This book kept me interested until the end, thoroughly enjoyable . Can recommend for a light read from teens to adults..

Reading this made me cringe a bit, as I was born in the sixties and grew up in the seventies! It was a rather accurate and sad portrayal of people at that time. The story was ok, but I guess I prefer a bit of action and so for the first half of the book I was waiting for something to happen. Having said that, as the book got further towards the end I found it became quite interesting.

This was a well written story of a close knit community which made assumptions about one of their neighbours, told from the perspective of a child. We know that children are sponges for what they hear & this child no different. A touching tale; a little slow but that was fine for the nature of the topic. I would definitely recommend this book.

Sadly I really couldn’t ge tinto this book, gutted as I had heard great reviews. I even tried going back to it but with no success. I will pick it back up but right now it doesn’t grab me.

I couldn't really get into this book at all. There were quite a few characters and I found myself losing track of who was who. I thought it dragged on a bit without much of a plot. A plus point is that it was quite humorous in places.

I did read some reviews before starting the book and it did seem to be very 'marmite' - people either loved it or hated it. It wasn't really for me - 2 stars

A gentle read and quite different from the type of book I would usually choose, but I enjoyed this title even so. The two young girls, Grace and Tilly are sweet in their innocence as they try to find God to ask Him what has happened to Mrs Creasy. They make their way around their neighbours probing and eavesdropping to try and piece everything together. I have to admit to getting a little mixed up with who was who and who did what amongst the adult characters, leaving me a bit confused at the big reveal. And Tilly ... am I correct in believing the worst? I was drifting off at that point but wanted to finish up so I may have missed something important

I enjoyed this, but I found all the different people quite confusing. I liked the slow revelations of history, and I like Grace and Tilly.

"A summer of Space Hoppers and dancing queens, when Dolly Parton begged Jolene not to take her man, and we all stared at the surface of Mars and felt small."

I'm sure you know that feeling... When you're completely captivated by a book and you haven't even finished it but you already know it's going to be among your favorites. That's what I felt with The Trouble with Goats and Sheep. And I'm fully aware that this is not going to be a novel for everyone (I've read mixed reviews and we all have different tastes, after all), but it was perfect for me and just what I needed this past weekend.

"He doesn't look like a murderer," said Tilly.
"What does a murderer look like?"
"They usually have mustaches," she said "and are much fatter."

Joanna Cannon is a master of storytelling and this is just the kind of story I wish I had crafted. I love the writing, the humour, the references, the characters... I've already said it before, but small-town tales full of peculiar characters are one of my favorite ingredients in a story and I had been looking for a book that made me feel like Tall Oaks did, for quite a while. I'm so glad I found it!

"The policeman was very tall even after he took his hat off"

This is not even a town, but an Avenue. Nosy neighbors judging each other and taking matters into their own hands. In The Trouble with Goats and Sheep, we travel back to 1976, during an extremely hot summer. Mrs Creasy is missing and Grace and Tilly (two lovely ten-year-olds) are determined to find her. Because God is everywhere and so they need to ask Him to bring Mrs Creasy back. But why is He so hard to find? And is that Him on a drainpipe (that part was hilarious). I think Grace might be one of my favorite narrators ever, but Tilly was just the loveliest girl I've ever encountered in a book. She was only ten years old but I wanted her as my friend.

"You were the one who found Him, though, Tilly; not Grace"
"But we're friends" Tilly looked at me. "We go halves on everything. Even Jesus".

And if you don't usually like child narrators, keep in mind that there are plenty of chapters told from the point of view of every neighbor, as each one of them has a secret of their own... It even features flashbacks.

I knew this was a special story because it made me laugh (I highly value that in a book!) and smile and it would also be a great novel for teenagers, as I believe its message is still relevant. It's about judging others by their appearance, fitting in and what friendship really means.

So yes, I admit I have a soft spot for quirky coming of age stories, both in books and films; and The Trouble with Goats and Sheep was a wonderful one. If that weren't enough, it's also a mystery of sorts, although told in a lighter tone (even if it deals with some dark themes).

Why do I suddenly want Angel Delight?

Wonderful bitter sweet book. Sadness with ironic humour .
Well written with decent pace. Unusual topic

Set during the drought of 1976, The Trouble With Goats and Sheep begins with the disappearance of Mrs Creasy from her home on an East Midlands suburban street. Ten-year-old Grace, both confused and inspired by a rare visit to church, becomes convinced that if she and her friend Tilly are to find out what has happened to Mrs Creasy, they must first find God - so they set about looking for Him via the comically methodical method of simply going door to door.

As you can probably tell, this isn't really a whodunnit so much as a gradual revealing of secrets, some large and some small. It's about the secrets that adults keep from children, that children keep from their friends, and that neighbours keep behind closed doors. It's sometimes dark and sometimes very funny, but mostly it's somewhere in between, particularly when we see things from Grace's perspective. Grace is a perfectly realised character with the perfect mix of precociousness and naivety. She and Tilly frequently get things wildly wrong, and yet at the same time, their observations are often unwittingly perceptive. The portrayal of their friendship - as intense and occasionally volatile as any relationship between ten-year-olds is bound to be, yet somehow cemented by the fact that they are apparently bullied by everyone else - is deeply touching.

