Little did I know, when I picked Sue Perkins’ memoir up in a charity shop a month ago, just how topical it would be to feature this book now! 4 stars.
The blurb: When I began writing this book, I went home to see if my mum had kept some of my stuff. What I found was that she hadn’t kept some of it. She had kept all of it – every bus ticket, postcard, school report – from the moment I was born to the moment I finally had the confidence to turn round and say ‘Why is our house full of this shit?’
Sadly, a recycling ‘incident’ destroyed the bulk of this archive. This has meant two things: firstly, Dear Reader, you will never get to see countless drawings of wizards, read a poem about corn on the cob, or marvel at the kilos of brown flowers I so lovingly pressed as a child. Secondly, it’s left me with no choice but to actually write this thing myself.
This, my first ever book, will answer questions such as ‘Is Mary Berry real?’, ‘Is it true you wear a surgical truss?’ and ‘Is a non-spherically symmetric gravitational pull from outside the observable universe responsible for some of the observed motion of large objects such as galactic clusters in the universe?’
Most of this book is true. I have, of course, amplified my more positive characteristics in an effort to make you like me.
Thank you for reading.
My take:
For those of you who don’t live in the UK or haven’t come across shows like The Great British Bake Off, Sue Perkins is a TV presenter and one half of a comedy double act with her best friend Melanie Giedroyc. Their style of comedy is witty, whimsical and sometimes a little offbeat. And if you know who Sue Perkins is and find her funny at all, you’ll enjoy reading Spectacles.
I expected this book to be funny; but I was expecting chuckles or the odd smirk. I wasn’t expecting to nearly choke because I was laughing so hard and have to put the book down to wheeze myself back from the brink of passing out. The funniest passages were nearly all of those in which she described incidents involving her family, particularly her parents. You quickly see where she got her gift for comedy from and why she’s so good at dealing with perhaps the more eccentric contestants on Bake Off.
Her tone is as frank as you’d expect and when she recounts events which don’t put her in a good light, she doesn’t try to shirk responsibility for her actions and takes the opportunity to make apologies.
But, for all the more serious moments in her story, this book leaves you with a good feeling. It’s interesting, easy to read, funny and has just enough inside dirt on Bake Off to keep fans of the show happy.
Oh, and if you like dogs, you’ll like this as well. There’s a lot of love for dogs here. And the stories involving them are funny (and a bit sad too, but mostly funny).
Overall: if you find the Sue Perkins you’ve seen on TV likeable and amusing, this is a memoir you’ll enjoy!
Claire Huston / Art and Soul
Art and Soul 
I don’t normally go for memoirs but you’ve made me think twice about this one 🙂
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If you find Sue Perkins funny, then I highly recommend it! 🙂
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I’m going to check it out 🙂
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I’m a fan of Bake Off, but I need to catch up on some episodes! I can’t believe this whole deal with change of judges, show and everything with Great British Bake Off is actually going to happen 😦
Sue Perkins is certainly funny and I think I would enjoy this book!
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I know! I really hope it doesn’t ruin the show. It certainly will be different when it goes to Channel 4 😦
If you think she’s funny then you will definitely enjoy her book. As I said, there were at least 6 times when I was laughing out loud.
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Yes, it’ll be weird for Bake Off to be different but I hope it’s still enjoyable.
I’m always fond of funny books and it’s rare I find books that actually make me laugh!
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I LOVE Sue Perkins so this is a must have! 🙂
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In that case, then yes! I’ve always thought she was smart and funny and this book just confirmed all that 🙂
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Meant to get this before, I adore Mel and Sue (girl crush on them both since for ever!) and nearly jumped about the place when I saw they were hosting GBBO! Definitely have to get this one (God I love them both!)
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Then you will love this book! They both come over very well 🙂
I’ll miss them on Bake Off. I can only hope the BBC reward their loyalty by giving them some sort of marvellous new project to present.
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Same here, I don’t know if the spin off from bake off that they’re talking about will materialise, I’d be surprised if it did. There is so much out there they could do so fingers crossed on them staying on TV anyhoo!
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ok I’m a Brit but I don’t watch Bake Off- does that mean I will get my citizenship revoked? 😉 but I’m glad it was funny and it has piqued my interest!
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If you’ve even seen her on a panel show and thought she was funny, then you’ll find the book funny. I kept wishing I’d got the audiobook because hearing her read it would have made it even better 🙂
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haha alas- I don’t watch those either! I may as well be American cos I almost exclusively watch US TV (except Poldark cos that’s fun) Ahh that sounds good!
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Dog love and hilarious stories? I’m in 🙂 I have only started Bake Off a couple of weeks ago, still I think I need this book!
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I think you’d like it. The dogs, as is often the case in books, are some of the best characters 🙂
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I really want to listen to the audiobook for this or read it, but it’s not available in the US, which breaks my heart and annoys me a little bit. I’m glad it’s as good as it looked!
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It’s very good. I’d really like to track down the audiobook and “read” it again, but this time have Sue read it to me 🙂
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She’s just such a delight! Might have to find a way to make it work her!
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I love Sue Perkins and I’m sure I’d love this. Thanks for the info.
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If you like her and her humour, then I’m certain you’ll like her book. It’s great 🙂 Happy reading!
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Thanks for recommending:)
I have submersed myself in the worl of memoir over the last few years. I accidentally wrote one and I’m working of publishing it. To help promote it I started a blog, I’d love some feedback. Here is a link to my recent post but be sure to look around at my entire site if I happen to interest you. Am I doing it right? Lol
An Abortion Story – Dysfunctional Sarah
https://dysfunctionalsarah.wordpress.com/2017/01/15/an-abortion/#more-94
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