I absolutely adored this book and all its characters. It had definite “Thursday Murder Club” vibes in the most wonderful way.

I finished it around 10 days ago and mulled over what I wanted to put in my review. As usual, no spoilers from me and no synopsis. You can read other reviews for synopses and I don’t see the point in spoilers. Read the book if you want to find out that much.

This is all you need to know: Daphne is a bad ass but maybe not as much a bad ass as she thinks, Lydia is an absolute sweetheart that is stronger than she thinks and Art is an adorable mess but he’s more organized than he thinks…

This was a super fun read! It’s about a local community centre that’s in danger of being shut down, and the seniors club that is determined to save it. I love stories about elderly people behaving badly and this was no exception. It really reminded me Last Chance Library by Freya Sampson so if you liked that you’ll like this as well. It’s so wholesome, heartwarming and funny. All of the characters have their secrets and they help each other overcome the obstacles in their lives. I will definitely be reading more by Clare Pooley in the future!

Thanks to NetGalley, Clare Pooley and Penguin Random House Canada for this e-ARC

Having loved Clare Pooley’s last novel, Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting, I was eager to read her new one.

How To Age Disgracefully is set in Britain with a brand new set of characters (although, there is an Easter egg from Pooley’s previous novel :)). A community centre which houses a daycare is on the chopping block due to repairs, and the council’s need to make money by offloading the property is a looming certainty. Cue the array of quirky colourful characters, young and old, who are the highlight of this story. Their secrets and foibles as they band together to save the community centre drive this fun novel. The antics and droll humour had me laughing out loud at times. From Ziggy, the teenage father with his little baby, Kylie, to the mysterious elder, Daphne, who naturally leads the others through their various conundrums, How To Age Disgracefully turns aging on its head and depicts how valuable life experience and wisdom is in today’s world. And, the unexpected friendships that can form between the most unlikely and cynical people are a true gift.

A delightful summer read!

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada - Viking for the advance reader copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book was a joy from start to finish! I loved this authors previous book “Iona Iversons Rules for Commuting”, and this one was equally delightful.

Clare Pooley excels at assembling a cast of intriguing characters, and putting them in interesting circumstances. My favourite character was Daphne. She looks like a sweet old lady but has skills that hint at a criminal past and a razor sharp wit. All of Claire’s characters have flaws and are very different from each other. Initially you think, “How are these people ever going to get along?”. Somehow though, they eventually bond and form a cohesive unit. Clare writes with a great deal of humor, counterbalanced with serious and heartwarming moments.

In this book, a seniors group and a daycare combine forces to save their doomed community centre. Their ideas to raise money are unorthodox, hilarious and a at times illegal. A real page turner, I couldn’t wait to see what happened next!

For me this was a 5 star read. I strongly recommend it!

Thank you Penguin Random House Canada and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book to read and review.

A delightful book about the lives of a group of seniors that certainly were not boring. Trying to save their Center and themselves they interact with the community and a daycare sharing the premises in perhaps not the most orthodox or legal way. Join Daphne, Art, Ruby and Lydia as they take the neighborhood by storm.
Thanks to #NetGalley#HowToAgeDisdgracefully#PenguinRandomHouseCanada for the EARC.

Review: How to Age Disgracefully by Clare Pooley

What do you get when septuagenarians with curious pasts form a group at the local dilapidated community center? Hijinks, mayhem, and unlikely relationships.

The quirky cast of characters in How to Age Disgracefully will warm your heart with their well-intentioned antics and the way they draw others in and care for them. I am a huge fan of found family and that’s why I turn to Claire Pooley’s books again and again. How to Age Disgracefully does again what The Authenticity Project and Iona Iverson‘s Rules for Commuting did, which is bring people together and show the importance of making connections.

I highly recommend this book. It’s definitely one of my new favourites.

Thank you to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

This is described as an "ensemble comedy" and it has a wonderful multi-generational cast.
A Senior Citizen's Social Club join forces with the daycare to save the community center building.
Daphne is turning 70 and is re-evaluating her life. She wants to be more social and maybe start dating.
Art is in his 70's and is an actor struggling to find work.
Lydia is an empty nester who runs the Social Club.
Ziggy is a teenage single father to Kylie who attends the daycare at the Community Center

Picture A Man called Ove meets Big Little Lies- except funny.
I felt so attached to all the characters and it was so FUN to read. Not necessarily un-put-down-able, but knew when I picked it up to read I would laugh and enjoy myself.
This was my first Clare Pooley book, but from what I hear all her books have a similar feel- I will be checking out her past novels as well.
Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House Canada for an advanced reader copy!
This publishes June 11th
4.25 stars from me.

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Random House Canada for giving me early access to this title in return for an honest review.

This was an absolutely delightful book. This plot follows several members of the Senior Citizen's Social Club in an less well-to-do area of London. The story opens with Daphne, who has just turned seventy concocting a plan to feel young again and make friends after living alone and in isolation for the past 15 years. She decides to join the local seniors club, run by Lydia who has vastly underestimated her seniors, and meets Art, a failed actor and kleptomaniac, Ruby, a knitter, William, Art's best friend and journalist, Anna, an ex-long-haul driver with an attitude, and Pauline, who unfortunately meets her demise during their first meeting, leaving behind her dog Margert Thatcher. Together, along with the other groups that use the community center, this unlikely group teams up to save the building that helps to fortify the community.

