Book info

• Title Reasons to be Cheerful
• Author Nina Stibbe
• Year 2019
• Genre Humour

Teenager Lizzie Vogel has a new job as a dental assistant. This is not as glamorous as it sounds. At least it means mostly getting away from her alcoholic, nymphomaniacal, novel-writing mother. But, if Lizzie thinks being independent means sex with her boyfriend (he prefers bird-watching), strict boundaries (her boss keeps using her loo) or self-respect (surely only actual athletes get fungal foot infections?) she's still got a lot more growing up to do.

Thoughts

I’ve loved the previous two books in this series that follows Lizzie Vogel through a troubling childhood and early work/life balance problems, now we’ve hit full adulthood and a full time job at a dentists. Just like the others, this is peppered with intriguing nuggets and fantastic characters, and the writing sweeps you along. I don’t feel like it was quite as strong as the others, maybe because the older Lizzie has a slightly different vibe to get used to - or because she’s now quite distant from her family. But it’s good, nevertheless.

Rating: 3 / 5