Many thanks to Netgalley and Little Brown for my copy. I absolutely loved this book. Having recently read and thoroughly enjoyed Peas and Queues, I was excited to read this and it didn't disappoint. Sandi's writing is brilliant - moving, interesting and very entertaining. Some parts are hilarious. Such a great book.

Exactly what I expected from Sandi, full of musings and unusual facts.
Brilliant idea to use a bus journey to recall memories and memoirs

A witty, endearing autobiography, cleverly interwoven with delicious snippets about London’s buildings, history, communities and notable residents.
The book is based around journeys on London’s number 12 bus and Sandi peppers the history associated with the areas she passes through with linked incidents from her interesting life.
Although she tells her story in a decidedly non-linear way, one learns a lot about Sandi’s life, interests and values.
There are also a lot of facts in the book, as befits her lifelong love of them, and they are recounted very well.
I found this cleverly constructed book fascinating and was quite sorry when it came to an end.

I don't know too much about Sandi Toksvig but I still found this a really fun read. It's a sort of memoir but everything relates to her daily bus journey on the number 12. It's warmly written and funny throughout. While it isn't a sort of 'can't put down' read, it's a delight to pick up in the evening or read on public transport!

I really like Sandi, and have long been a fan. She is quick witted and intelligent, and that shines through in her memoirs. I loved the facts about London, and her take on many different topics. A true feminist and a kind heart.

My thanks to Netgalley & Little, Brown Book Group UK, Virago for an advance copy of this book in exchange of an unbiased review. I try to avoid spoilers and do not go into plot details except when it is unavoidable.
I am sure if you have a television, a penchant for the more subtle comedians the you will be familiar with Sandi Toksvig's persona.
Here in her memoirs we are given a deeper insight into her sense of the ridiculous, her good historical knowledge, her feminism and her plotting of the course of these snippets from her life is brilliantly laid out for us aboard a No. 12 London Transport Omnibus.
Not a book I could read in one sitting but one for the bedside table eking it out over nighttime reads and going to sleep with a chuckle.
If you do not want to hear the author's thoughts on feminism and her feeling about men then possibly this is not for you. If however, you want to see life from her particular perspective and experience then it is an education.
What you read in the book's blurb is what your going to get. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it is possible it will influence my attitude to some of life's modern mores.

Utterly adorable, and when I wasn't crying for the sad parts of Sandi's life, I was cheering her on, gasping with amazement at what she'd done, and quietly logging away all the new information about London I was discovering. Thank you Sandi!

LOVED IT. I have not read any of Sandi Toksvig’s books before but do watch her on the television. She writes as she speaks changing subject mid way which I love. I did not know her sexuality was such an issue for her in her past and I do hope, like she does, that people are more tolerant in the future. Having a gay man in the family I do see how he struggles sometimes especially meeting the right partner. So pleased Sandi has met the love of her life. Her children sound wonderful. I used to work in London and know some of the areas she has spoken about but it has made me want to revisit and get on the number 12 bus and follow her route even getting off at certain stops. I found her history lessons (for want of a better expression) fascinating and so new to me. Such a great book and would recommend wholeheartedly

Much as Sandi Toksvig says of herself here, I am not very familiar with popular culture, celebrities and TV shows so I was surprised to find she has done quite so much work on TV and radio, practically none of which I have seen. That’s by no means all, though. She describes a diverse range of projects, all very interesting and particularly her work with the Women’s Equality Party. Her musings on her family background are fascinating too. What a life she’s led so far.

I enjoyed her style of writing, following a route through south and central London but branching off in different directions, digressing into the history of the places she passes and reminiscing on her own life. Very much like an episode of QI (one of the few shows she has presented that I’ve seen) - I can see she is a perfect fit for that one. I was familiar with much of this area of London several decades ago and was delighted to be reminded of places I remember. Sandi’s observations are astute, embellished with her own brand of wit, and she comes across in print as the entertainer she is in person, passionate about her family, friendships and causes. Highly recommended.

Sandi takes us on a bus ride through the streets of London, giving us tidbits of information about people on the bus, people in the street, historical facts, memories of the areas and in between all of those anecdotes, her own memories of her life. The memories are happy ones, sad ones and some are painful to read, but all are told in an honest way and with a sense of humour even if tinged with sadness.
She made me laugh, Made me annoyed at how some things are, taught me things and gave me an intimate insight into her childhood and the person who she has become in spite of and possibly because of her history.
Thank you Sandi.

If you want a memoir with a difference then this is for you.
I’ve always been a huge Sandi Toksvig fan. I find her so funny yet she is always full of knowledge.

You are taken on a ride on the No12 bus. During which she talks about her life plus giving us little chunks of knowledge.

I totally adored this read.
Thank you to both NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group UK for gifting me this book in exchange for my honest unbiased review

Makes me want to ride the Number 12 bus when I go to London next year!

I adore Sandi - she's is funny, intelligent and knows a little about everything.

Thank you to Netgalley, author and publisher for a copy of this book. I loved it!

