Sandi ToksvigReseñas

Cute spooky read.

An amusing collection of newspaper columns by comedian and resident of Britain Sandi Toksvig. Best read in snippets of a few at a time for greatest entertainment value.

It’s probably a sign that a book is five stars when you go buy the audio version three chapters in because you know you’re going to want to read this again. This is the perfect format for Sandi to tell her life story: an unusual framework (the route taken by the Number 12 bus in London, with each chapter being one of the stops) that allows her the opportunity to tell selected bits of her life and a lot of history alongside. This book was published in 2019, so I have heard a few of Sandi’s stories before (e.g., how she was standing with Neil Armstrong’s secretary while the Apollo 11 crew were walking on the moon) because she’s since told them on QI. But I always enjoy hearing Sandi’s stories, no matter how many times she tells them.

Delightful recount of history, culture and sights of Sandi’s bus route interwoven with the life experiences it reminded her of.

"Ich habe meinen Vater einmal gefragt, warum die Familie dieses Risiko eingegangen ist. Er sah mich an und sagte "Weil es das Richtige war"."
Ich frage mich, was heute das Richtige wäre. Aus meiner Sicht sollten wir sofort unseren Wohlstand einschränken und Putin nicht weiter finanzieren. In einer Zeit, in der in Europa wieder Krieg herrscht, ist es schwer, ein solches Buch zu lesen.
Damals, 1940 - 1943 in Dänemark, war für den Jungen Bamse, der hier erzählt, die Situation schwer, aber die Zuneigung eindeutig. Er war schon als Kind aktiv gegen die Nazis, hatte einen jüdischen Freund und wuchs in einem weltoffenen Haus auf. Bei der Rettung der dänischen Juden beteiligte er sich aktiv, wie seine ganze Familie. Es ist ein gutes Buch, das Menschlichkeit wiederspiegelt. "Wer nur ein einziges Leben rettet, der rettet die ganze Welt".

This book takes you on a historical journey through the year and showcases women in a variety of fields who are not often celebrated. Toksvig describes their lives with her usual clarity and dry wit, and the book as a whole is pleasingly laid out. There are explanations of different festivals for each month and words for each month in a variety of languages. Recommended if you like Sandi Toksvig’s writing, almanacs, or women’s history.

This book is a tale of the extraordinary heroics of ordinary people in WWII. The humor is brief, but it is not a depressing book. I don't wish for times like these, but I do wish that people would show this side of themselves without these times.

I will admit right off the mark that I am a huge fan of Sandi Toksvig, which has probably coloured by opinion of this book.

Regardless, I enjoyed the deep dive into the etiquette of various situations, even if I can't say that I necessarily agree with all of it.

Sandi's narration of her book was stellar; I always enjoy it when an author reads there own book as there is something about hearing a book exactly as the author intended it that makes it extra special.

I will admit right off the mark that I am a huge fan of Sandi Toksvig, which has probably coloured by opinion of this book.

Regardless, I enjoyed the deep dive into the etiquette of various situations, even if I can't say that I necessarily agree with all of it.

Sandi's narration of her book was stellar; I always enjoy it when an author reads there own book as there is something about hearing a book exactly as the author intended it that makes it extra special.

This memoir of gentle humor may only be interesting to fans of Sandi Toksvig or people who know London well. She loosely uses travel on the Number 12 bus to share memories and musings. She spends quite a bit of time noting the absence of women being memorialized in street names and monuments, but I think this obsession is somewhat misplaced. In my humble opinion, men often need this kind of ego reinforcement, but women just get on with the job.

A good book to dip into, I think: I first tried reading it all in one go, then one chapter after another. Both approaches felt rather repetitive, although I enjoyed each chapter's combination of memoir, trivia, and polemic. I'd have done better to approach it more like a bus trip. I do like buses.

Interesting perspective on World War II told by a 10-year-old Danish boy named Bamse. Bamse lives in a well-off family in Denmark when the Germans invaded. The Danes didn't resist the Germans and became known as "Hitler's Canary". Bamse tells the story of the eventual resistance that his older brother took the family into to save their Jewish friends. Rare tell of the Danish resistance.

