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A review by portybelle
Toksvig's Almanac 2021 by Sandi Toksvig
5.0
Toksvig’s Almanac is a hugely entertaining journey through the year linking each date with women who should be familiar names but, in most cases, aren’t. As the author herself says, this book was always going to be incomplete as there are so many women whose stories remain untold. History generally remembers those who write it and that is usually men. Nevertheless, the book is bursting with fascinating stories of women from all over the world, from all walks of life and from many different periods of history.
As well as being very interesting and informative, the book is also, as you might expect given the author, very funny. Sandi Toksvig tells her stories with passion and wit and encourages the reader (or in my case the listener) to look further into each women’s story as she can only touch upon their lives in this book.
I listened to the audiobook version of this and as you can imagine, it was a joy to listen to. Sandi Toksvig is very easy to listen to and brought the stories of the women to life with her charming way of relating each tale. I also enjoyed finding out about folklore from around the world associated with each month and listening out for the ‘tinkle’ that signified the poem of the month. Listening to the book at the start of the year, I was concerned to learn that January is the month I’d be most likely to be eaten by a wolf! Thankfully, there didn’t seem to be many around my area this year…
As a physical book, this would be great to dip in and out of. As an audiobook, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to a few days worth of stories at a time when I was out for a walk or in the car. Toksvig’s Almanac is a warm tribute to forgotten women, well written, clever and very amusing.
As well as being very interesting and informative, the book is also, as you might expect given the author, very funny. Sandi Toksvig tells her stories with passion and wit and encourages the reader (or in my case the listener) to look further into each women’s story as she can only touch upon their lives in this book.
I listened to the audiobook version of this and as you can imagine, it was a joy to listen to. Sandi Toksvig is very easy to listen to and brought the stories of the women to life with her charming way of relating each tale. I also enjoyed finding out about folklore from around the world associated with each month and listening out for the ‘tinkle’ that signified the poem of the month. Listening to the book at the start of the year, I was concerned to learn that January is the month I’d be most likely to be eaten by a wolf! Thankfully, there didn’t seem to be many around my area this year…
As a physical book, this would be great to dip in and out of. As an audiobook, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to a few days worth of stories at a time when I was out for a walk or in the car. Toksvig’s Almanac is a warm tribute to forgotten women, well written, clever and very amusing.