An engaging, entertaining read from a well-loved comedian. Millican has a warm, distinctive voice which is well-conveyed on the page.

I really like Sarah Millican, so I knew I just had to read this book! It’s not as autobiographical as I thought it would be, but it did include little bits from her life right through from childhood to present day. A word of warning that it does contain some bad language and talk about sex and parts of the body (to put it nicely!) but then you probably already know that if you’ve chosen to read this book! Book Sarah is exactly the same as Stand-Up Sarah and as I was reading it, I could hear her saying some of the words in her ever so recognisable and lovable accent! The book does recount some of her childhood tales, talk of her first husband and of course, features her husband now, comedian Gary Delaney! It also covers some more taboo subjects, which I have heard Sarah talking about before, mainly to do with the bullying she has suffered over the years. I love how she is so frank and honest, bringing tears to my eyes at some points and then having me creasing up with laughter at others!

There were so many parts of this book which I could relate to and I could feel some of Sarah’s pain as I went along. On stage, she comes across as a confident and strong woman, and whilst I have no doubt that she is these things, and more, this book gives us a little glimpse into the weaknesses that a lot of us women go through. I have to admit, reading this book has made me love Sarah Millican just that little bit more than I already did!! It is a warm and funny read, with lots of hints and tips on how to deal with the pressures that being a woman throws at you! The book is the perfect read, not just for her fans, but for anyone who’s in need of a bit of escapism and a lot of laughs! Hilariously funny and downright warm-hearted! Would definitely recommend!

Just like having a cup of tea and a slab of cake with the lovely Sarah Millican. This book made me laugh and cry, and want to be nicer to all. Champion

I listened to this book on audiobook in the car with three of us listening and it proved to be a great 'community listen'. I was always going to listen to this on audiobook because it is narrated by Sarah herself and so we get the true meaning of everything she is saying, straight from the authors mouth so to speak. She does mention pictures and photos attached in a PDF to the audiobook but I couldn't find them, so that was the only drawback of the audiobook!

The content of this book is great though. As the synopsis suggests, this is part memoir and part self-help because each of the chapters comes complete with the 'How to Be Champion' tip. I loved this aspect of the book. Amy book that has a call to action of some kind is a refreshing read and really stands out from the crowd. I also loved the fact that this author is so open and honest about things that have happened to her and the way they have made her feel. Her true feelings are sometimes not what you might expect them to be and she talks about the value of being honest and he value of therapy, which I really appreciated!

Of course, being Sarah Millican, this book has quite a lot of colourful language and graphic detail, so if swearing and a lot of talk of bodily functions isn't your thing then you might not enjoy this book. This book did make me laugh a lot and I was able to identify with some of the anecdotes too, always a good thing. As I said at the beginning, I think the audiobook was a great way to read this and would highly recommend if you are thinking of reading this book yourself. The hardback would make a great gift though, if you have some presents still left to buy!

I’m a huge fan of Sarah Millican so when I heard she had a memoir coming out I was super excited. It was lovely to get an ARC to read ahead of publication and I’m so happy to say that this book was even better than I was expecting!

How to be Champion is part-memoir and part self-help book, and it’s just everything you’d want it to be. Sarah’s brilliant humour shines through in this book and so does her honesty and warmth.

I really loved reading this book. Sarah Millican is very open about her life and she shares personal stories alongside some advice on how to deal with similar situations that may crop up in your own life. It’s one of those books where you feel like the author is telling her story directly to you – you could be sat down with a cuppa having a chat.

This book covers everything from bad haircuts and clothing to periods to relationships and breakups. It felt like a really honest and open book that every woman will be able to relate to – I know it made me feel better about some of my own insecurities. It also made me laugh a lot as it reminded me of so many things that have happened in my own life. There are parts of this book that were moving too so it has such a great balance of how life really is. You know you’re reading a good book when it makes you feel all the feelings and this book definitely did that!

One of my favourite parts of the book was Sarah’s list of the men she’s loved in her life – Phillip Schofield is second on the list and it’s very amusing to find that the last man she fell in love with is not her husband! I could understand why the man who won her heart most recently did so though because he’s very cute (read the book to find out more!).

This is one of those books that I found I could really identify with at times; it made me laugh, it made me nod my head in agreement and it as I turned the last page I felt really uplifted. How to be Champion is a book I will hold on to and re-read but I’ll also be buying copies for my good friends.