Not your traditional type of memoir and all the better for it. Sandi gives us snippets of her life both past and present while educating us with the history of everyday London and the people who gave many of the places their names as she travels on the Number 12 bus route. She also introduces us to the forgotten women of history (or at least some of them as there are so many). Her writing is witty, caring and clever - as she herself comes across.
I was given a copy of this book by NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review.

I'm not a great lover of 'celebrity' memoir writing because all to often I find a false modesty underpinned by an irritating self-aggrandisement that simply doesn't ring true. However, Sandi Toksvig has completely wrong footed me with Between the Stops and I loved every word. I must admit that I like her television persona so much that I was already on her side before I began reading, but Between the Stops is a book any reader can enjoy and appreciate because it's so fabulous.

Firstly I adored the writing style. I think I possibly learnt more about Sandi Toksvig as a person in the passages about the stops on the bus route and her dealings with others than I did in the pure biographical sections because her writing is natural, honest and fabulously entertaining. She genuinely seems to care about her environment, and those in it, in ways that are politically, economically, ethically and socially astute and which gave me cause for reflection in my own life. That said, I found the personal passages so honest, humane and touching. I've gone from admiring the television personality Sandi Toksvig from afar to feeling I have been privileged to share insight into a warm, feisty and wonderful woman's life.  

Between the Stops is, as I might have expected, incredibly witty, but equally it is so educational. I learnt about history, geography, sociology, psychology, politics and so much more as Sandi Toksvig journeys through her life on the Number 12 bus. That said, there's no 'worthy' sermonising here, but rather a hugely funny, touching and believable account that I found spell binding.

I don't want to spoil the read by referring too closely to the eclectic mix of personal account and other details inspired by the places on the bus route, but I truly believe a reader could open this book at any point, dip in and find an absolute gem to investigate further, ponder or simply enjoy. I will certainly look very differently at the courgettes I grow on the allotment next year and Sandi Tokvig's rejoinder that obsessively checking our emails and social media is akin to constantly opening the front door to see if there's a visitor on the doorstep is simply perfect!

I loved Between the Stops. Sandi Toksvig the person rings out across the pages so clearly, so wittily and so entertainingly that I admire her even more having read the book than I already did. I felt a genuine emotional connection to the writer. Brilliant!

Any normal autobiography goes through a linear timeline of life, highlighting amusing tales from childhood to hard lessons learnt in adolescence and adulthood, but Sandi's autobiography much like her life, as you will discover, does not always follow the societal norms.

Sandi takes you on a bus tour through London, giving facts and historical stories varying from the origin of street names to the humble beginnings of sections of London. Jumbled through the facts and history, Sandi reveals snippets from childhood and adolescence, including more serious stories regarding coming out and living life in the spotlight as an out and proud lesbian.

Overall not a very detailed account of one's life, more a guarded overview of certain events. I'm a big fan of Sandi, but I would have preferred a much more in depth or traditional account of her life to learn more about her as a person.

Thank you to Virago and Little Brown Book Club for the copy of the book to review.

Between the Stops: The View of My Life from the Top of the Number 12 Bus - Sandi Toksvig

Maybe its because I'm a Londoner that I love this book so...

Let's all take a moment to mourn for all the lost time I had with this book. Yet again, I was given the chance to read this early and yet I left it on my kindle gathering metaphorical dust. I'm so sorry Sandi, this book is amazing and I can't believe I left it so long to read it. At least I read it in time to name it one of my favourites of 2019 though, eh?

So, let me tell you about this book then.

This is, in case you hadn't gathered from the title, a memoir - but it is no normal memoir. Sandi Toksvig manages to weave stories from her own life (which is super interesting on its own) with stories from the world around her as seen from her favourite seat on the Number 12 bus, her usual way of travelling from her home to the BBC building where she works.

As you might expect from Sandi Toksvig this was charming, witty and endlessly interesting, which is one of the reasons why I loved this so much. Another reason why I loved it is because I am a Londoner (sadly, I don't live in London any more - damn capitalism pricing people out of the city) and naturally think its the best city in the world, so finding out more about the city and the people who lived there was amazing. The other reason why I loved this was because rather than shout about her own achievements, Sandi Toksvig takes the time to highlight the work of women that history has thrown by the wayside.

From London facts including where to find the blue plaque for Una Marson, 'The first black woman programme maker at the BBC', to discovering the best Spanish coffee under Southwark's railway arches; from a brief history of lady gangsters at Elephant and Castle to memories of climbing Mount Sinai and, at the request of a fellow traveller, reading aloud the Ten Commandments; from the story behind Pissarro's painting of Dulwich Station to performing in Footlights with Emma Thompson; from painful memories of being sent to Coventry while at a British boarding school to thinking about how Wombells Travelling Circus of 1864 haunts Peckham Rye;from anecdotes about meeting Prince Charles, Monica Lewinsky and Grayson Perry to Bake-Off antics; from stories of a real and lasting friendship with John McCarthy to the importance of family and the daunting navigation of the Zambezi River in her father's canoe, this Sandi Toksvig-style memoir is, as one would expect and hope, packed full of surprises. A funny and moving trip through memories, musings and the many delights on the Number 12 route, Between the Stops is also an inspiration to us all to get off our phones, look up and to talk to each other because as Sandi says: 'some of the greatest trips lie on our own doorstep'.

