We're Everywhere, Us: Liverpool's 2014/15 Season Told Through the Stories of Fans and Foe
Sachin Nakrani and Karl Coppack
Book
A diary of Liverpool Football Club's 2014/15 season, with a difference. The book may kick off with a...
A Year in Christine's Garden
Book
"A Year in Christine's Garden" is the utterly down-to-earth account of one woman's passion for...
Banished from Bow
Book
A gripping romantic saga full of secrets and intrigue from the author of Time Will Tell and Jamaica...
Beurer HealthManager
Health & Fitness and Medical
App
You can use our free HealthManager app to record and keep an eye on your health data with ease –...
After She's Gone
6.0
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Book
A gripping, twisty new thriller from the bestselling author of The Ice Beneath Her, perfect for fans...
ClareR (5864 KP) rated I Know What You’ve Done in Books
Feb 19, 2022
One of the neighbours is the victim of an attempted murder, and just before she passes out on the pavement, she knocks on the door of another resident to warn them of something. She forces her diary on to them, saying that all they need to know is contained within.
The recipient of the diary has a past of her own that she’d rather no one knew about, and so it appears do a lot of the other residents of Acacia Villas.
The information of each of the residents involved in nefarious goings-on is drip fed at just the right speed to keep you turning the pages, and there are many gasp out loud moments!
It’s a great read, and recommended.
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole and to Dorothy Koomson for reading along, commenting in the margins with us Pigeonhole readers!
Hazel (1853 KP) rated The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 Years Old in Books
May 25, 2017
Think Adrian Plass but with octogenarians and this is the result. The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 ¼ Years Old is a years long journal beginning on 1st January 2013. Hendrik hates old people, an unfortunate predicament as he live in a home for the elderly. He set himself the task of writing a daily account about the “life of the inmates of a care home in North Amsterdam,” with the purpose of it being read after his death by readers, or “inmates” who wish to know what to expect in their old age.
Whether the contents of this diary are true or exaggerated does not matter, as what it produces is a laugh-out-loud story, a pleasure to read. From cake in the fish tank, to complaints about leaky nether regions, Hendrik provides a brutally honest account of the highs and lows of being an OAP.
The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 ¼ Years Old encompasses a selection of unique and presumably real characters. Readers are bound to discover someone who reminds them of an elderly relative, or even themselves! There is the diabetic, rude, gin loving Evert – Henrdik’s best friend of many years – who is never without a witty comeback for the bossy, self-important director of the home. On the other hand, levelheaded Eefje, who Hendrik is rather fond of, shows a completely different view of elderly mentality. Despite the stereotypes associated with care home patients, Hendrik and friends still have as much fun as possible; after all, they may be Old but not Dead.
Speaking of dead, Hendrik makes a number of jokes and references to euthanasia, which may seem like poor taste to some readers. However, when all the friends around you are literally living the final years of their lives, why not joke about it instead of worry? Naturally there are sad diary entries about the inevitable deaths of his contemporaries throughout the year, but Hendrik does not let it get him down for long. Hendrik and his close friends make the most of the time they have left, and if that involves speeding along the roads of Amsterdam on their souped-up mobility scooters, then that is exactly what they will do.
The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 ¼ Years Old is a gem of a book and comes highly recommended to readers of all ages. Hendrik ‘s effortlessly funny, sarcastic remarks stress what the average citizen is too polite to voice. Once you begin it is hard to put down. Unfortunately a year is not long enough and you will end up wanting more. Whatever the future holds for us, let’s hope we become someone like Hendrik Groen.
MoMoBookDiary (20 KP) rated This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor in Books
Sep 30, 2018
We have all heard about doctors working extra-long hours but really we have no idea what this really means. There are diary entries which had me shocked, gasping for breath, laughing, crying. I read the book in two sittings – I needed a break from the emotions – and would widely recommend this as a must read un-put-downable book.
Dorset Brothers at War: First World War Writings from a Blandford Family
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In 1914, three of Jessica Christian's maternal great-uncles - Bertram, Stanley and Roy George of...
Nothing But the Truth: Selected Dispatches
Arch Tait and Anna Politkovskaya
Book
From the author of the internationally acclaimed Putin's Russia and A Russian Diary. Until her...