A tad long-winded and veering into over-sharing many a time, this is however a good read which gives you a very good insight into the mind of a forty-something young mother in today's world. The material pertains to women in their 40s in the workplace, too, yes, but the POV of this book is written by a mother of young children, which then changes the dynamic drastically, as I'm not sure a 40-something empty-nester would find themselves too much in this narrative. Still, it does have very pertinent information regarding women today (though it is written during the pandemic, and the landscape has already shifted a lot from pre- and during- pandemic days)

I like Anniki Somerville’s Instagram so I knew I’d like this book. A lot of it didn’t apply to me - I haven’t worked in an office for 15 years - but the parts that did were amusing and reassuring and it made me laugh out loud more than once.

This is my first book by this author, I think we all hit a stage in life where we start reading more books like this. Sommerville takes us through a very personal and honest journey of the stages of her life, experiences we all can relate to or know is headed our way.

I think the thing about this book is as women we got through similar experiences, journeys, pathways albeit we each have different responses, emotions but we can identify with each of them. When Sommerville talks about hers she gives very honest insight into hers, discussions of sex, drugs, alcohol, doubts, fears. Things she experienced at work, what she saw as personal failures or challenges in her personal life and professional.

The book isn't just a woo is me or a personal offload although she does talk very frankly open and honest about so much of her life/stages. She gives advise including some from professionals and touches on some emotive topics. Menopause and how to cope, fertility issues, relationship issues, work, friendships, death, grief, loss, love.

It is a lot to cover and depending on your life a lot to digest, personal/past experiences may *trigger* some responses from your life. I found myself putting it down to digest and think about what I had read, in between other books, then go back and do the same with the next chapter, 3.5/5 for me this time. It was an interesting read, I am finding myself drawn to more non fiction books these days.

I saw this book, and I thought to myself, 'well you're not getting any younger' and the thought of ageing is utterly terrifying, so I'll give this a go.

How to be a boss at ageing is an honest, funny and thoughtful self-help book that draws on the author's own experiences along with the help of experts and other women to offer insights and advice on different aspects of ageing.

There's so much crammed into this book, from infertility to plastic surgery advice to menopause to just how to feel less invisible as you grow older.

I really enjoyed the conversational style the book was written in. It felt like sitting down to have a chat with a friend.

I'll be honest; this felt very much like a book specifically for women in their forties rather than general advice on ageing like I was hoping for. As a teenage mother who is still in her mid-thirties and is a full-time carer, (I'm a very niche market I know), I don't think I was quite the right fit for this book as most of it wasn't that relatable to my situation but there were a few tidbits of advice that I will take away from it.

All that being said, if you are in your forties and feel you're struggling a little with ageing, I would highly recommend you pick this one up.

I really enjoyed this book, I follow the author on Instagram so being able to put a face,and voice, to the writing was great as it felt like a good chat with a friend. It's brutally honest about how difficult it can be to be woman who's not young but not yet old. Picked up some great tips I especially like the one about listening to a different radio station to hear newer music-have found some great new artists to listen to. I think this book should be read by every woman who is struggling with ageing,not just physically but mentally too.

Disclosure. This post is a review of an e-book I received for free. All opinions are my own.

This isn’t one of my usual genres to read but the blurb made it sound so fun, that I decided to give it a try.

Anniki crams plenty of topics into this book including physical ageing, tiredness, infertility, older parent, work, Botox, moods, menopause, anxiety, booze, sex, grief, social media.

She compares her views at age 18 versus now at age 47 plus predicted view at age 85. Also internal voice 1 talking at odds with internal voice 2. And plenty of fab lists like 10 things to do before you’re 50 plus a great alphabet of ageing.

This book was written during the Coronavirus pandemic, so of course that gets a mention too.

A really fun read, but with good advice as well. I must check out Anniki’s podcast next.

I'm a fifty something male, so not exactly the author's target audience, but that didn't stop me from enjoying this book. The author has provided a sometimes witty often poignant look at life as an middle-aged woman raising two small children who is trying to live up to both her own expectations as well as those of society.

I liked a lot about this book, for example she talks about how she's felt about her body, drinking, and sex at different points in her life. Sometimes she enjoyed them all, other times all of them made her feel badly. I thought it was interesting how she noted that sex-education told us the science behind sex, but didn't explain how to be good at it and therefore she often had bad sex during the early years.

