive and inexperienced nanny in London to the London Review of Books editor Mary Kay Wilmers, she mingled unknowingly with the great and good of the literary world while muddling through childcare and housework to hilarious effect. Now 61 and a successful author, she leaves Cornwall to spend a year in London as the lodger of the author Deborah Moggach, but she finds it a very different and disorienting experience. Full of witty observations and insights, with some lovely cameos of friends, family and of course famous writers, reading it is like having a catch-up with a delightfully gossipy (and sometimes indiscreet) friend. I think she could have cut out some of the details about menopause problems, prolapses and incontinence ( a bit of an obsession) but I enjoyed the inclusion of her student son and daughter and the preoccupations of their youthful circle. A light but fascinating read full of warmth and humour.

Although a bit bit of slow burner, it is well worth sticking with this book. Beautifully written and truly a great read.

I enjoyed this so much. I laughed out loud and read bits out to anyone who would listen. Loved the combination of the ordinary and the profound, the trivial and the serious bits of life. Loved the bits about her kids and the other young people; loved the bits about her family, friends, and fellow writers. I only wish it was longer.

EXCERPT: 27 March
Woke at 2am last night with the sudden full realization that I'm moving back to London, twenty years after moving away, aged sixty. With Peggy, my cockapoo, who's never been to Plymouth let alone London. Remembering how she flunked the visitor-dog trial at the care home by seeming not to love it when the examiner fiddled with her ears. 'If they can't have their ears touched, it's a no,' she said. 'Old people always go for the ears.'
Wide awake, horrified, I looked at maps online and bought a season ticket for Hampstead bathing ponds and lido, thinking it a positive move. Woke this morning to find an email from the City of London Web Forms with my receipt and giving me chapter and verse on what I can (but mostly can't) do in and near the ponds or lido, and when and with whom, and telling me an armband will arrive at my London address within five working days and that lending it to anyone could end in it being confiscated, and not to reply to the email.

ABOUT 'WENT TO LONDON, TOOK MY DOG: A DIARY': Twenty years after leaving London, Nina Stibbe is back in town with her dog, Peggy. Together they take up lodging in the house of writer Deborah (Debby) Moggach in Camden for 'a year-long sabbatical'. It’s a break from married life back in Cornwall, or even perhaps a fresh start altogether. Nina is not quite sure yet.

Debby does not have many demands – only to water the garden, watch for toads, and defrost the odd pie – so Nina is free to explore the city she once called home. Between scrutinising her son’s online dating developments, navigating the politics of the local pool, and taking detergent advice at the laundrette, this diary of a sixty-year-old runaway reunites us with the inimitable voice of Love, Nina, as the writer becomes, as she puts it, 'a proper adult' at last.

MY THOUGHTS: I expected more from this than I got. I was hoping that I would get some insight into the writing life of an author, but other than the occasional (very occasional) 'worked on manuscript', there was nothing. Nina Stibbe's life in London seemed to consist mainly of eating Macaroni Cheese and Fish Pie (not together), hanging out in coffee shops, and obsessing about menopause. She name drops other authors quite shamelessly, and writes about what is currently trending on Twitter and Instagram - really, who cares?

Although there is a 'Who's who' at the beginning of the book, there is no summary of events leading up to the commencement of the diary which would have been helpful. For example, just what is going on with Nina's marriage? She makes vague references to it from time to time and it's obvious not all is well but don't just give us a small percentage of the story. Either tell the full story or don't mention it at all. A lot of random newspaper headlines, but nothing on her thoughts of the situation/s.

In the words of Sean Dietrich, 'We must begin at the beginning, or nothing that follows makes sense.' And not much of it did.

I would like to thank Rachel Dearborn's daughter for coming to New Zealand. Apparently she was entirely responsible for the resignation of Jacinda Adern. The nation thanks you.

Disappointingly average. I seriously considered not finishing.

⭐⭐.5

#WenttoLondonTooktheDog #NetGalley

THE AUTHOR: Nina left Leicestershire for London as a teenager and after two years as a nanny she studied Humanities at Thames Polytechnic.

After graduating in 1987, she worked for a while in a Camden frock shop.

In 1990 she began a career in book publishing, working in various departments before becoming a commissioning editor at Routledge.

In 2002 she moved to Cornwall with her partner and children where she now writes, swims and makes bread.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Pan Macmillan, Picador via NetGalley for providing a digital ARC of Went to London, Took My Dog: A Diary by Nina Stibbe for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

Nina Stibbe is one of Britain's funniest authors.
Forty or so years after the enjoyable collection of letters which made up her most famous book, Love, Nina, these diaries from 2022 and 2023 chronicle her return to London with her dog, Peggy after a crisis erupts within her marriage.
It's an enjoyable read. Nina writes openly about her experiences with the menopause and occasional bouts of incontinence. Readers not mature enough to cope with that may want to avoid this.
Most readers should be fine, however.

I was sent a copy of Went to London, Took the Dog: A Diary by Nina Stibbe to read and review by NetGalley. As stated in the title this book is a diary of the author’s year living in London. It is both very interesting and amusing, with lots of insight into the life of a writer and the essence of London, seen through the eyes of a ‘visitor’. This isn’t the laugh out loud read of Nina Stibbe’s novels, though it certainly does have its moments! At times I found the layout of the prose problematic, with some of the statements/paragraphs having no delineation, though this might have just been my digital copy, and I was frustrated by the fact that reading on my kindle made it more difficult (for me!) to look back at the list of who was who and what relationship they had to the author. These were, however, small niggles and I did really enjoy the book.