There are many things that I enjoyed about this book. I liked that most of it's main characters are older, but their age is just a part of who they are instead of a limiting factor. There are many jokes made about their ages by themselves, in a self-deprecating sort of way, but they also are used to highlight how society view, often erroneously, our elders. All of the characters are richly written and very believable. The story was so fun and interesting, and had its reveals at just the right times.

It was just such a fun romp. I would highly recommend picking it up. You're in for a seriously enjoyable ride.

4.5!

Thank you to PRHC and NetGalley for my review copy, because this book was a JOY! So funny, a memorable cast of characters, and a great happy read all around. Highly recommend this!

I was so excited to get an ARC of this book!

I first discovered Clare Pooley when I received an ARC of Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting. I loved it, and instantly pre-ordered a copy for my mom.

Clare Pooley has now become an auto-buy author me, because I loved How to Age Disgracefully, and just preordered a copy for my mom. I know, I’m being repetitive. But gifting my mom a book - that’s high praise!

What I liked most about this book is that it was fun. Not silly, or fluffy, but actually just fun to read. Each character had their own distinct voice, their own flaws that made them human. I couldn’t help but root for every single one! The balance between some of the heavier elements of the story, and the wittiness of the writing, was absolutely perfect.

Even though I am closest in age and circumstance to Lydia, my favourite characters ended up being Ziggy and Lucky. I wouldn’t be upset to see them pop up in the author’s future works.

I think readers will find something or someone to identify with in this story. This book has something for everyone.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for providing the ARC of this book. This review is my honest and voluntary opinion.

4.5 stars. I have always been drawn to stories of diverse groups of senior citizens who come together to solve a mutual problem or mystery. I loved How to Age Disgracefully, which is told with humour and pathos. The characters are fascinating, and it is my favourite book featuring a small group of senior citizens who attend a drop-in centre for the elderly. The meetings are held in a dilapidated building with a daycare, AA meetings, and a judo club.

The group will be overseen by Lynda, who plans activities involving crafts, puzzles and board games.
Lynda is inexperienced, but it will be a diversion from her unhappy home life. She soon learns that the seniors attending are disinterested in her planned activities. A disaster with the deterioration of the building leads to an agenda to tear it down and one less elderly person in the new group.

After changing her name, Daphne has been isolating herself for fifteen years. She has a very checkered and secret past. With her 70th birthday approaching, she needs to get out more, make friends and try internet dating. She joins the Senior Citizen Club with this intent. Her skill is organizing, but the drawback is that she is very outspoken and demanding. She quickly makes enemies with her fellow member, Art. Art is a former actor who never received the fame he felt was his due. Now, the small-acting parts have dried up, and he has substituted shoplifting for the thrills he is missing. He attends with his friend, who is a former paparazzi.

Rosie, who knits oversized covers that she secretly drapes around the city in a Bansky-like move, is also attending. There is the unobtrusive but thoughtful Anna, the widow of many husbands. They take turns caring for an unattractive geriatric dog called Margaret Thatcher, Maggie, or M. On learning that the building may be torn down, a young, single teenage father, Zach, enters their plans to save the building. Zach needs the daycare centre as he hopes to further his education.

Members of the senior citizen group feel that because they are elderly, they are invisible to the rest of society but fear the police, as any of them could be charged with a legal infraction. Zack worries that welfare could take his child. The group feels that if they could raise a large amount of money, the building might be saved. They plan a performance with the assistance of the daycare and their shared dog to show authorities the centre's importance and perhaps win some money.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this entertaining and heartfelt book. I found it very enjoyable and would read more by the author. The date of publication is June 11th.

I wasn’t sure how I would feel about this book since it was my first by this author and I wasn’t sure I could relate at all as a younger person to a bunch of elderly characters but I was happily mistaken. The array of characters were unique and so human they were easy to relate to. I love when unlikely people come together as friends for a common cause. I appreciated the fact that this book could go from laugh out loud dialogue moments to tear jerking emotional times. Really enjoyed this read!

I am a huge fan of Clare pooley and couldn’t wait for her new release. And while we get her signature sense of humour and hilarious characters, the plot is just lacking for me.

Sure there are laugh out loud moments right from page one and the characters and their situation will pull at your heartstrings; but I was so bored.

Wow, wow, wow! This book is amazing!!!!!!!! It's so funny and heartfelt -- I laughed and cried while reading it.

Daphne and Elizabeth from The Thursday Murder Club are kindred spirits. As of writing this review, I haven't seen any promo comparing How To Age Disgracefully to The Thursday Murder Club books but they've really got a very similar feel. Often TTMC is referenced in a synopsis and it sucks me in only for me to be disappointed when the book doesn't live up to that comparison, but HTAD really has that feel to it.

All the characters are fantastic! Love having a main character going through The Menopause and I'm really enjoying seeing vibrant senior citizens living their lives.

This is my first book by Clare Pooley but it won't be my last. I have just pre-ordered it b/c I can tell you this will be one of my top reads of 2024 and I need a copy for my bookshelves.

I received a complimentary e-copy of this book from Penguin Random House Canada through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you, Penguin Random House Canada.