No! I Don't Want to Join a Book Club: Diary of a Sixtieth Year (original 2006; edition 2007)

"One of the funny things about being old is that when you're four years old, you can only imagine yourself as a one-, two- or three-year-old. But when you're sixty, you've got a vast range of years to choose from. So one day I feel like a miserable three-year-old, the next like a girlish twenty-five-year-old, hop straight into feeling like a mature sixty-year-old and back, before you know it, to being a precocious twelve-year-old. The cast of selves increases and increases until eventually you've got a veritable Wagner opera of people on stage to pick from."

Marie Sharp is about to turn 60 so she decides to take one last stab at keeping a diary. Everyone in her world seems to be resisting old age but Marie is diving into it head first. To Marie sixty means freedom; no longer will she feel obligated to "improve" herself. "That's what's so great about being old. You no longer have to think about going to university, or go bungee jumping! It's a huge release ... " Lack of bungee jumping aside, Marie's life is pretty rich. Marie has Michelle, a beautiful young French girl renting out one of Marie's rooms; a brand new grandbaby; and a handful of good friends. Her best friend, Penny, is a hypochondriac of the highest order. One of the sentences in the book about her had me in tears of laughter. Quite a few times reading this I laughed, literally, out loud. This was a fun and entertaining book with a little wisdom (I especially loved the passage about grief), romance and drama thrown in for good measure.

Utterly forgettable but lots of fun. I was just happy to read something that made me laugh. ( )

Great fun for women of a certain age! Only frustrating part was knowing that people over 60 in the U.S. don't have access to free prescriptions, free public transportation, or, free home heating as they do in England. ( )

A very funny take on aging, with good humor and insight. Some of the Britishisms may take some figuring out (dummies instead of pacifiers, for example) but pretty much add to the charm. ( )

Is sixty the new forty? : Ms. Ironside has definitely struck upon something with this book! Growing old, women are supposed to turn into Miss Marple, right? Well, not according to Marie! Her humorous and sassy ways are delightful as she encounters the world as a senior citizen.

The diary of a 60-year old London divorced woman. She's decided she has had enough of sex and from now on will only go for friendship, she is definitely not looking for a partner.But right from the start, "methinks the lady protests too much" and you can see the love interest coming from miles away!
A good enough read, with nice asides about friendship, becoming a granny, the joys of being old and the sadness of losing friends. "Charming, wise, funny and heartwarming", says the cover.... mmyes, kind of. "A diary of growing old disgracefully": not really! ( )