Cathrin Bradbury's life imploded in the space of a few months. Her beloved parents died, her marriage limped to an end after twenty-five years, her heavily mortgaged house turned against her, and a promising new romance ended in crushing disappointment. When chewing on life’s gristle, don’t grumble, give a whistle. And always look on the bright side of death. I liked how things were put into perspective by how Hendrik swapped his daily entries from pressing global and international issues to the very parochial trivia that consumed the residents of his care home. The joviality of the first book was still there in places but the overall take I got from this book was of a sadness brought about by coping with declining health, death of residents and a negative outlook on old age. The optimism of the first book has gone and I felt like the residents were just hanging around waiting to die.

Bright Side by Monica Parpal, Kim Holden | Waterstones

Readers of the first book will be relieved to hear that a second book means the sweet and funny Hendrik is still around. It's been a priviledge to share another year in Hendrik's life, and I've experienced a whole range of emotions with him, from the laugh out loud outrageous escapades, to the inevitable sad farewells along the way. Hendrik possesses a level of humility and dignity that brings a lump to my throat, and he makes the invisibility of old age a little less so. Bravo Hendrik!! This goes from public schools to His mad days with David Jason, Peter Cooke his life long friendship with David Bowie & Robin Williams to ending up like his Grandfather in A circus to how Look on the bright side is played at funerals I loved this book. I did think of my parents, and all the elderly people I have loved and who are now gone. Makes me smile to think of them. And how very close I am to that time myself. Who’da thunk?Reading this was like having a kitchen party - sitting around the table with a bunch of good friends, homemade comfort food and a glass of wine - engaged in a mutual therapy session, whining and complaining about husbands and children and work, laughing, and crying, and coming away knowing that this too shall pass and we will come out stronger on the other side of things. I thoroughly enjoyed Hendrik’s first diary so I was incredibly excited to be asked to review the follow-up and it’s every bit as special.

On the Bright Side: The New Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen On the Bright Side: The New Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen

The inclusion of remarks made by her father throughout his life, was an enjoyable read. Also interesting to see how one of her siblings managed to turn his life around. Therefore, the 2 stars. Best of all, as her book went to print, she added an epilogue- to update where everyone was from the point of her book - a charming inclusion. Hendrik records the goings on inside the care home and also his thoughts on the world outside. Hendrik is a lovable old man who has a streak of devilry and his writing gave me many laugh out loud moments as he recounts his exploits with the aptly named group of residents called 'Old-But-Not-Dead Club'. This book is at times sad as he writes about the autumn years of him and his friends but it is often hilarious as he encounters new adventures. I found On the Bright Side an easy book to read. There is some humour about life around the care home and I particularly liked the saga of the appearing fruit. I can imagine what havoc some fruit appearing at random would cause in my father’s care home in Cardiff. So in general I enjoyed this book and learnt a lot along the way. Yes there were sections where I was worried I would lose interest but thankfully they did not last long and another chapter would open up in front of me.

From international bestselling author KIM HOLDEN comes an inspiring, life-changing story about the power of love in all its forms, having the courage to live life to the fullest, and always looking on the bright side.

Bright Side by Kim Holden - Vilma Iris | Lifestyle Review: Bright Side by Kim Holden - Vilma Iris | Lifestyle

It's really difficult to say too much about the story without giving much away; it's written in a funny, yet touching and moving way. It is insightful into the life of many elderly people, and although I'm quite a long way off retirement, it does make you ponder slightly about your future care and of your parents/grandparents. Born in South Shields which for me explains a lot because that makes him A Shiely Dogger.A mad jolly sod from Shields. The biggiest disappoint is that there is nothing about One Foot in The Grave , a surprise as was in it & did the theme song . It is the missing bits that let you down, he has been married 41 years but they don't sleep together but in different parts of the house, that was in Sunday Times on 2/12/18 so it is not wonderful marriage he claims here. Yup, another geriatric fiction novel for me. We will just ignore the implications of this recent genre-love. I found On the Bright Side to be a GOOD read and pleased that I have read it. I liked Hendrik’s world view of things and how different generations react to everyday life. However, I did not enjoy it anywhere near as much as I did the first book. I read for pleasure and On the Bright Side gave a rather negative view of old age. It makes you think that although life expectancy is increasing, what little have we to look forward to as our health declines and we may be awaiting our death. On the Bright Side does leave some fond memories but all the sadness including the pet dog made this a GOOD yet 4 star read for me.This is the sequel to Hendrik Groen 83 and a quarter years old. Hendrik keeps a diary. He is determined to grow old with dignity and to rise up against the care homes director. He dreams of escaping the confines of his care home. Like many Americans in the eighties, I became aware of Monty Python in college. Having grown up in a rather humorless, economically depressed small town, we weren’t cultured enough for British humor. Eric Idle’s Always Look on the Bright Side of Life is a fun, but at times poignant book. C. S. Lewis once wrote somewhere that biographies are most interesting at the beginning, and I think he was correct. Idle had a somewhat tragic childhood, growing up during World War Two, in which he lost his father. His writing sweeps you in and makes you wonder what lies behind fame. Tragedy often lies behind great comedians. To be funny you often have to be sad. For years it was unknown who was hiding behind the pseudonym. This led to speculation about who it could be. Names from Sylvia Witteman to Arnon Grunberg were mentioned. Both De Volkskrant and NRC Handelsblad revealed almost simultaneously in 2016 that Peter de Smet was 62-year-old. De Smet responded with the words that 'he is not waiting for publicity' and 'has no sense in the fuss about fame'. Dit is een boek wat je in 1 zitting uit kan lezen, en in die zitting een hele mix van emoties kan beleven.

Bright Side: Holden, Kim, Parpal, Monica: 9780991140237

It is the things about Life of Brian That never knew that make this book good & course famous joke if ban a thing its going to go to the top, they banned Lady Chatterley, sold in paper bags, banned in 1960s Library's Charlie & the Chocolate factory with two movies on proving power of banning, the main song is popular all thanks to the Pope banning it. I enjoy the Monty Python team and was hoping for a more meaningful insight into Eric Idle's life so this was a little disappointing. The book left me wanting to read a book by Michael Palin or John Cleese rather than to refer to what I had just read. The chapter titled, “KEDS”, a combination of musings and memories on shopping, is practically worth buying the book!I give this book 3 1/2 stars. I was tending to go home what is anti-American and Trump rambling at the end really turned me off. Not that I’m defending anyone but it really wasn’t the place in this book about comedy. It reminds me of the Peter Cook-Dudley Moore sketch Bloody Greta Garbo. It’s too absurd to be remotely true, but that’s the life of Eric Idle. He says. Unfortunately, I wasn't paying enough attention to the title of this book, the fact that it's a "Sortabiography" - cause the book had very little to do with the goings on of Monty Python. Rather it was largely a story of Eric's life (well duh, a biography). Mind you, you can't really take the Monty Python out of the life story of Eric Idle. But I guess I was expecting a little more about the Eric I already knew (that is, Eric the Python writer and actor) and less about his friendship with George Harrison and Robin Williams.