another Clare Pooley book I loved, great assembly of characters I cared about, funny and touching moments

Another gem from Clare Pooley! I fell in love with this ensemble of characters, the quaint setting, and their mission to save the Mandel(a) Community Center. While The Authenticity Project remains my favorite title from Clare, I appreciated her veer into this underserved demographic. The author’s note at the end was the cherry on top. This book will make you laugh and leave you cheering.

loved this mystery and keeping secrets and the different point of views. Also loved trying to figure out who did it . I enjoyed the mystery behind it.

5/5 ⭐️ This is my second book by this author and I loved it just as much as Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting! It just made me so happy. It was heartwarming and full of humor! The characters were all flawed which made them feel real and relatable. This entire book felt like a warm hug and it left me with a big smile on my face! I also liked how they all came together to try and save the community center! And how they were all there to help each other with their personal problems 🥺💖.

I'm so torn on what to rate this book! It's cute, funny, and it kept me intrigued! Parts of it were slow for me, but there was no way I could not finish it! The idea of a childcare center in the same building as a senior center is amazing, and I loved seeing the connections that came from that! I think I'm going with 3.5 stars! Overall, a very cute book with very interesting characters that I loved getting to know! Thank you netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

I absolutely love any book by this author. I enjoy how she brings together individuals from all walks of life and age groups and this book did not disappoint. Main character, Daphne, decides to join a Senior Citizens club and meets an eclectic group of characters. They band together to save the community center.

Often times after reading multiple books by an author, I lose interest in their writing. This is not the case with Clare Pooley!

Apparently, I love reading about senior citizens getting up to some hijinks. The formula works wonderfully well in cozy mystery book series The Thursday Murder Club, and it also works fantastically in a book that contains no (well, almost no) mystery.

In How to Age Disgracefully, a small group of older folks are gathered together at a senior center in the Hammersmith area of west London. Fifty-something Lydia has taken a part-time job to help run the new social club, and she has no idea what she’s gotten herself into. The six or so people who show up aren’t looking for tea, card games and macrame.

Instead, Lydia meets Daphne, a stylish 70-year-old with a secret past who’s looking to make some connections; Art, an occasional actor who is dealing with loss and a bad habit of shoplifting; and Ruby, an always-knitting woman whose unusual creations just happen to show up in public places where they will embarrass city leaders.

Soon after the group starts meeting, they learn that the city will likely close and sell the community center, which is in dire need of updates. They end up teaming up with some parents, staff and children from the day care that also meets in the center to try to save the building.

That’s when things get particularly interesting. Readers meet Ziggy, a teen boy who lives with his mother in a public apartment complex overrun by young criminals. Ziggy’s future is promising, but the fact that he’s raising his baby daughter is complicating matters.

Throw in an old dog and a TV competition, and the mix gets especially lively.

Each character has something to offer in any potential schemes to keep the center afloat. Each also has a need to make their lives better, whether it’s simply friends, love, an opportunity to work through past issues, or self-confidence. The way the story plays out uses each character’s strengths and addresses their needs, and it’s very satisfying to see how every slot is filled, how all the pieces come together. (You could say it’s a lovely puzzle once it’s all put together, but these seniors wouldn’t just sit around doing puzzles.)

How to Age Disgracefully is a fun, feel-good romp

This has been one of my favorite reads of the year! I feel incredibly grateful to have received an ARC of this book. Clare Pooley masterfully blends humor with serious, real-life issues, creating characters whose personalities and struggles feel authentic. The found family dynamic is beautifully portrayed and adds an extra layer of warmth to the story. After finishing this book, I'm eager to explore more of Clare Pooley's work. I can't recommend this book enough—it's heartwarming while thoughtfully addressing important and relevant issues in people's lives.

This book follows around the story of Daphne, Art, Lydia, Ziggy, Kylie, William, Ruby, Anna, and a dog named Margret Thatcher. We follow the lives of these very different people and how their lives become intertwined. We learn it’s never too late to learn to love yourself, let others in, find the ability to love again, and that life can be what you make it become. This did take me longer than normal to finish a book, just because there was so many different people it follows. It overall ends with a happy ending and happy to have the characters end where they do. Thank you Netgallery, penguin group Viking, Pamela Dorman books, and Clare Pooley for choosing me to be an arc reader for this book.

This one took me a few starts to finally get in to - it was easily put down for other books but once I hit about 20% or so I didn't want to stop. So for anyone that struggles at the beginning, keep going!

Once I finally got into it I really loved these characters and I always have adored stories of old people being (delightful) menaces. This group was fun to get to know and I'd definitely read more about their antics.

Overall I enjoyed my time spent in this world and I want to be Daphne when I grow up.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for an eARC copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

I was entertained enough but something was missing for me. Sometimes it felt like scenes were skipped or vague and lacked the detail I felt they needed. I loved the author’s note and understanding more about why she wrote the book. I think she did a good job of accomplishing what she was trying to. Most of the characters were endearing if not a little quirky.

Fans of Iona Iverson will clamor to read this book.
Clare Pooley has a talent for writing about "invisible senior citizens".
This book gave me the warm fuzzies and I am recommending to fans of uplifting fiction

the premise is really good and I liked the ending. It was a satisfying wrap. There was just something about the characters that I couldn’t get on board with. I think part of it is because the book was just so British that I found myself, not British, looking up so many words and phrases. Not saying it should be Americanized but I think leaning into the setting as a character more would have done the book justice

This was a ton of fun; lighthearted at times but definitely brings the depth. The characters were lively and the story interesting. Feels like it is likely setup for a sequel.

