Loved it ! Made me laugh a lot. Surprisingly interesting dental work and details that spill from the page like golden nuggets. Although it is the same characters as in man at the helm it can be read independently. It is a joy, whacky, irreverent and poignant. What more is needed.

I absolutely love this. Lighthearted, relatable and warming all at the same time. Parts will stick with me, for sure.

Nina Stibbe expertly takes you back in time to recreate a vision of a younger and more innocent version of her self. As with her other works, this allows the reader to remember different times with a smile and fondness. What i like about Nina’s books, is her honesty and humour. The story is a coming of age follow on her previous book when Lizzie leaves home, much to the delight of her mother, and starts her new life in a dentist surgery. Often hilarious, sometimes thoughtful, ‘this is a lovely gentle novel that was most enjoyable.

What a totally wonderful read, a book filled with quirky charecters and a story tying them all together, I loved it

This is a wierd tale describing a strange mix of mundane but interesting people set in Leicester in a time warp where everyone seems to have their quirks Lizzie is forced into adulthood by her new job as a dental nurse which comes with a flat above the surgery. She gains interesting new skills and friends too.

This is the third book in the series about Lizzie Vogel, who has moved on from Paradise Lodge Nursing home and is now working in JP Wintergreen’s dental practice. The story of Lizzie’s adventures in dentistry were by turns fascinating and horrifying and between her and her boyfriend Andy the dental technician, they seemed to do a better job than the dodgy dentist!
I really enjoyed the latest instalment and as usual Lizzie’s mother and the rest of the family provide eccentricly funny stories. These contrast with moments of poignancy and sadness and I find Nina Stibbe’s writing style easy to read, bringing Lizzie to life.
Anyone who has read the first books in the series will enjoy this just as much but you could easily read this as a stand alone - though I’m sure you would be tempted to go back and read the others! I suspect there’s another book to come and I for one will be waiting for it.

Lizzie is off to the big city, leaving behind her family to start a job at a dental practise. She has no experience but shes soon learning on the job. Before long she's hating her boss and starting to develop feelings for a young man. This tells the story of her move into adulthood and the lessons she learns along the way.

This was a good story but I must admit it wasnt as funny or good as I'd hoped. The story flowed well and the ending was really good but it just didn't pull me in enough. There were some good moments and some very sad ones that made up for other parts of the story. I liked Lizzie a lot but she was the only one I truly liked in the story. A good read but not a favourite for me.

Rest assured, this book is a lot warmer and less graphic than the opening scene of self-administered dentistry. It's one more hit book from this author, who loved an early review of mine of her second book and said so in person. Not that that has any bearing on my reaction here. No, for she succeeds again in being humorous in her thinly-disguised autobiography. I did wonder how the shtick was going to be maintained beyond this – but on conclusion it looks like it might not. It's certainly a threquel, making all her straight novels a firm trilogy. But they're not exactly straight – this one is certainly once more played for comedy, and whether discussing prolapses, social mores, driving lessons or that highlight of late '70s sophistication, the salad spinner, this really did make me laugh.

I normally have a tin eye for reading comedy, but this is not the alleged humour of the ironic, but a straight-forward observational piece, designed to show real people with real quirks. Real people can read this book, then, and they really should, even if the dental opening makes them squirm and wish to read it with their eyes shut. A strong four stars.

Lizzie leaves home. And oh the tales of horror she is told before she does! But being a teenager Lizzie does it anyway! Lizzie moves into the flat above the dentist surgery where she now works and begins to enjoy her freedom....well begins to try to enjoy her freedom......well begins to settle in.......well, actually begins to feel a little bit lonely....

I was sent a copy of Reasons to be Cheerful by Nina Stibbe to read and review by NetGalley.
Another brilliant novel from Nina Stibbe! Funny (laugh out loud at times) and poignant it tells the story of protagonist Lizzie’s endeavour to fly the family nest and start her grown up life out on her own. I think this resonates with me so much because I can relate to and ‘get’ all the little references of the time regarding music, fashion, current affairs etc, being that I’m a woman of a certain age! I was also married to a dental technician for over 25 years so could appreciate all the talk of dentures and dentistry! The author creates really well rounded, and for me, intensely likeable characters and even the bad ‘uns are vividly portrayed. I can’t wait for Nina Stibbe’s next book, hopefully she’ll continue reporting on Lizzie’s life as she grows and matures in the years to come.

I found this a most unusual book, finding it very hard to decide whether it was trying to be bizarre or not. The premise - an unqualified 18 year old becoming nurse to a racist dentist and then performing procedures on her friends - was all just too off the wall for me and I felt that there wasn’t really any point to the story. I’m guessing that by setting the action in the 1980s, the prejudiced behaviour of the dentist could be passed off as acceptable, but I personally found it all rather tacky.

