A golden apple amongst books. This heart warming story set on a cider farm takes you on a journey through the cider farm year with an eclectic collection of village folk. The main characters are , as the title suggests, book group members all with life stories to tell. The characters are well described and 92 year old matriarch Violet, brings some very rich humour with her jokes and puns. This book draws you warmly into their lives , loves and community

I really enjoyed reading this book; I do like a book with mature characters (though it includes teenagers too)! It is more the story of an apple farm than a book club, going through the seasons and the accompanying festivals. The lives and loves, of quite a varied group, gradually unfold and the descriptions of the orchards, country houses, etc are beautiful. The story moves to France at one point and it would be a perfect book to take on holiday there. I could happily read another volume on the continued story of Jeanne et al.

This was a wonderful and heartwarming book that left me happy. You are never too old to find love, find yourself, start over, and put yourself first. I loved the feel of camaraderie between the characters in this book. Like a warm sweater on a crisp fall day, this book hit the spot and left me craving apple cider.

Aurora, Verity, Danielle, and Jeannie are all points in their lives where they are examining things - wanting to feel young again, a cheating spouse, and thoughts of retirement. While looking at what the future holds the women look to each other for support while going on a book club trip to France.

This was like a breath of fresh air. It is also nice to see a book with older women looking at their lives, having fun, leaning on each other and having fun. It was endearing and entertaining.

Absolutely fantastic plot! Could not put the book down once I began reading it. Cannot wait for it to be released. Will recommend it to everyone I know!

Four and a Half Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭒
The Golden Oldies' Book Club by Judy Leigh is a wonderful book about community, love, and friendship.

Story Recap:
In the small village of Combe Pomeroy, is a book club, the Golden Oldies book club. Members include Ruby, the librarian who feels like life has passed her by, Aurora, seventy-two years old and full of energy, Verity, married to a grump, Danielle, tired of her cheating husband and Jeannie, the glue that holds the group together.

This must be the year that everything changes for the group. They go on an exchange trip to France, which is the start of the change that the group needs.

My Thoughts:
I love that these women were all older characters but still varied quite a bit in age. July Leigh does a wonderful job with older characters and that’s why I love her books so much.

These characters are so realistic and very entertaining. They get into some trouble but still stay true to their characters. I like that they are all stuck in some kind of rut and they each need to change some aspects of their lives.

And the book is just plain fun. The pacing is wonderful and the book takes us on an adventure immediately. It’s also full of laughs, but also emotion as these women grow and find their true passions in life.

Recommendation:
I highly recommend The Golden Oldies Book Club to anyone who enjoys Women’s Fiction. I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my o

Light and breezy tale of a group of women who think they are too old for love until they read a certain genre and take a trip to France.

I have read 5 other books by judy Leigh and had loved them all. This book is no exception as I loved it as well. The story takes place in a small village of Combe Pomeroy in the UK. The story focuses on 5 friends, with Jeannie , the now owner of the family cider farm.Jeannie is the unifying force of the farm, her family and her friends.All the women are at a turning point in their lives: looking for love, accepting their age, decisions to stay married as a husband's bad temper and irritation increases, a cheating husband and a decision to retire or not. All told with heart, humor and the girl power of friendship.

All the characters were great! I loved Jeannie's Mom, who had a joke for every occasion.

Thanks to NetGalley, Boldwood books and the author for the opportunity to read and review this book. It publishes on 12/6/2022

A group of acquaintances turn into close friends- all brought together by a local book club.

Ruth, the local librarian, started a book club. Originally only 5 women and 1 man, the group grew. As life tends to do, people’s circumstances change- a marriage in conflict, another in divorce, a long-ago relationship is nearby, and someone else is starting to feel redundant while her grandchildren grow.

I loved Violet’s puns, so funny. It was nice reading about more mature relationships as well as new loves. I always enjoy books by Ms. Leigh, and look forward to the next one.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book, but my opinions are my own.

The storyline is light & whilst slightly predictable, it works well. The characters are all quite different and I liked that they range from the teenage grandchildren to 95 yr old Violet, all of whom have key roles. The village book club is run by Ruth the librarian, and for anyone who enjoys reading, the book club discussions will appeal. In fact, you might just want to move to a village and/or join a book club!
When the opportunity arises to visit France, as part of the village “twinning” with Ploumenez, five of the ladies head for an adventure in France that will bring them closer together and cause them to each re-evaluate their lives as they sample French cidre, explore the local area and make new friends.
All of the characters have distinct personalities but Violet is a particular delight with her wit & wisdom as well as that slight sense of “I’ll say what I want” that comes from being 95 years old!