Such a good book! Would recommend for an easy, fun read to anyone post-college age :) Charming characters, good story, happy/satisfying ending.

How to Age Disgracefully is an absolute riot! This heartwarming caper follows a motley crew of senior citizens and daycare kids as they unite to save their beloved community center. With multiple POVs, the novel introduces us to a colorful cast of characters, from the enigmatic Daphne to the mischievous Art. The plot is packed with hilarious escapades and unexpected twists, making it impossible to put down. A fresh and feel-good read that will leave you grinning from ear to ear. Highly recommend for anyone seeking a lighthearted and entertaining escape!

This was cute, fun, cozy, and genuinely really funny. How To Age Disgracefully follows multiple POVs (3+) as a Senior Citizens Social Club and daycare band together to save the local community center. The members of the social club are not your average 70 year olds. From Daphne, who has been hiding from a curious past, to Art a do-gooder actor who also happens to steal, and to Ruby a Banksy-style knitter. The rag-tag group comes together with the help of the social club leader, a teenaged father of one of the kids at the daycare, and an old dog to save the community center, as long as no one gets arrested first!

I honestly really loved this book! It was so funny and I really enjoyed all of the charactes and the situations they got themselves into, and out of. It was cute, feel-good read and would definitely recommend if you're looking for something easy and laughable!

How to Age Disgracefully by Claire Pooley is a heartwarming and humorous lesson in breaking stereotypes and building community.

From toddlers to seniors, the people who come to the Mandel Community Center come from different experiences, and with different worries and hopes in their lives. At first, the members of the Senior Citizens’ Social Club seem to have nothing in common with each other except their ages, much less anything in common with the club’s organizer Lydia or the community center’s nursery. While trying to somehow bridge the gaps between them, they must also quickly learn how to fight together against the city council or else risk losing the community center forever.

The characters were easily the best part of this book. I had so much fun reading about everyone, from Daphne’s no-nonsense attitude to Art’s successful stealing escapades, Ruby’s vigilante knitting to Anna’s divorces, and more. Just when I thought the characters couldn’t surprise me, they would have something up their sleeve to keep me on my toes. This ragtag group of seniors challenged any stereotypes made against them by being mischievous, clever, messy, and dynamic. It felt encouraging to read about people in their seventies coming together to create a community and fight for it, and for their new found family to span across generations and various backgrounds. Using humor, the story usually maintained a positive and confident tone, but also wasn’t shy to ground itself with vulnerabilities and insecurities that anyone could relate to. Unfortunately, sometimes the humor felt too forced or awkward, which led to cheapening the moments of vulnerability.

Overall, How to Age Disgracefully is a good reminder to cause some mischief no matter how old you are. Big thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Group Viking, and Pamela Dorman Books for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own. 3/5 stars.

I did not finish this book. I could not get into the characters and didn't connect with the humor. It simply was not for me, so I won't be officially rating it out of respect for the author.

When a book is described "laugh-out-loud funny", it's usually more accurate to say "I suddenly and forcefully exhaled through my nose in amusement", but this book is <i>actually</i> laugh-out-loud funny. While this is an "ensemble comedy", it's just so raw and real and human and defiant of expectations that I was rolling every time Daphne was on page. The humor doesn't come from a "haha that's so funny" kind of comedy, but rather a "Holy shit I didn't see that coming, she is a FIRECRACKER" kind of comedy. Although the book is largely made up of an ensemble cast featuring Lydia, Anna, Ruby, Daphne, (briefly) Pauline, Art, William, Ziggy, and to a lesser extent, Kylie, Daphne absolutely steals the show. Before even the prologue begins, this book opens with Dylan Thomas' quote: "Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light." And rage it does.

Each character brings something unexpected to the forefront, and Daphne unites them with glorious purpose through the magical power of her whiteboard. Daphne is a woman on a mission: escape her hermit lifestyle and make some friends at the ripe age of 70 years old. If the mission exists on her whiteboard, it must be seen through to the end. Other items come and go on her whiteboard, such as make friends, get revenge (twice), buy new loo roll (this book is aggressively British), save a friend from a local gang, buy a new cell phone, try online dating, and save the community center. Honestly, what would these people do without Daphne? How did they ever manage to get along without her? Doesn't matter; she's here now. She can do all things through the power of the whiteboard, which strengthens her.
"She pulled the cap off the fat black marker she'd bought and lifted the nib to her nose, inhaling the smell of purpose, of potential, of the future."

At it's core, this book is the tale of a rag tag motley crew of misfit elders plus a teenaged father on a buddy-cop style mission to save the community center. There's hijinks and crime and using stereotypes to nefarious advantage, because after all, who would suspect a little old lady with a cane, or who's to say an old man pretending to be confused doesn't actually have memory problems? And yet, somehow, through mutual geriatric hooliganism, How to Age Disgracefully still manages to be a heartwarming tale of community and unlikely friendship, lifting each other up, albeit sometimes through morally questionable means.

Typically, the title of the book, if a quote, appears towards the end of the book, or in the throes of the climax. I feel no guilt in sharing the context of the title of the book in this review, un-spoiler-censored, since it occurs so near the beginning:
"‘Where’s the fun in ageing gracefully?’ said Daphne. ‘Personally, I intend to age as disgracefully as possible.’"

Overall this was such an unexpected read. I expected it to be a little tongue-in-cheek and quirky, but even with that expectation in place this was so much more than I imagined. How to Age Disgracefully would be brilliant if adapted into a movie, since with four POVs, the reader gets insight into multiple characters lives and the paths that they took through life to get where they are today, whether that is at university, filing for divorce, enjoying a late-blooming career, or hiding/vacationing in Ibiza.