A review by justmevictoria
Between the Stops: The View of My Life from the Top of the Number 12 Bus by Sandi Toksvig

4.5

A journey through Sandi's history as we journey through London by bus. 

 

Throughout her journey on the Number 12 bus, travelling street-by-street, media personality Sandi Toksvig interweaves her own history and thoughts with the history of London and those connected with the route of the Number 12. From her childhood split between Denmark and America, her experiences in boarding school, and the discrimination faced in university, through to her time on stage, radio and screen, the people she's worked with along the way, and her romantic life. Sandi shares snippets and anecdotes of moments of her life, all while sharing insights into London history and the identities who lived and worked along the Number 12 route. 

 

While I've been familiar with Sandi and her work, I've really only followed her through her guest appearances on Time Team (she was brought in as a guest host during two of their Time Team Live episodes) and as guest-turned-host on QI. So I didn't really know too much about her life outside of what she has shared in passing on those two shows. I found this to be a thoroughly enjoyable read and getting a deeper insight into a media personality who I really enjoy watching. 

 

As someone who is an avid viewer of QI, Sandi has written this book in a very tangential way, just like an episode of QI - there's a set topic or theme, but the guests have a way of asking questions and telling stories that are very loosely connected with the topic at hand, and Sandi has to try and bring them back to whatever the original question was about. Sandi too has a way of veering off with interesting anecdotes and historical musings before circling back to the story she started on. For anyone not familiar with QI or Sandi, it might not be the easiest read because of this structuring, but it really works for Sandi's storytelling style. 

 

I ended up listening to the audiobook, which is narrated by Sandi herself. This really helped to become immersed in the book, and not only in Sandi's own history but in the side stories she wove into the book. And even when I dipped into the ebook on a couple of occasions, I could still hear Sandi in my head as I read. It's definitely worth checking out the audiobook if you're struggling to get into Sandi's writing style or just want to feel like you have Sandi telling you her own story. 

 

Whether you're a long-time fan of Sandi Toksvig or only know her in passing through her hosting roles, or even if you have a bit of an interest in history tidbits or you want to read more queer voices, then Sandi's memoir is definitely one to add to your TBR!