The adult characters are also extremely well-observed, with all their failings and prejudices. There are no real heroes and villains - or sheep and goats - whatever it might seem at first glance, and the more we see what goes on behind each pair of net curtains, the more we come to realise that everyone has something to hide as Joanna Cannon builds a detailed portrait of a street hiding countless small but deeply human tragedies. By setting the book in a single street, and against the backdrop of a famously oppressive, relentless heatwave, Cannon also beautifully conveys the claustrophobia of the situation. That doesn't, however, stop the book from being laugh-out-loud funny at times - a surprising vision in creosote and Grace's parents' reaction to the arrival of the street's first Asian family, in particular, make for some of this novel's most entertaining moments.

I was looking forward to reading this book as I had heard some very positive things about the author and the book itself. I really enjoyed how the author engaged us and drew us in with the characters and setting the scene across the two decades, however I felt the overall story lacked the depth that was given to the characters. I would still like to read more from the author as was very impressed by the writing.

I did not have any particular expectations for this book, having not heard of the author before and not knowing much about the content before reading. It is in fact Joanna Cannon's first novel and on the basis of reading this I shall certainly look out for more from her. The bulk of the narrative is told from the point of view of Grace, 10 years old in the long hot UK summer of 1976, but there are also 3rd person flashbacks to 1967. The story is all set in one avenue although references to outside events, cultural practices and political personages mean it is certainly not claustrophobic. The neighbours all know each other's business, or do they? The plot derives from shared experiences, secrets, lies and prejudices. All the characters are very well drawn and the setting, both in time and place, is well contextualised. There is humour, pathos, suspense and relationship angsts, at both adult and child level. Grace and her friend Tilly set out to spend the summer looking for God whom the minister has told them is everywhere. This search means the reader enters all the neighbours' homes and learns little bits of the secrets that create the whole narrative - a clever and well-constructed plot device.

My thanks go to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy of this book.

If you haven't read The Trouble with Goats and Sheep yet, then go get your copy right now and put at the top of your To Be Read pile!

I'm a little late to the game as this was published last year. It was a title I kept seeing everywhere, and I finally decided to discover what this curiously monikered story was about.

And it is such a delightful read. Set in the hot summer of 1976, being a child of the 70s myself, I found it to be full of nostalgia. From reminders of the old Nationwide programme to Kays Catalogues, it's a beautiful portrait of suburban life in the 1970s.

There are many fascinating characters depicted, but my favourite are the main characters, 10 year old Grace and her friend Tilly. Grace narrates much of the book, but some chapters are told in the third person POV by some of the adults in the story, to reveal more of the secrets a 10 year old girl would be unable to comprehend. It's a brilliant study of attitudes back then too; the general mistrust of anyone who appears a little different; and the uncomfortable embarrassment when an Indian family move into the street.

I loved the way Grace idolised the older girl Lisa, and tried to emulate her style. I think we all had that one person we looked up to and tried to be.

Grace decides she and Tilly are going to solve the mystery of the disappearance of one of their neighbours, Mrs Creasey. But first they have to find God, and they are having trouble locating him.

There's not much more I can say apart from go and read it!

This book is great. Grace and Tilly are determined to find out what has happened to missing neighbour Mrs Creasey by interviewing the other neighbours and often getting completely the wrong end of the stick they are great characters with a very strong voice.

I found this easy to read and was fascinated by the disappearance and way in which rumours and stories begin.

Set in the hot summer of 1976, two 10 year old girls set out to discover the whereabouts of their missing neighbour, Mrs Creasy. They interview friends and neighbours but stir up dark secrets and a tangled web of deceit and betrayal.
I loved the way this book made me remember that long summer of 1976. As a teenager I remember reading ‘Jackie’ and drinking ‘Babycham’ and tar melting on the roads and pavements. This novel reminded me of the innocence of youth, of the assumption that every problem could be solved and every evil banished.
Read it and enjoy!

The Trouble With Goats and Sheep was an up and down book for me, sporting high highs and low lows. It has two characteristics I generally love in my reading: releasing background information about characters in drips and drabs (like Did You Ever Have A Family) and melding a coming of age story with a crime or mystery (like My Sunshine Away and Only Love Can Break Your Heart). I was immediately captivated by ten year-old Grace’s voice, which manages to be childlike without being childish. She sounds clever and unique, yet still maintains her innocence.

"I had never met anyone who had nearly died, and in the beginning the subject was attacked with violent curiosity. Then it became more than fascination. I needed to know everything, so that all the details might be stitched together for protection. As if hearing the truth would somehow save us from it."