This book is better than champion, and it will make you feel better than champion when you read it. I highly recommend it to everyone!

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

How to be Champion is out now!

I enjoyed How To be Champion. I like Sarah Millican's stand-up, and this, too, is funny (of course), human and thoughtful.

It may be worth beginning with a warning that there is a lot of very frank and intimate talk about sex and bodily functions of all kinds, often using what the TV continuity people would warn us is Very Strong Language. Personally I find this refreshing and often very funny, but if it's not your thing then this definitely isn't a book for you.

It is a book for me, though. I liked the account of her growing up and becoming a comedian; it's easy to read, it made me smile and sometimes laugh out loud. There is also some sage advice based on her experiences, many of which are very recognisable to a lot of us. However, the book really came alive for me in its last hundred pages or so, with some excellent, extended passages about the treatment of women by the media and social media, the difficulty of being a celebrity and how people feel free to say all manner of hurtful things ("If you're famous, people think you're not a real person") and so on. Well, it's obvious from this that she is a real person, and a very fine one at that. These are angry, witty and powerful pieces which are spot-on in their analysis and which everyone should read. It is this which sets the book well above the run-of-the-mill celebrity autobiography for me.

Alongside this are some very funny takes on less world-changing aspects of everyday life. As an example, having found a tin of marrowfat peas in her cupboard: "I'm quite new to peas. They were one of the things I definitely didn’t like as a child without ever having tried them. Turns out they're really nice, though. I only dabble in garden peas. I've heard they are a gateway pea." And the book ends with a wonderful extended riff on baking a cake, with a real recipe in there, too.

Overall, this gets 4.5 stars from me, but I've rounded it up because I thought the later sections were so good. Oh, and she says early on in a slightly despairing tone about the shallowness of young men, "There are men who find wit sexy…" You're right, Sarah – some of us do. And more power to you.

I quite like Sarah Millican but do not enjoy her type of comedy, so unsurprisingly I did not enjoy all of her book. However, putting aside her foul mouthed style, there is a lot to applaud.
Genuine common sense to help would be comics and general tips for empowerment.
I personally find her dirty take on most things a bit infantile, but like her vocabulary, it has made her popular and is what fans will expect. I think, it shows she has her finger on the pulse and knows exactly what works.
I find it very creditable that she launched an online magazine and then switched to podcasts rather than unethically take advertising from companies she disapproved of. Here Twitter conversation for those alone at Christmas is a real tool for good and should be publicised more and earn her a humanitarian award; @SarahmMllican75 is worth passing on for anyone likely to be alone.
Whatever her humour, she really does love her animals and it's a pleasure to read of this dog and cat !Man"
If you are a fan you will love it, if not, there are still a lot of good points.

How to be Champion is Millican’s first book and is described as ‘part autobiography, part self-help, part confession, part celebration of being a common-or-garden woman, part collection of synonyms for nunny‘. For me this perfectly sums up what I love so much about this woman – she is refreshingly normal (complete with anxiety, weight issues and love-life traumas), a warm and nurturing human-being (she wants to help other women with their own anxiety, weight issues etc) and is hugely funny in a way that makes you wince at her honesty (as you also guffaw at her utterly filthy turn of phrase). She isn’t perfect (and the Geordie word ‘champion’ doesn’t mean being the best but rather it means being good enough…), and has never claimed to be, but she is learning to be happy in her own skin – this book is offering help to others in working out how to be happy in theirs.

A cracking good book. I'm not one for autobiographies much but I needed a break from my usual genre and <i>How To be Champiom <\i> was the perfect book to choose. It was funny, witty and full of no fucks.

I found myself laughing so much during the read of this book and I thought Sarah's ability to take the piss out of herself while not giving a rats arse was brilliant. We need more people who can do that - people who are so unbothered by other people's opinions.

Hats off to you Sarah. Champion book.

As much humourous self-help guide as autobiography. How much you enjoy this depends how funny you usually find the author's borderline obscene stand up act. Personally I think she's hilarious!!!

This reads like it was knocked out by a ten-year-old with touerrets, but Sarah Millican's autobiography, "How to be Champion", has an endearing honesty that makes it very readable. She writes about her life, with each chapter appended by a few comic how-to-be-champion suggestions to get the book onto both the biography and self-help shelves.

If you're a fan of Sarah Millican's stage shows, which I am, then you won't be disappointed - the self-deprecating humour is there, as is enough references to willies and bodily fluids to keep the fans content. You do find yourself reading it in her Geordie accent. Worth a look for fans of comedy.