Not a book for me, although I’m sure that many will disagree with me. Just not my cup of tea!

I was expecting a light hearted read which would make me smile if not laugh. This is not what this book gave me. It is sweet and nostalgic and I imagine would appeal to a certain category of readers who might be more mature. It is well written and has purpose, it just did not reach the spot for me.

Reasons to be Cheerful is a wonderfully witty follow up to Nina Stibbe's Man at the Helm. Who could fail to love a novel where one of the main characters is called Tammy Gammon?
There is sadness behind the laughs here. Lizzie Vogel implausibly gets a job as a dental technician. The dentist is a deeply selfish and odious man. He only cares about joining the Freemasons and is often racist. Lizzie hasn't had much of an upbringing from her ‘free spirit' mother, who leaves a trail of destruction in her wake.
The book is full of glorious period detail and petty prejudices. Lizzie looks to Woman magazine for her advice and dreams of being an agony aunt like Claire Rayner. Four stars.

What a delightful read!

This was the first of Nina Stibbe's books that I have read and I really enjoyed it. A light-hearted read that left you feeling good.

I have to say, as the daughter of a dentist whose family lived in a large flat about the surgery, there were some scenes that really had me giggling, like JP rushing upstairs for a quick toilet visit, or nap... like my dad!

The characters were well formed, and I loved Lizzie and her quirks.

And I have also been made aware of the fact that there are two previous books about Lizzie... may just have to get them as well...

Many thanks to NetGalley, Penguin Books (UK) and Viking for providing me with an arc, in exchange for an honest review.

I caught on to Nina Stibbe early on: gave away many copies of her first book Love, Nina at Christmas 2013. Her subsequent books have all featured on the blog: the entry on this one gives an explanation of her story.

Love, Nina was non-fiction, a collection of her own letters to her sister from the 80s; this new book is the third of her subsequent novels. (There is also a collection of Christmas pieces, here on the blog.) But it is clear that the novels are very autobiographical, and Stibbe herself has said as much in interviews, so I feel no qualms about treating her mother as a real person.

And it sometimes seems that the picture of her mother is going to be Stibbe’s greatest achievement: she is a monumental character, very real and rounded. Flawed, difficult but loving, and not a textbook great mother (see the children being sent up to London to collect over-prescribed drugs in Man at the Helm). But she is marvellous, a scene-stealer and full of good sense when she is not misbehaving. There is a moment when Lizzie (the Nina character) has bought a dress for an event and is very unsure about it. She also fears it would look better on her mother. Her mother replies that
yes, it would look nicer on her – 40 year old women were bound to look nicer in dresses than 18 years olds, they’d had 20 years of practice. The awfulness of 18 year olds in lovely dresses being partly the beauty of them, she said, which was perfect of her and made me feel better.
Well isn’t that just great on all levels?

And then there is Lizzie learning to drive:
I was hoping to be a driver more like my mother – a relaxed, one-handed type, with Snoopy stickers on the back, eating lollies at the wheel, listening to Cat Stevens and tooting at my friends. But safely.
We've all known that person...

And here is Lizzie telling her mother she has been offered a job with a flat:
‘Don’t worry,’ I said, ‘I shan’t take the flat…I’m not sure I’ll like living on my own in the city.’
‘Christ almighty, Lizzie, are you mad? You can’t turn down a flat of your own, you’d have to be crazy. Think of Cait and Baba moving to Dublin and dyeing their underwear black!’
‘Yes, but Cait and Baba had each other. I’d be alone.’
‘But you can write a novel or learn the mandolin.’


[Cait and Baba are from Edna O’Brien’s early books - see Country Girls on the blog here.]

The book is – as I always say about Stibbe – unlike other novels in its structure, and gives the impression of being very casual and picaresque, a lot of funny stories and anecdotes strung together. But actually it is just that she has done the work for the reader – it is funny and entertaining, and every so often catches you out, and is a true novel about growing-up, very satisfying.

Lizzie wears ‘a prairie skirt in cheerful pinks teamed with a handwash-only bolero’ for a job interview, while her mother chooses a safari suit for a trip to London. Love object Andy wears ‘a most attractive cable sweater with a turtle neck – the sort you might see in a free knitting pattern - and dark blue jeans’.

One day I hope someone will make a TV series of the novels – Helena Bonham Carter played Nina’s employer in a production of Love, Nina, and would also be perfect as the mother.

Blog favourite Nick Hornby produced that series, which is a nice connection with this fact, about the title of this book:

Reasons to be Cheerful (Part 3) is a great song by Ian Dury, and Hornby once memorably explained why it should replace ‘God Save the Queen’ as the British national anthem: ‘the boost to national morale would be incalculable’. I have thought of it that way ever since.

