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amandax777's review against another edition
5.0
An absolute blast of a book. I laughed out loud at this on many occasions. I can't help thinking of Bridget Jones, similarly this is diary format, a year in the life of charity worker Liz, married to barrister Richard, with 2 young children. Liz is essentially negotiating marriage, friends, school playground/politics, and friendships, it is credible, human, realistic and more importantly the funniest thing I have read
chipie's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this, yes it might have a couple of tropes, but basically she was writing about my life :)
I laughed out out many times and often wanted to send friends pictures of fitting paragraghs.
I laughed out out many times and often wanted to send friends pictures of fitting paragraghs.
escsmith's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A funny and realistic look into the life of a mother for one year. A very enjoyable read, I do wish there had been something more to the ending but do understand that life just isn't really like that so this is in keeping with the realism.
I think this is a book that helps you look at your life and think 'it's okay, I'm not the only one', and so I think it's a positive and comforting read.
I think this is a book that helps you look at your life and think 'it's okay, I'm not the only one', and so I think it's a positive and comforting read.
carmentxx's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
the lighthearted, funny book that i wanted to read. characters so real you can’t help but root for them. an interesting study into the micro world of domestic life that is somehow the opposite of boring. all of us have our own wins and downfalls, even if that’s just accidentally knocking the bin over this morning!
jacki_f's review against another edition
3.0
Inspired by [b:The Diary of a Provincial Lady|22136898|The Diary of a Provincial Lady|E.M. Delafield|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1400346721l/22136898._SY75_.jpg|91376886] (a book that I loved), this is the fictional diary of a harassed wife and mother of two young children. It takes place over the course of a year and focuses on the juggling act that is family, parents, neighbours, school and work.
It's often very funny. You can pretty much open the book to any page and find something that will make you laugh or at least smile in recognition. But while a continuous stream of jokes works brilliantly in small doses, it gets tiresome over the course of a book. There is no plot, just a stream of life events.
I think the mistake that I made was to read this as I would read any other book, whereas it screams out to be the book on the side, the one that you read a bit at a time and then put down. Everytime I picked it up, I really enjoyed the first few pages and then started to get disillusioned by the fact that it wasn't going anywhere. The narrator seemed to get unreasonably irritated by her husband who sounded quite lovely to me, and the children felt older than they were meant to be (particularly 5 year old Evie).
This would have been hilarious as a weekly newspaper column, but as a novel it didn't quite work.
It's often very funny. You can pretty much open the book to any page and find something that will make you laugh or at least smile in recognition. But while a continuous stream of jokes works brilliantly in small doses, it gets tiresome over the course of a book. There is no plot, just a stream of life events.
I think the mistake that I made was to read this as I would read any other book, whereas it screams out to be the book on the side, the one that you read a bit at a time and then put down. Everytime I picked it up, I really enjoyed the first few pages and then started to get disillusioned by the fact that it wasn't going anywhere. The narrator seemed to get unreasonably irritated by her husband who sounded quite lovely to me, and the children felt older than they were meant to be (particularly 5 year old Evie).
This would have been hilarious as a weekly newspaper column, but as a novel it didn't quite work.
schizogleek's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
boyreadinginacherrytree's review against another edition
funny
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
5.0
indoorswoman's review against another edition
3.0
I’m a huge Lucy Mangan fan and preordered this under the original (far superior) title “Diary of a surburban lady.” Sadly just found it a bit bland with only a few flashes of hilarity. The kids were wonderful and stole every scene.
bianca89279's review against another edition
5.0
I'm in no mood for "proper" reading but thought I should try an audiobook to take a break from my incessant playing of the same two albums.
This was another one of those lucky finds when Bianca saw a new audiobook addition to the library overdrive so she downloaded it without reading the blurb or reviews, in the hope that it will be good enough to take her away for a few hours from her musical obsession - (an endeavour strongly encouraged by the members of her family. :-)) Bianca will now stop referring to herself in the third person as she's not a sociopath. :-)
Are We Having Fun Yet managed to be extremely relatable but also so damn funny, there were times I laughed with tears. I cry easily, rage even easier, I don't think I'm easily amused. So, it's no surprise that if someone/something makes me laugh, I'll go ga-ga over the author/book.
The story is well known - a middle-class family with primary school-aged kids; busy lives; working mum dealing with a million work and domestic issues and dramas. The devil is in the details. This short novel had lots of good things going for it: a realistic depiction of a contemporary middle-class urban family, written with wit and a great dose of humour. The pacing was fast and the novel never lost steam.
Lucy Mangan is not only an excellent writer, but she's also a brilliant narrator.
I need more serendipitous finds like this.
This was another one of those lucky finds when Bianca saw a new audiobook addition to the library overdrive so she downloaded it without reading the blurb or reviews, in the hope that it will be good enough to take her away for a few hours from her musical obsession - (an endeavour strongly encouraged by the members of her family. :-)) Bianca will now stop referring to herself in the third person as she's not a sociopath. :-)
Are We Having Fun Yet managed to be extremely relatable but also so damn funny, there were times I laughed with tears. I cry easily, rage even easier, I don't think I'm easily amused. So, it's no surprise that if someone/something makes me laugh, I'll go ga-ga over the author/book.
The story is well known - a middle-class family with primary school-aged kids; busy lives; working mum dealing with a million work and domestic issues and dramas. The devil is in the details. This short novel had lots of good things going for it: a realistic depiction of a contemporary middle-class urban family, written with wit and a great dose of humour. The pacing was fast and the novel never lost steam.
Lucy Mangan is not only an excellent writer, but she's also a brilliant narrator.
I need more serendipitous finds like this.