This is a book that I will read again and again. I’m features all of Sarah Millican’s characteristic warmth coupled with her naughty humour. She is so honest and down to earth, sharing her love for her pets and husband (yes, I think I got those in the right order), her feelings about not wanting children and acceptance of her looks (she’s gorgeous by like a lot of women she doesn’t feel it). I enjoyed reading about how Standard Issue came about. We need more people like her in the world. A terrific, heart warming read for everyone.

I love Sarah Millican finally I woman I can identify with. I just wish I'd known at school that it was ok just to be me. This book had laughing to myself like a slightly madwoman. Sarah Millican is indeed champion and is going to be my voice in my head from now on saying NO. A great read but also a handbook for life in general

I am currently sat here with my fur baby cat on my lap and a plate of cake to my right having just finished this book feeling uplifted feeling that I am not the only eccentric and I can feel proud for being so. Having just been made single i needed a pick me up and Sarah has brightened my world. Have always loved this lady and her positive attitude so expected to like this book but didn't realise how much. This book made me laugh, cry and feel like things will get better without being condescending and wishy washy. She has given me the go ahead just to be my quirky self and not be ashamed - comfortable in the knowledge that I am 'normal' and can make myself happy all by myself. On the agenda today is knicker shopping and a brand new notebook and sparkly pen...thank you Sarah

No doubt many people are going to call this book Champion and it will become a well-worn plaudits - but that is quite simply because this book does exactly what it says on the cover. 

I have never been a fan of self-help books, but if they were all like this then I would be reading far more!

First of all, I read this because I am a fan of Sarah Millican. I have seen her live and watched many of her DVDs and wandered around YouTube listening to bits and pieces. There is something about what she talks about in her stand up and general day life that makes me smile, laugh out loud and totally relate to. 

This is obviously an autobiography taking us through her days at school, right up to the present day via various jobs, various friends, men, stand up tours and hotels. 

Of course there is some crossover in her stand up routines and this book. Clearly a lot of material came from real experiences. But if you laughed once, trust me you will laugh again and again. I did a lot of laughing out loud and it was a good job I was on my own in bed! 

But you do find out more about this lovely smasher of a woman! I certainly could relate to her chapters about children and about clothes that fit or don't fit. I was horrified about the world we live in when she recounts a review she read when she appeared in the programme Who Do You Think You Are? What she says makes perfect sense and it is amazing the world we women still live in. I have experienced many a similar thing at work and it is still shocking that such a thing exists in the twenty-first century. 

A book and an author who is not afraid to tackle sex, mental health, heavy periods, depression, divorce, confidence, cats, clothes and cake with equal aplomb. The subjects are wide and varied and the laughs are there but underneath it all there is plenty to make you think. 

If you are not a fan of Sarah Millican then this probably isn't your cup of tea. But if you are then, grab a large slab of cake, a mug of tea and find out how to be champion or in my case more champion than I already am!

2.5 stars for this memoir/self-help book.

I have always liked Sarah Millican - I haven't been to any of her shows but I have enjoyed her tv appearances and I applaud what she set out to do with her Standard Issue magazine. So I was looking forward to reading this book. Unfortunately, I found I enjoyed How to be Champion less the more I read. As Sarah would say, it isn't my cup of tea.

I did laugh out loud at some parts of the book, and I very much like what she has to say about body image, self-esteem, mental health and the media. But I was rather confused as to the book's intended readership, to me a great deal of it seemed to be written very simply as though for children - but given her love of swearing and her pronouncement of what the popular girls at her school got up to, I don't think it can be for children! I also found there to be too much repetition and padding, and I was disappointed that her tolerance doesn't stretch to matters of faith. And when I closed the book I was left feeling sad: she has very obviously been asked to explain over and again why she has no children, and I'd have been happier for her if she could have retorted that it was none of our business but instead she felt compelled to explain at length why she doesn't want children. No woman owes anyone an explanation of why they do not have children.

I received this ebook free from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

A lighthearted romp through Millican's thoughts and past, similar to Caitlin Moran' s "How to be a woman" or Miranda Gary's memoir.