In this book Lizzie is working for a dentist,and there are some rather disconcerting scenes featuring treatment (which I was rather squeamish about). In Paradise Lodge she was a care assistant at a nursing home, and I found this picture from a contemporary fashion magazine, and cannot resist bringing it out again: It is actually an ADVERT to encourage young women into nursing, as opposed to a reconstruction of a hospital murder, or a still from a lost black comedy film called Carry On Killing Old People.






A lot of Nina Stibbe all over the blog… And I made so bold as to describe my own Love, Nina years in this entry on TV writer Carla Lane.

I loved this book! Such charming writing and story as usual from Stibbe!
I loved the main character Lizzie, who got a new job & left home. That's when the story starts. It was so charming, so funny and such fun to read in Spring. I'd highly recommend it!
Thanks a lot to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a sweet, heartwarming and quirky read that manages to be utterly hilarious!

The characters in this book are very well drawn and developed through the book. I loved reading about the odd bunch of people who make up Lizzie’s workmates and some of the antics they get up to. It was interesting to read about the different attitudes and practices of dentists back in the 80s which I hope aren’t true but wouldn’t be surprised to hear they were! This gives the book a slightly nostalgic feel to it as the 80s is perfectly evoked in all its glory.

I found this book really funny and often found myself laughing out loud at the ridiculousness of the situations Lizzie finds herself in. It was quite heartwarming to read about her attempts to carve a new career out for herself and I found myself completely behind her as she starts on this difficult journey.

I was a huge fan of the Adrian Mole diaries so I was a bit dubious at first to hear Nina’s books described as their successor. However I’m pleased to say that I thought that this description was very accurate and I enjoyed this book as much, or more than Adrian Mole.

Huge thanks to Kate from Vintage Books for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book.

Lizzie has just secured a new post as a dental assistant in a practice that could best be described as unique. Set in the 1980s, Lizzie is both quaint and progressive. Her Mother has moved on from hippy to married woman with children, but still shows her love of the unexpected. Lizzie is an older teenager navigating life. She is naive, yet confident to maintain her own views on life. Family is so important, yet irritatingly intrusive. Lizzie discusses the issues of the day with colleagues, friends and relatives. Familiar to those of us who lived through those times, but probably bizarre to those who didn't. Lizzie has big dreams, but it's only a tragedy towards the end of the book which propels her to follow those dreams through. This book was full of the minutiae of family life in the 1980s - albeit an unconventional family. The obvious talent for writing shines through to produce a nostalgic glimpse of a bygone age.

I liked this, and it was super quick to read. I like Nina Stibbe's style and her characters are well-written

Lizzie Benson, who we met in "Paradise Lodge" and "Man at the Helmet", finds a job as a dental nurse to a horrible, incapable dentist JP Wintergreen. As it turns out, Lizzie is rather good at the job, she even undertakes some dental work herself. She also moves into the flat above the practice, becomes a fan of the women's magazines she finds in the waiting room and learns a dental technician she falls for.

The characters were hilarious, but at the same time believable and relatable. Nina Stibbe has nailed the distinctive voice of Lizzie brilliantly and also, her characterizations are perfect and engaging. It was a great joy for me to read this book as it was the third one in the series and I loved to see the characters again - I've already grown fond of them and there is something special in them all - you may not like some of them but you still care about them. They're all brilliantly crafted, no matter if they're the main or the background ones.

This book is full of ridiculous situations but it doesn't mean that it is not believable, because it is. Maybe it's a bit overboard, maybe it's a bit over the top, maybe we need to read it with a pinch of salt but this is what I expect from Nina Stibbe. The events simply work here, with this bunch of eclectic characters, and it seems natural. The author is great at observing and pays incredible attention to details, and this is what makes the book so outstanding - it might be not the quickest read, the pace is rather slow but the sharp observations and dialogues simply make it an addictive and hooking read. And let's not forget the dry, sarcastic humour - it's simply brilliantly clever.

Nina Stibbe brought back the 70s and 80s - music, the way people dressed, the cars. The references were there, the characters spoke like people in those times. This story will be so relatable to many because it touches upon growing up and not really knowing what it is you want to do with your life, and it shows that it's also OK to simply find your ways as you go.

"Reasons to be Cheerful" was a brilliant and - yes! - cheerful read. It made me smile, it made me laugh, it made me cringe with embarrassment and I loved it. It was a witty, brutally honest and bitter - sweat novel, touching and poignant about coming of age, about family, relationships and grief. It's brilliantly chaotic but this is why I liked it so much, and I loved the writing style - it's straight to the point, it's dry and it's almost reportage - style but it works perfectly and Nina Stibbe is a great story - teller. If you're in a need for a smile and chuckle and bonkers characters, do not hesitate - Nina Stibbe is the right person and her books sync up to this descriptions perfectly. Highly recommended!