If you are a fan of Nina Stibbe you will love this book.
I read Love Nina years ago and enjoyed it and while this follow up entertained me for the most part, I did find my mind wandering once I got to the mid way point. Some of diary entries made me laugh, some were fascinating but they started to feel a bit samesy after a while , then when id get to a point where I was tempted to skim through to the end, she would bring me back with a perfectly poignant or funny line and I was hooked again.

Entertaining if uneven but overall it reassured me about ageing,, made me laugh, made me think and kept me company for a few days. I somewhat missed her when I finished the book.

3..5 stars.

In her most recent diary Stibbe documents her return to London. After many years away from the capital, a discussion with another author about their plan to move out from lodgings at Deborah Moggach's, causes her to make the decision to return aged 60yrs. She attends literary festivals, dinner parties with famous writers, and regularly bumps into the great and good, whilst also documenting the concerns of her and her friends (e.g. continency, gardening and looking after animals at a small holding).

I have to admit I would be wary of becoming friends with Stibbe. It is fascinating reading about her observations of the people she encounters, they are funny and spot on, but I don't know how I'd feel about being written about. Like any diary, she writes as if the reader already knows what she is talking about, and at times this meant things went over my head. However, in every entry there was something to relate to or laugh at. I would highly recommend it.

Fun, funny and thoroughly heartwarming! There's something so beautifully compelling about Nina's writing style that can make the mundane seem riveting. Could hardly put it down!

I really enjoy reading a book which is written in diary format and I am a big fan of Nina Stibbe’s ‘Love, Nina’. So I was thrilled to be given the opportunity to read Went to London Took the Dog and it was everything I hoped it would be.

Nina’s preoccupations have changed since she was last living in London but her wit, humour and sharp observations are still there. This is balanced with a vulnerability, present in some of her diary entries. Although Nina never addresses what has lead to her taking a break from her marriage you can sense her anxiety and sadness.

Whilst on her sabbatical Nina surrounds herself with friends and family, they are a large cast and the list of ‘who’s who’ at the start of the book was very helpful and a welcome addition. There is a real sense of community, you can imagine yourself sat in Sam’s Cafe or joining in with the pub quiz. Nina’s relationships, with her children and her sister, in particular, are very heart warming.

I loved that the book was so open about the menopause and HRT. The conversations Nina has with her female friends about this were so relatable. The interactions between Nina and Debby are very funny and I would love to sit down and share a fish pie with them, whilst watching Happy Valley.

The diary entries are interspersed with news headlines of the day, which helps to anchor time and place as you are reading. I also enjoyed the addition of the Instagram adverts Nina was receiving, anyone who uses social media will be familiar with this type of random and obscure advertising and will appreciate the humour of it.

I absolutely loved reading it and would highly recommend.

I got half way through this book and went back to look at the synopsis as I couldn’t for the life of me think why on earth I ever requested it. Reading someone’s diary can be very interesting………if you do interesting things, but frankly going for a coffee is just going for a coffee in a coffee shop whether or not you happen to be with someone famous or not! Lots of name dropping, some of which meant nothing to me, which defeats the object I guess? I haven’t read any of this author’s books before, so can’t compare this to the others but I was left thinking that actually my own diary is probably more interesting - minus the celebrities, though!
Just not my cup of tea………or coffee……or toast and marmalade - although personally I prefer strawberry jam despite being a 67 yr old woman and not a child of under ten! Shock horror!
My thanks, nonetheless to the author, the publishers and NetGalley for an e-reader copy of this book.

I had really enjoyed “Love, Nina”, and was keen to read Nina Stibbe’s reports of her “follow up” experience of London life twenty years after that time. However, I have been left feeling disappointed. Whereas the first book sparkled with the joy of new experiences and acquaintances, “Went to London, took the Dog” is much more downbeat, chronicling menopausal issues, and (for me) including too much name-dropping, and repetitive daily entries. I’m sure that the author had many days in which she followed the same routine during her first stay in London, but readers are not subjected to them to the extent they are in the new book. That said, however, there are several more light-hearted episodes to generate a smile or two.

I absolutely adored Love, Nina so I was excited to pick this up.

There were some great things about it., North London was described exquisitely, and as someone who lives in the area, it felt like I was walking in and out of the pages, I half expected to bump into Nina herself around every corner.

I also loved some of the brutal honesty around women aging, kegels, menopause etc. That world is so infrequently spoken about and I found it delightfully refreshing.

Really lovely also to read about Nina’s relationship with her grown children.

However, I don’t think this book quite reached the heights of its predecessor. The necessary move from letters to diary form made it less accessible, because you lacked the helpful and lovely way NS describes who people are and how they connect to her sister.

Without that, the cast is so wide and there are so many initials and anons that I felt quite lost at times, and where the first book invited you into a world you aren’t part of, this one seemed to do quite the opposite and show you just how excluded from the clique you are.

Also I found the opaqueness around what was happening with Nunney made it really hard to read, like a half hearted mystery and a really odd choice as it blunted some of Nina’s emotional honesty and sorrow (which is shared so openly but doesn’t hit when you don’t know why she’s sad).

So overall mixed feelings, I found this one slightly more plodding than the first, but I still had lots of things I loved. Although without the North London connection, I may have abandoned it.

I have loved Nina Stibbe since I read Love, Nina when it first came out. I have read all her books and her honest and insightful reflections always make me laugh. Her newest diary Went to London, Took the Dog was no exception. It made me proper laugh and I found much of it very relatable. (We are a similar age and I have offspring in London at University..) Having said that, a lot of it went completely over my head. Stibbe is impressively clever and well connected, which is of course reflected. While much of her life remains ordinary, she has switched from being an observer to a participant in another world. This was a loss for me. I totally know there will be a market for this impressive diary, but there are not many people I will be able to recommend it to.. (I am always recommending love, Nina, and her fiction books.)
I am still glad I read it though.