Anyone who knows me knows I like comic autobiography, normally with a feminist bent. I like Sarah Millican and was looking forward to this. Unfortunately it's not especially funny and lacks and feminist argument, there's not even any comment upon women in panel shows or representation on bills. There are funny moments, normally a cleverly placed word at the end of a sentence. "A dishcloth that smelled of the past" nearly had me spit out my tea (in context, here it sounds a bit lit-fict!) It's also a little overlong for this sort of Xmas fare. That said, it's carefully inoffensive and bound to sell by the bucketload.

REVIEW
I have watched Sarah Millican on a few different TV shows and one of her DVD's and found her quite funny. I also think she projects the fact she is a down to earth, normal person with everyday challenges both at work, with family and life. So as I find her quite relatable I wanted to read the blurb of this book which of course mentions different trials and tribulations from being of school age onward.

The cover features Sarah wearing a yellow/mustard cardigan with the buttons fastened wrong, and her blouse underneath the with collar half in, half out! This attire,pose, and expression on Sarah's face will make more sense as you read the book. The cover certainly did it's job and drew my eyes to it, then encouraged me to read the blurb etc and finally choose to read the book.

Sarah Milligan begins this book by taking you through her school years, explaining who she was as well as who she really wanted to be using witty, sometimes ironic tales. I was drawn in by the very first tale she tells and held to the end of the book.
As it says in the blurb this book really is part Autobiography and part self help. Along with some of the stories Sarah has added a little advice at the end of how either she dealt with the situation or could have dealt with the individual circumstances.

Sarah begins with explaining how life was for her as a youngster during the miners strike such as when the French Miners donated lots of toys for the children of the miners for Christmas. She also explains that they all had little badges saying that "Santa supports the Miners" too.
Another one of her tales is about the bomb disposal team having to be called out. Sarah's dad had returned to work just before all the miners returned to work and they received lots of threat etc so hence why the suspect package warranted the bomb disposal team to come out to check the mystery parcel. I won't reveal anymore. . . you'll have to read the book!
One tale I could identify with was Sarah talking about her mam being a hairdresser and she permed her hair and ... well it wasn't the exact perm result Sarah had wanted. (For me it was my Auntie that was the hairdresser, who lived about an hour away but we visited fairly regularly but I still cringe when I think about "having my fringe cut to last until the next visit").

Sarah tells us about the six men she has loved, Shakin' Stevens (I must be a similar age group to Sarah as I also remember dancing along to his music and later calling him "our generations version of Elvis". Second on her list is Philip Schofield, followed by a boy at school called Kevin Robson, Kirstie Alley, "Then" Husband (as she refers to her first husband) and her "Now" Husband.....she then adds one extra man she loves. . .her dog.

I really love a quirky, witty, ironic sense of humour. When having her eyes tested just because her sister was and Sarah being the one that ended up having to wear the glasses. I loved the comment that she thought the optician must be rubbish because he had to wear glasses too! Her younger self comparing the bespectacled optician to a bald hairdresser. To be totally honest this funny observation had me thinking back to the various opticians I had been to and totally truthfully its only my present optician than doesn't wear glasses!
I also really identified with Sarah's mam as a hairdresser. As I explained above, my Auntie was a hairdresser and I went on to become a hairdresser so really identified with the whole customers with unrealistic expectations bringing in photographs from a magazine asking for hair like the picture. I loved how Sarah's mum's example was "they had four hairs and a picture of Elizabeth Taylor" and Sarah's mum would say, "It's a pair of scissors I have got not a wand!"

What made the book even better for me was that there were so many things I could identify with in this book. It made the book an even funnier read! As I was chuckling, giggling and in places proper belly laughing whilst reading the book my daughter kept asking me about the book. In fact she has started to read it now, and has been laughing herself. So the book certainly appeals to different age groups. I'd say this is an over 18's read, as it is a little crude and rude in places, having said that there are also a lot of tales you could read out to under 18 year olds too!

My immediate thoughts on finishing the book were, Amazing! Amusing! A laugh out must read book!

*Only negative about the books were that the photographs Sarah regularly referred to were not available in the arc to see.

For anyone who has ever seen Sarah Millican's stand up material, you might think she's all potty mouth (in the nicest possible way), and expect the book to be similar. What you actually get is a very honest account of a tricky time at school, the struggles of being well known, the joy of having good friends, and a game involving dog poo in the garden (with the best name ever)*. Thoroughly enjoyable, and you can hear Sarah's voice as you read the whole thing.
*Don't worry, you also get stories and observations about bodily fluids and the like. And footnotes. Lots of lovely footnotes.