Right from the off, Sandi tells you that this isn't going to be your run of the mill memoir. As you can see from the blurb, the set-up is that Sandi often takes the Number 12 bus from her home in East Dulwich and stays on the route for around 7 miles into central London. I am often guilty of taking public transport and not paying that much attention to what is going on around me, but Sandi takes the time to not only take notice, but also learn about the places that she travels through and interweaves anecdotes with snippets of local history, particularly the origins of street names and the various women that lived along the route. What we learn during this book is that Sandi is intelligent, witty, articulate and incredibly passionate about injustice and inequality. She manages to be waspish about fellow celebs without being unnecessarily mean.

She takes the time to talk about great people in history and how they contributed to modern society, the incredible history of London and her own contributions to the world - but her anecdotes are humble and toned down compared to those women that have been otherwise forgotten. It's chatty, accessible and great fun.

This time of year often sees book shops overwhelmed with memoirs and autobiographies, but don't let that put you off picking up this. Between the Stops isn't a traditional memoir, it also isn't a traditional local history book, it is a unique mix of the two and is a truly engaging and warm book and like I said, it's one of my favourite reads of the year!

In fact, just to really hammer that home, here's the return of the Nick Fury Seal of Approval.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I didn't know an awful lot about Sandi Toksvig before I read this book, but I now think that if I sat next to her on the top desk of a bus (at the front of course!) we would get along famously. I enjoyed the journey through Sandi's life and London. Highly recommended.

I absolutely loved this book. I was, at times, wiping away my tears on the commuter train (I know, I really should have been on a bus), but mostly I was trying to not laugh too loudly and by that waking up my fellow commuters. Brilliant mix of history and Sandi’s own story. It was different to all other autobiographies I have read, but so perfect. This book should be top of everyone’s Christmas wish list.

I'm thinking that Sandi Toksvig is what we in the UK like to call a"National Treasure' and this book doesn't disprove that theory.
It is an autobiographical account of her life told through places she passes through on the number 12 London bus between her home in Dulwich to the BBC. All sorts of facts are dug up along with anecdotes about growing up with her adventurous parents.
As too be expected, it is hilarious but also touching. She has a self deprecating delivery which is very British.
One thing that I will say is don't read it on public transport if you don't want to show yourself up by snorting with laughter as I did.

I lived and worked in London for over twenty years and, whilst my stopping ground was mainly west London, I worked for the BBC for over half those years several of which were spent in The Langham, 33 Cavendish Square and Broadcasting House. I would often travel by tube but loved travelling on the red buses which traverse the Capital and provide such a wonderful service to its citizens. So when I saw Between the Stops by Sandi Toksvig offered on NetGalley it felt like I was being offered an opportunity to enjoy another wonderful bus journey through part of this amazing place.

We hop on the No.12 and join Sandi as she travels from Dulwich towards central London. We are then treated to a eclectic meandering of the body and mind. We are treated to snippets of Sandi’s life, told fascinating facts of London history and hear about some of Sandi’s experiences whilst travelling the No.12 route.

We are sitting with Sandi as she travels, enjoying the view from the top, front, right hand side seat. We walk with her as she hops off the bus to take refreshment along the way and enjoy stories of her life as the memories pop into her mind. As we travel along we learn some wonderful facts about the areas we travel through, some of the people (almost solely men) who have plaques or roads, buildings and areas named after them. We hear about Sandi’s sadnesses – for example, the lack of women’s history being reflected on the journey; her joys – family and friends, her work – from No 73 to Bake Off and QI (Sandi did what so many thought would be impossible by following Stephen Fry and is so right as the host of this show); her politics – ultimately co-founding the WEP; her wider travels and her life.

This is a terrific book. I read it from start to finish but could easily see others reading it a bit at a time. Using it almost like a travel guide – whether whilst actually riding the route or virtually – perhaps even adding to the array of interesting history. Or, even beginning to bring together that missing history of local women. That would be something to see and read about, wouldn’t it?

The book is not only full of information it is full of emotion – I went to see Sandi earlier this year in Nottingham – and felt this was just the way she is. She sees the humour in life but also the difficulties, experienced or shared, and has a thirst for knowledge and justice. I thoroughly enjoyed her show. Her book is as enjoyable. If you get the chance do go and see Sandi’s show ‘The National Trevor Tour‘ . “After a sell-out in Spring 2019 and due to popular demand” (TRCH) it’s touring again in 2020. Most importantly do, of course, read this wonderful book.

Thanks

With thanks to Little Brown Book Group UK, Virago Press, via NetGalley for an eCopy of Between the Stops by Sandi Toksvig. All thoughts are my own, I have not received any payment for this review.