The book is ultimately about friendship, family & community - it will appeal to anyone who enjoys funny, light hearted books and is just the sort of thing to curl up with on a cold winter evening, or as a light “beach-read”.
I’m not 100% sure about the title, I think I’d have referenced the apples/cider as the book club is a small part of the story whilst the apples/cider making are a theme that runs through the whole book & shows evidence of good research into the production methods, types of cider etc.

I enjoyed reading a story where the main characters are of a similar age to myself, although not exclusively so, and the book club that they belong to. There is some deep discussion about their place in life as they grow older but it is generally much lighter - I enjoyed their discussion on the book Lady Chatterley's Lover" which was an eye opener for some of the members. There is some romance, with opposites attracting, showing that it isn't just for younger people, but also showing how your future isn't set in stone and that there is hope for us all. A slow burner, but that shouldn't put you off, but one to quietly read with an occasional laugh to while away a winter's evening.
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley, however this did not influence my review of the book.

It was a very sweet book. Reminding us it never too late to change, never to late to love again or fall in love again. Never too old to need a companion.. thank you to netgalley for letting me read this e arc in exchange for an honest opinion

I’d like to thank Boldwood Books and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Golden Oldies' Book Club’ by Judy Leigh in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Ruth Barclay, librarian and organiser of the monthly Combe Pomeroy Book Club, enjoys meeting up to discuss books with Jeannie Sharrock who runs the family cider farm, Aurora Perry who works in the farm’s café and gift shop, and Verity Wheatcroft. They’re all in their later years but feel life is passing them by so decide to take a advantage of a town twinning trip to France to expand their outlooks and hopefully have a bit of fun and enjoyment.

‘The Golden Oldies Book Club’ is a light-hearted story of ladies in their ‘golden’ years who share friendship, laughter, community spirit and a love of books. This is a delightfully uplifting story that has a whole host of interesting characters, including Jeannie’s mum Violet who at ninety-five years old loves to make jokes. The story is pure escapism, is warm and amusing, and proves that even women over a certain age can still have fun and enjoy life.

This was incredibly good and wholesome. I loved every single page. I am highly recommended this to everyone!

Inspiration and motivation wrapped up in a feel good story. It’s never too late to live life to the full. It’s a perfect book for women if a certain age to remind us to grab life by the b***s

A very enjoyable book. It's a feel good, fairly predictable story with a warm glow. I don't know where the author found all of Violet's jokes. Even though they wey cringe worthy I couldn't help but laugh. I liked Santa's favourite pizza one best. Keep reading til you get to it!

I loved this story of a group of older women who come together in a book club. The main character is Jeannie who runs her family’s cider business but is beginning to feel that life has passed her by. The village book club is run by the librarian Ruth and I enjoyed the discussions that they had about the books such as Wuthering Heights and Tess of the D’Ubervilles although these were never too serious.
Other members of the book club feel very similar to Jeannie and so Ruth decides to organise a trip to Brittany for herself and her friends. The scenes in France were my favourite parts of the book especially the scene where they go sand yachting. The trip makes each of the women really think about what they want from life.
This was a lovely story about the fact that it is never too late to follow your dreams. I loved each of the four main characters and the way that their stories worked out.
Thank you to Net Galley and Boldwood Books for my ARC.

I loved this story so much. As an older woman we are quite invisible for most of the time but it's heartening to read that older people can form friendships and even find love in later life, thank you so much for making me feel visable again

I just love the title of this book and yes it is a fun book to read.

A group of women in the later years yet still wanting more from life. I can relate to that! This is a story of friendship, love, laughter, community and fun. It is heart-warming, enlightening and it all revolves around books. The joy of books can bring a world together.

I loved the characters in this book, each one of them unique and bringing something special to this tale, each one with their very own personality. They like adventure, being busy, doing things. They like life and they want to live it. That is the enjoyment of this wonderful read.

I laughed, I smiled and I just kept right on reading until all was said and done and I don't regret a moment of it. now to go out and live life, love life and enjoy life! Yes Please.

In a small village the librarian holds a monthly book club. 4 main characters all older women.

I stopped reading it about 1/3 of the way through. I just seem to get invested with the characters.

I really wanted to love this book but it left me slightly underwhelmed sadly. I enjoyed the descriptive scene setting and the characters were well formed but the storyline lacked something and I wasn’t keen on the main character and how she had wonderful opportunities to enjoy her life yet never seized the chance, rather waiting for decisions to be made for her which made me rather frustrated! I did enjoy it overall though.