"The long-awaited memoir from the star of QI and The Great British Bake Off" - well perhaps, and Sandi has certainly been busy with other projects - writing novels, plays, giving talks, and appearing on TV. The wait was worth it although not everyone will like the format of Sandi's book. If you do not care of the imbalance of women in just about any public role (well except for female detective shows which this book does not cover - but does seem to be a thing at the moment). Sandi travels by the no 12 double-decker bus on the top at the front on the RHS - say Hi if you see her. At each stop of the no 12 bus, Sandi explains what has happened over history at this spot, she has been able to add information about herself, her family, schooling, growth in her sexuality, the variety of public events she has been involved in and how she started out in the theatre. I enjoyed this memoir very much for as it is as much a guidebook as a memoir, I think I will be carrying this when I next travel to the UK, and I will sit on the top of the no 12 double decker bus, and stopping off at those points of interest Sandi has written about and thank you - done the research for us already.½

This book is about a danish boy named Bamse (danish for teddy bear). He is the son of a famous actress and a set designer. When WW2 started his older brother (Orlando) is involved in the "rebels", though his sister Masha is having an affair with a german soldier. His parents adopt the "under the radar" idea, his uncle: a nazi supporter. Basme and his friend Anton (who is jewish) decide to help Orlando (who ends up being Basme's hero). Later, when jewish people are being taken from their homes, there whole family helps take care of many jewish families, and helps them escape.
This book was very interesting. It told a story that was not very well known, not many people think about Denmark in the war. This book was based on true stories that the author learned from her father. It has a very different tone then many books about WW2. It was a sad book, but happy at the same time. It is very different then the Anne Frank book, though they both tell the story about children in the war. You realize that Denmark was much more than "Hitler's Canary" as the British nicknamed it. The author chose great characters to portray the different opinions, and support that the war got.

A beautiful book, funny, interesting, marvellous. Tahnk you Sandi Toksvig

Every now and again a break from crime fiction is sought, and everything I've ever seen written or heard spoken about Sandi Toksvig, and every time I've heard her on TV or the radio, makes me convinced that time spent in her company on those mediums is just better. So this was an immediate purchase when I heard people talking about it recently. BETWEEN THE STOPS reads EXACTLY as you'd expect something from Sandi Toksvig to read. You start out on the Number 12 bus, looking out at a streetscape, which leads you to a bit of a chat about somebody from history who did something or had something to do with that place, which leads to an anecdote from her life, which nearly always included something that made me laugh, that made me seriously annoyed with the world, and that really made me think.

For those in Australia who aren't as welded onto the ABC, BBC or UK-TV as those in this household, Sandi may or may not be as well known, but she is the guest who became presenter when Stephen Fry left QI; she, and Noel Fielding, took on The Great British Bake Off when they abandoned ship and moved to another UK tv station; and she often appears on English comedic panel shows and The Last Leg. She's funny, extremely erudite, an outspoken and articulate feminist, an activist, and, it comes as no surprise, incredibly well read, and knowledgeable about history, with women's history a specific interest. The way that she has woven observations of human nature (particularly pertaining to bus travel), the history of the places that the Number 12 passes, and the major events in her own life is not just entertaining it's profoundly enlightening.

Loved this book. Loved every single thing about it. Can not recommend it highly enough. (Those who are used to receiving books from me at Christmas may find their parcels contain one that comes as no surprise now....)

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/between-stops-view-my-life-top-number-12...

Ho hum. Was expecting more sass and flair.

This unusual story about the people and animals of a small US town in 1968 is narrated by a 10 year old British girl. It was funny, fantastic and touching.

Review first posted on BookLikes:
http://brokentune.booklikes.com/post/796530/peas-queues

Usually, I try to start my reviews with a quote that I think encapsulates what either what the book is about, or the mood, or something else that strikes me about the book.
I was having a hard time to find a quote from Peas & Queues that would encapsulate any of this.

When I went out for breakfast with a friend on Sunday, he - who likes Sandi Toksvig when she's on tv - asked me what the book was about, and for the first time in ages, I was actually stunned and unable to form a coherent thought that would describe my impressions of the book. Granted, I had only had one sip of my first cup of coffee - but usually I find it easy enough to talk about books.

So, having had the benefit of a few days' reflection, I think my main problem with the Peas & Queues is that I have no idea what the book is about:

In the preface it is explained that the book is aimed at the author's niece as a guide to modern manners and general advice. Then book starts off giving a background to manners and social conventions that became what is now known under the label of "manners". That part of the book is quite interesting - and the examples chosen from history are quite funny.