She is equally honest about facing death, anxiety, difficulties getting pregnant, menopause, and feeling old in a youth driven society. I really appreciated how open she was about everything and how she encourages others to do the same and remove some of the stigmas we have around sex, money, aging, etc. and it's all done with a great dose of wit.

This looked like a light-hearted book, an easy read and in the midst of expected advice I thought there might be a few gems of insight. This book delivers. Sommerville has that great voice of a friend you can chat with openly, delivering some terrific perspective while she's making you laugh. Definitely a worthy one as you're collecting your library of helpful keepers.

DISCLAIMER: This book should not be read while eating and/or drinking. Do this at your own risk. Unless you want to choke on a cake crumb or snort laugh your coffee over said book. Especially dangerous if you have a Kindle. Who knows what coffee can do to electronics.

Anniki Sommerville’s brutally honest way of talking about everything we as women should not be talking about – because, you know, it’s unladylike, controversial, a secret or whatever ridiculous reason you can think of – is at the same time refreshing and comforting.

I basically sped-read (Is that a word?!) through it over the Easter weekend, nodding my head in agreement throughout. It’s like having a best friend and cheer leader on the side-lines shouting “You’re going to be OK. Screw the world, just keep going and you’ll be fiiiiinnnnee!!!” I generalise, because it’s much more than that. Apart from being a wonderfully entertaining and hilarious read, it addresses all those sticky issues women over 40 have to deal with.

Thank God for people like Anniki, Sam Baker and Meg Matthews who, at last, are making sure that the world realises women over 40 are worth so much more than they are given credit for and that, after decades of fading into the background, they can raise their voices and demand more.

I loved this book and will be recommending it to all my over 40 friends. Maybe even to the under 40's so that they know what's coming;)

I thought this would be funny, witty and entertaining full of tips and quips.
For me I did not like the tone and it lacked substance and spirit.

Filled with humor and experiences, this book is a guide and a discussion for women going through growing pains of getting older. From dealing with menopause to surgical interventions, we can't stop our birthdays from coming but we can take a look at ourselves to try to figure out what truly makes us happy.

Thank you Netgalley and Thread Books for the opportunity to read this book.

⭐⭐⭐Thanks to #netgalley and #threadbooks for the ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. Written in a somewhat lighthearted way this book has some very helpful and doable tips on things such as dealing with millennials in the workplace and not just the usual advice regarding skincare etc. It has more of a full lifestyle approach which was very engaging and informative. #netgalley #threadbooks #howtobeabossatageing #annikasommerville #tea_sipping_bookworm #goodreads #litsy #amazonkindle #thestorygraph #selfhelp #bookstagram #bookqueen

There is a point in a woman's life where she finds herself rendered invisible. It doesn't matter who she is or what she does, the simple fact of getting older, of accumulating wisdom and wrinkles, erects a force field around who we are and what we are presumed to be capable of doing. In HOW TO BE A BOSS AT AGEING, Anniki Sommerville goes straight into the bewildering muck of ageism, both the assumptions we hammer on ourselves as well as those foisted on us by the world. Sommerville's piercing, no-holds-barred exploration and guidance on living full, vibrant lives all our days is refreshing, bold, and laugh-out-loud frank encouragement. I received an advance copy from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my unbiased review.

This book feels like a chat with a good friend to moan about how things don’t work like they used to. It’s informative and fun to read.

This was such a different type of book than I usually read, and once I got into it, I was hooked. It’s almost a partial book of fiction about the life and mind of a middle age woman, and partial self-help advice book.

The author said she “wrote this book for all the women who are growing older and feeling disillusioned, wobbly and knackered. I hope it helps.” I can say for certain that it helped me!

The book had a down to earth prose to it and was so easy and satisfying to read. I took loads and loads of pages of notes and quotes from the book while reading it, while nodding my head in emphatic empathy, or laughing uproariously in complete agreement. Parts are uproariously humorous, while others are painfully blunt.

I hope to refer back to my notes when experiencing similar experiences of wanting to please, wanting to be liked, and of course anxiety, work, insomnia and death.

