Thoroughly enjoyable
A group of widely disparate people (and a dog) band together to save their local community centre (and, quite incidentally, themselves). They are led, or maybe pushed, by an elderly woman with a dark and disgraceful past.
There’s a lively and entertaining plot, some well handled sadness and the characters (including an abused wife and a teenage, single father)fit together well and develop just enough to give the story an extra kick.
It was a light read but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Clare Pooley is a writer who brings characters to life. I've read The Authenticity Project and The People on Platform 5 also by Pooley, and I've loved them all ❤️ so there's no surprises when I'll tell you I absolutely loved How To Age Disgracefully as well 🥳

There's never a central character as such in Pooley's books. It's more to do with a whole group of people that are poles apart. But Pooley brings them together in such a way that it just fills your heart.

Here, the Mandel Community Centre is being shut down by the council. So, the community comes together to try and raise the £80k that is needed. Pooley breaks down all your stereotypical characters and shines a light on the fact that people are different and should be celebrated for that fact ❤️

If you've not read a book by Clare Pooley yet. Then what are you waiting for.... I'll be here waiting to hear what you think and you can thank me later 😊

This was a much needed fun-break from a series of bad thrillers.

I don’t usually read books in this genre but I’m glad I did. And yes, it does start a bit slow but eventually picks-up the tempo.

It’s an easy, quirky, and just a perfect read for the long summer days.

This book had me laughing, wanting to cry and reflecting all at one time.

The characters were so so easy to fall in love with and it gave me Thursday murder club vibes - can’t beat it!

Another huge win from Clare pooney

As the title indicates it’s mainly about a group of older people, who belong to a community centre, and their various pasts and quirky exploits.
A gentle and humorous read

On her 70th birthday Daphne feels that life is passing her by so she decides to join a local club. There she meets a disparate group of pensioners and is witness to a sudden death. Invigorated Daphne works alongside her new friends to support a single teenage father, to help their leader escape from her marriage and to plot to save their community centre. However as Daphne revels in her new life, her old one threatens it all.
This is a delightful but lightweight novel. It's great fun and passes a couple of hours pleasantly however, it's not great literature and it's not in the slightest bit challenging. Having said that, if the reader is in need of a little light relief it is great!

I absolutely loved this book! Not quite sure at the beginning, but as I got further and further into the story, it became more and more mesmerising, and extremely difficult to put down.
It was a shame when the book was over, but a glorious ending. Go Daphne!

An enjoyable, delightful treat of a novel featuring a fantastic cast of characters including Maggie the dog. I loved every minute, the quirky humour and the non stereotypical personalities.

Thanks to #Netgalley and publishers for an #ARC of #HowtoAgeDisgracefully.

Thus is a funny, feel good book that can really make you feel better about people. Enjoyable read, highly recommend.

Another lovely read from Clare Pooley with a cast of colourful, multi-generational characters and a dog called Maggie Thatcher, what's not to like? Like Clare's previous books, this one gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling as Daphne and the others try to save the community centre. I have to admit that I didn't enjoy this one as much as the first two (People on Platform Five is one of my favourite books ever) but it's still 5 stars from me, as I'd have given the other two 6 or 7 stars if that had been allowed!

Daphne hasn't really left her apartment since she moved there 15 years ago, but on her 70th birthday she decides that she needs to get out more and make friends so she joins the Senior Citizens club at the local Community Centre. There are a handful of other members in the group which is run by Lydia, who has returned to work after her daughters left home.
After the ceiling in the room they use collapses, the Council want to close the building but have a fight on their hands when Daphne gets involved. What is Daphne hiding from her past? An amusing story very well told.

This is genuinely one of the funniest books I’ve read in ages! It mainly centres around a group of over seventies who join a new social club for the elderly, and come together to try and save the building the club is hosted in from being demolished by the council. We also get the perspective of Ziggy, a teenage dad whose daughter uses the building for her council-funded nursery place.

I loved getting to know each of the characters and their individual struggles/back stories - Daphne really reminded me of Elizabeth from Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series, she was my absolute favourite. Five stars easily - would love to read a sequel!

*Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

I was sent a copy of How to Age Disgracefully by Clare Pooley to read and review by NetGalley. This is a really enjoyable romp of a novel! It was really refreshing to read a book that centred around an older age group, albeit with rather an archetypal and outdated view of ‘elderly’ people in this day and age – my personal experience of those who are 70+ does not fit entirely with the characters, 70 is the new 40 after all!!! This is an engaging read with quite a few laugh out loud moments. There are plenty of twists and turns in the plot and I can easily see it being translated into a series for television. A definite 5 stars from me!

As with previous books by this author, How to Age Disgracefully was all about community and unlikely friendships and I blooming loved it.
Lydia starts a new job as the organiser of a senior citizens social club, but right off the bat, things don't start on the best terns when the ceiling collapses in the community centre.
Lydia, along with the seniors, the kids and the rest of the community centre patrons, set out to stop any closures.
Told from multiple character perspectives, we learn of past lives, loves and a lot of suspicious activities.
The characters were larger than life, the story was fun and the dialogue was laugh out loud in places.
I catn choose a favourite character, as I loved them all.
Another great book by Clare Pooley.

Why have I not read anything by Clare Pooley before?? This was a great read. Newly formed senior citizen group with a motley crew of members joins forces with the nursery children who use the same community centre to tug on council and public heartstrings and save the community centre. At the heart of the story are Daphne, newly turned 70 and finally venturing out of her self imposed exile in a luxury flat for the first time in over a deccade; Art, broke wannabe actor and TV extra, and Ziggy, teenage single schoolboy dad of baby Kylie. Add in an unfortunate death, a dog being shared among the group. a roaming husband, the Banksy of yard bombers and dangerous local drug dealers and we have a recipe for adventure and chaos. Lots of laughs and lots of emotion. I got really invested and was desperate to find out Daphne's real story. So much fun. #netgalley #howtoagedisgracefully

Why do we, in society, sometimes talk to old people like they are either very young children, or stupid?