The subsequent chapters of the book are then devoted to different real life situations - living with other people, eating out, being invited, etc. And this is where the book loses the plot a little; where the descriptions become quite common sense, quite "uninteresting", for want of a better word. Also, there are fewer examples of famous incidents. All in all, the further into the book I advanced, the more it read like writing the book had become a task that had to be completed, but really, the author lost interest in it, too.

Or, maybe it is just me; maybe I just don't give a monkey's about manners.

At first, I thought this was going to be irredeemably terrible. It starts off very poorly, with a mixture of bland poems and some which are just outright crap. Sometimes, this crappiness is due to an indulgence of gibberish (see the poem 'Sumer is Icumen In' by an anonymous poet – presumably because he/she was ashamed of it) or charlatanism (the John Hegley poem 'Autumn Verses' starts with Autumn is strange stuff / anagram of Aunt mu / but not of nostalgia", whilst the Craig Raine poem 'The Onion, Memory' has the titular line "It is the onion, memory / that makes me cry", which would be laughed at if anyone tried to pass it off as solemn poetry today).

In general, however, it is the poor selection policy which makes this book underwhelming: there is an overemphasis on stereotypically 'English' poems, and consequently we are inundated with willowy descriptions of flowers, clouds, fields and suchlike, rather than useful or meaningful stuff that might entertain or challenge the reader. There's only so many times you can read of morning dew settling softly on a freshly-ploughed field or some other such nonsense before you start skipping verses.

However, I persevered and the book was largely redeemed by a number of strong choices. However, with a very few exceptions, these were poems which I was already familiar with. I didn't really gain anything from reading the book; the poems I enjoyed were mostly the refuge of familiarity from the shower of rubbish I was being exposed to. Consequently, despite a number of worthy poems from heavyweight poets, I can't really admire More Nation's Favourite Poems as an entity in and of itself."

There are a few glaring errors that have twice stopped me reading in mid sentence. First is the Pledge of Allegiance which is misquoted. The second is the mentioning of the Brady Bunch being on in early summer of 1968. It didn't start airing until September of the next year. There are also some instances of Britishisms being spoken by American characters. None of these things would bother me if the story wasn't priding itself on getting the details right.

I enjoyed the book up until the last twenty pages. I don't particularly like the ending. It felt rushed and forced. I especially didn't like what happened to Perry but then I'm a mother of a kid his age.

I wish the the author hadn't stated that it was 1968. If she had been vaguer about when exactly the book takes place, it would have been better. There are some pop culture references that she gets wrong that could have slid if it didn't have to be the summer of 1968.

Warm memoir of a series of visits to America to visit old school-friends. The visits are woven through with meditations on identity and a wistful funniness.½

Bamse's Danish parents and their friends are non traditional. His mother is a famous actress who seems to live in an dreamy, poetic world with little of her actions indicating her feet and thoughts are planted firmly on the ground.

His papa is an artist who words for a newspaper drawing political cartoons, and who also helps design marvelous stage back drops for his lovely wife.

His brother Orlando is actively working to undermine the Nazi's.

When Denmark is invaded by Hitler's armies, at first it appears life can stay the same. But, as time progresses it is obvious that there can be no complacency. As the Danish people rebel and try should random acts of violence against the German soldiers, increasingly their actions are dust in the wind.

As Bamse learns of the bigotry and hatred toward Jews by the German regime, he and his friend Anton become involved in a mission to help the resisters.

When the Nazi's invade their apartment looking for Jews in hiding, it is Bamse''s theatrical mother who finds a way to keep the Nazi's from taking Bamse's beloved friend Anton and his family.

I enjoyed this read. I like how Sandi Toksvig writes and how she explains things, perhaps a little above the head of the niece she's addressing this to, but I enjoyed it. It made me think about some of the history of some of the customs and of some of my unthinking habits.

Her core is that there are four top c's of manners: Consideration, Common sense, Context and comfort. It's a good core for examining what you're doing.

I enjoyed it, it made me think, it entertained me.

This is a charming book that is amusing in parts however the story is just not compelling. Toksvig created good characters that were very well written, but I found myself just trying to get through the book rather than enjoying the read.