Some of my favorite notable parts:
“Four reasons not to worry too much about what you look like.
No one cares.
No one notices.
No one cares.
No one notices.”

“Women often feel invisible in the workplace as they get older – they lose their confidence and often lack self-esteem. There is a lot of ageism and discrimination.”

“ I hope my friends feel they can be honest with me. I hope they’ll call me out if I’m acting like a wanker. I don’t mind if they are sometimes drains, because I am sometimes a drain too. I am aware that I need to get better at being a good friend – in the same way that I work at being a better parent.”

These lists were exceptionally funny:
Ten things to do before turning fifty
Top ten things to do when you feel old and shit
Ten clues that you’re actually getting on a bit

The resources and recommendations at the back of the book are a great touch and very helpful.

To hear the horrible and sad things that has happened to the author’s relatives and in her life was so moving and sad. To know she wrote this during lockdown, when yet another tragic event occurred in her life, is just incredible and impressive.

I definitely recommend this book. I am curious and eager to listen to her podcasts and join her FB group, too.

Publication date: March 31, 2021

#BookReview #HowtoBeaBossatAgeing #NetGalley @anniki72 @threadbooks

Both funny and informative; this felt more like having just-between-us-girls talk over brunch than a book, which made me want to keep reading. Sommerville is relatable in her writing, and I kept stopping to exclaim "I've done that" or "I've said that." I appreciated that she touched on multiple aspects of ageing, not just focusing on looks as so many other books do.

If you need a British girlfriend of a certain age, this book is for you! I so appreciated Anniki Sommerville's chatty but sincere tone. As a woman who recently turned 50, I am absolutely interested in the topic of aging with grace and style. But, even more important to me, is having the confidence to be proud of my age regardless of my outer appearance.

Read "How to be a Boss at Ageing" (British spelling of aging) if you want tips for:
-not becoming a rigid stick-in-the-mud
- managing "the menopause"
- expanding your horizons
- making peace with Botox (or whatever makes you feel good about yourself)

Most importantly, I love that Anniki emphasizes that our bodies are NOT the enemy, though sometimes it feels that way. For many of us, our upbringing, our society, and yes, misogyny are the real enemies of our right to age with peace and satisfaction.

I LOVED this book. I requested it to review as I knew someone who Anniki had interviewed for the book and was intrigued to read. I started this book at 11am in the morning and ended up reading all day and finished it just before midnight - quite honestly a book I couldn't put down. The book's layout made it easy to read - I loved the inclusion of interviews and lists! The book was so refreshingly honest.

As a new Mum I thought the spa day game tip was fabulous! Loved the shoutout to Kathy Burke being a role model. As a 16 year old, Kate Moss to me was everything so the tribute to Kate Moss section I loved (although I'd have to disagree with Anniki that I was very much a firm believer that Pete Doherty was a keeper for Kate Moss - can you tell I was obsessed with him too?!) The language used made the book feel like I was talking to a friend and anytime the word guff was used it made me laugh!

I also found the topics covered in the book really helpful and full of useful advice - for me the work after pregnancy and infertility I could really relate to, and found the topics of grief and menopause interesting (and also at points heartbreaking) to explore,

Thank you for such a brilliant read!

Admittedly both my mother and husband laughed when I said that I was reading this book. "What do you need with that?' they both asked. The answer -- everything! Being the same age as the author, it was very easy to relate to both her life experiences and what we are going through currently. The world we live in today is NOT the world we were raised in. At some point, right about this year, I think there will be a cultural shift as our generation comes to grips finally with the fact that we CAN'T do it all, can't have it all, can't be it all, and we start getting back to those parts that are gratifying and cutting away the dead weight. For anyone who feels like they just keep running and getting nowhere (and still gaining weight), this book is your permission to relax...

Anniki Sommerville's How to Be a Boss at Ageing is a laugh out loud look at aging in the modern era with plenty of anecdotal stories from her own experiences. Though it is at time repetitive (I GET it, you're a feminist), it's really relatable for any of us in middle age who are exhausted (oh those young kids!) and feel like we have to be everything and do everything at all times. I read it in a couple of days and chuckled in more than one place (ok, a lot of places), and there are plenty of spots I squirmed uncomfortably in my seat because what Sommerville was talking about hit a little too close to home.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Thread Books for this review copy.