As Linda discovers, when she starts up a seniors club at the local Community Centre, that is absolutely not want they want! The suggestion of skydiving from one of them may have been a bit extreme, but they’ve lived long and often fabulous and feisty lives, let’s treat them accordingly!

The characters in this book are utterly wonderful: if I am half the woman Daphne is when I’m 70, I will be very pleased with myself! Art, Linda, Ziggy, Kylie, Lucky and Maggie 🐶 were the standout characters who had me thoroughly entertained as the unlikely group form a strong bond while saving the community centre, entering a TV competition, standing up to drug lords and errant husbands, and turn their lives around in so many ways. Yarnsy (think Banksy with knitting needles) is absolutely legendary, of course, but Daphne is a QUEEN! I adored this gorgeous and hilariously heartwarming story.

5 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Clare Pooley and Random House Transworld for an ARC in return for an honest review.

How To Age Disgracefully is the second of Clare’s books that I’ve read and adored 💘

Clare has a gift for conjuring up the most compelling and diverse characters. Daphne is fabulous and exactly who I aspire to be when I hit my 70s, however she is a dark horse and her past is pretty murky… I also was of course immediately won over by fellow pensioner Art 🥹 he does an excellent job of ruffling Daphne’s feathers at the Senior Citizens Social Club they both decide to frequent.

Although much of the dialogue in this book is lighthearted and amusing, the story has such hidden depths and there are some events that successfully tugged on my heartstrings. Each character has their own unique story but they have one common goal: their fight to stop the local council from closing down their beloved community centre. It was a genuine pleasure to lose myself within the members of the Senior Citizens Social Club’s lives.

Thank you Random House UK & Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

How to Age Disgracefully wasn't what I was expecting but I ended up really enjoying it either way! I grabbed it from the romance section and it's not a romance, though it does have a small romance plot. It has elements of mystery and self discovery as well with a ton of comedy thrown in! I loved getting to know and like the different characters and I enjoyed the sense of found family it has.

In the author's note, Clare Pooley talks about not wanting to write seniors who aren't perfect but also aren't naive characters who just provide hugs and candy (I'm totally paraphrasing). The result is hilarious and more accurate. I also loved reading some of the younger characters who were going through difficult life transitions.

If you like a book that will make you laugh and want a badass fake grandmother to fix your life I recommend this one! It definitely has some twists that will surprise you.

Rating - 4.5 stars rounded off to 5

Your guide to be a boss (read badass) as you age (disgracefully of course!)

Thanks NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers | Bantam
for the ARC!

Synopsis -

Daphe Smith, just turned 70 and is finding her life lonely and boring. Looking to make some new friends, she joins the Senior Citizen’s Social Club at the Mandal community centre only to bump into a group of pensioners from various walks of life (not all good). When the council threatens to close the centre, they now have to rise to the situation to pull off the impossible with the help of one geriatric dog named ‘Maggie Thatcher’ and the only talented ‘actor’ among them – Art Andrews.

Review -

I always love books that feature the good old and wise seputa/octogenarians. And what a brilliant set of senior citizens we have here!

At the outset Daphne, Art and the others might come across as typical grumpy, cantankerous loners – outdated and aloof from the modern world. But it is only when we closely come to understand them, we can truly appreciate their wisdom, passion and intelligence, while marveling at their past life experiences, as we also learn from their failings, flaws and mistakes.

The spotlight is on the mission to save the community center and it involves a spectacular collaboration of folks spanning the entire age spectrum from 0-90 and oh, an old dog too, the loveable Maggie, who proves that she can certainly learn new tricks.

There is fun, laughter, tears and ‘awwww’ moments that will fill your heart as you rise from your seat and applaud with gusto for these people who give it their all in the end, despite the odds and their murky pasts catching up to them.

Clare Pooley has brought her magical ingredients together again to present us with a heart-warming, uplifting and life-affirming read that is woven around a bunch of strangers coming together as one strong community. And this time it is to show that growing old need not necessarily be all elegant and tasteful. Seniority can come with a fair share of regrets and disrepute, yet be sassy, useful and very much relevant to the younger generations.

This fun novel, which has a lot to say about stereotypes, opens with the fabulous scene of a hapless police officer trying to arrest someone on a minibus, most of the occupants of which are keen to confess to a crime, whether that's having done something terrible to their husband, compulsively stolen or created something they call art but others say is criminal damage. And what about those husbands, so carelessly lost?

Daphne is a curmudgeonly older lady, spying on her neighbours through their social media group but with no actual friends. She has a mysterious past she keeps alluding to, and knows she'll have to move on soon, but in the meantime, she could do with some friends. Through joining a Senior Citizens' Social Club she meets a random cast of people, including a very soon to be late woman with a dog, a failed actor addicted to shoplifting and a teenage lad being drawn into dodgy doings on his estate, plus poor old menopausal Lydia with her possibly philandering husband and empty nest who has been given the job of running the club and, in fact, saving the community centre. Oh, and there's a phantom yarn bomber out there, decorating all sorts of things with all sorts of woolen sculptures.

The stories of the main characters overlap and intersect and there are laughs and aha moments and excellent set pieces. Oh, and the dog makes it through the book fine. Recommended as a holiday or garden read: great fun with a bite.

Review to come on my blog on 29 June: https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2024/06/29/book-review-clare-pooley-how-to-age-disgracefully/