And Cannon’s writing, in general, blew me away…at first. She showed a propensity for writing about emotions like they are physical things and, on the flip side, giving inanimate objects emotion. Worrying was “packed away” and “made silent.” A room looked “tired and unhappy.” This writing trick piqued my interest early on, but it appeared so often that it felt gimmicky by the end. Every time I spotted another example, I’d roll my eyes and think “here we go again.” The story also took far too long to advance through the middle…I felt like we weren’t much farther at 75% than we were at 25%. That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed Cannon’s style during the first 25% and some of the surprises towards the end.

I received an advance copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
It's 1976, England, 10 year old Grace and her friend Tilly set out to find God and why one of the neighbours has disappeared.
The book is entertaining and quirky, beautifully written. Great read

I enjoyed this book which was a bit "quirky ". Would have liked a better description of Grace to build up her character. Tilly was described well, her clothes, arms up sleeves, sou'wester but Grace was left to the imagination.

I've downloaded The Trouble with Goats and Sheep before the holidays; party because I wanted to see what the fuss was all about, and party to have something new to read. I started it right before Christmas but wasn't really working so I paused it until this week. With renowned energy, after a resting holiday, it seemed to work slightly better and I finally manage to finish it.
Well let me tell you: this book bored the heck out of me (yes, I wanted to drop the F bomb sooooo much!!). I skimmed so many pages because I could give a damn about Mr. Creasy walking in his wife's footsteps; or about Mrs. Dakin's troubled relationship with her daughter or about any other murky business the neighbors were involved in.
It's such a pity this happened because Cannon delivers a brilliant social commentary on the British society. She exposes the British hypocrisy hidden behind the proverbial British politeness and other good manners.
1976, The Avenue. It's hot, it's very, very hot. A heatwave hit the Midlands(I was convinced heatwaves are just a lie; a sensationalistic ploy used by the media when they have no other news! Apparently I am wrong, or maybe today, in the “global warming” age, they are not a thing anymore :D) The people on The Avenue were pretty much suffering from so much warmth that it got to their heads, of course! Mrs Creasy suddenly decides to leave home, sending the entire avenue into a whirlwind of activity. The threat is real; the past is fast catching up with them; there's always consequences to deal with, no matter how late! The very people that were in everybody's business, now have no idea what Mrs Creasy knew nor how much they let slip. But you see, they cannot openly discuss such a delicate matter, and gossip is not really acceptable in the books of good manners: “I thought I would like a job where inquiring about everyone else's private business was considered perfectly routine.”. Therefore we get a couple of curios girls to investigate the core of the matter and learn the true meaning of friendship in the process.
Such a lovely bunch we have on The Avenue, such characters: Sheila Dakin, single mom, probably a lady of the night, problems with alcohol; Brian, the 40 odd years, dyslexic, still leaving with his mom, The Forbes – he an abusive, controlling man while Mrs Forbes seems to be with her head in the clouds all the time; Mrs Morton the former awkward wife cheated by her husband etc.
The pressure to conform is huge:
“ 'What's all this “lunch” business?' She says. 'What happened to “dinner” and “tea”?'
'Posh people say lunch.'
[…]
'I want to be posh.'
[…]
'Well, we're not,' says Sheila, 'so we'll stick with “dinner”, thank you very much. Or people around here will stop speaking to us'.” because God loves sheep:
“Why does He hate the goats so much?'
[...]
'I'm not sure,' I said. 'He only seems to like sheep.”
So imagine the horrors to have to live with someone who refuses to conform. A pervert, a creep, whatever you want to name him. (it is very interesting to observe how especially the ones that feel harder the pressure to conform will be ones to hate with such an intensity all those who resist the pressure; all those who dare to defy the others.). Measures are in order, taking matters into your own hands when nothing else works.
“ 'What other way is there?' she says. 'The rest of us need to do something.'
'A witch-hunt?'
'If needs be, Eric, yes, a bloody witch-hunt.'
[…]
'There's only one problem with a witch-hunt,' he says.
'And what might that be?'
[...]'It doesn't always catch the witch.'”.

Undefined rating. On one hand I really loved the expose on British society, plus the book is peppered with funny and witty moments. But on the other hand, it's full of details presented at such a slow pace that I couldn't really muster everything. It also failed to grip me, make me care about the characters and their stories... I am really tempted to give a rating of maybe 2*, 2.5* but because of all the little things I liked, I'd prefer letting a blank rating with the mention that this is my personal, subjective view on the book, you might actually enjoy it, so I don't want to stir away any possible readers :).

I have had this book in my amazon basket for a while and the I got offered an ARC for this and I had to grab it with both hands. The book is set during the hot summer of 1976 and is told predominately from the perspective of young Grace. The book flits between two young girls who are on a hunt to find God so that they can protect their neighbours and the rest of the close who are all hiding secrets.

I will say the only reason I didn't give this 5* is because <spoiler> the ending just confused me! I get we may never know what Margret Casey knew. But Dorothy's secret still baffles me! </spoiler>

This book was endearing and adorable and I loved the way it was written. I wish everyone could realise the troubles with goats and sheeps and that maybe they're not so different after all.