I’ve been on a mission to find books about midlife that I can relate to, that not only educate me but also entertain me. Here’s what I found:
I Remember Nothing by Nora Ephron
In this book, Nora writes about a variety of topics (from divorce to friends, from her career to memory loss). She does all this in her signature style, making you feel as if you’re listening to one of her conversations. I literally laughed out loud a few times while reading this book. She writes about topics and observations that are very relatable to women our age. (Despite being older than us when she wrote it.) This is a great light read that won’t take you long to finish and will leave you feeling very content.
50 Ways to enjoy turning Fifty by Liisa Kyle
Are you or a friend turning 50? Then here’s a book that would make a great gift for you and your friend. This comprehensive book covers all the topics you could experience going into your fifties – physically, mentally and emotionally. And it’s designed so that you can bounce around to whatever chapter appeals to you at any given time. It’s essentially a workbook that asks pertinent questions that will get you thinking about your life. For instance – how do you feel about turning fifty? What are you happy with? What do you want to change? It’s full of ideas on how to enjoy your milestone birthday and beyond.
Growing Young: How friendship, optimism and kindness can help you live to 100 by Marta Zaraska
This is a well-written book full of fascinating information about longevity and how to live a long and healthy life. We know that a healthy diet, regular exercise and getting enough sleep is important to live a long and healthy life. But in this book, science journalist and author, Marta Zaraska, shows us new information that changed her thinking about longevity. Turns out that in addition to eating well and exercising, we should be focussing on our social lives. A strong support system of friends and family lowers our mortality risk. Also, contemplating your purpose, a happy marriage, volunteering (amongst other things) go a long way to improving your longevity. I found this book very informative and found myself underlining most of the book! Midlife is definitely the time we find ourselves more likely to embrace this kind of thinking and be happier and healthier.
Older but Better, but Older by Caroline de Maigret
A quick and enjoyable read, this book is by the same author who wrote How to be Parisian wherever you are. But this time, the author writes about what it’s like to be a “fully-fledged woman”. In other words, she writes about her experiences as an ‘older woman’ and how they differ from how they were before. There’s advice on love, seduction, living alone, dating, fashion and accepting our imperfections.
Another post about books: The 7 books about midlife you might want to read
The Middlepause: On life after youth by Marina Benjamin
This is a memoir about the author’s menopause experience that we may, in many ways, relate to. We need more books like this that talk about the physical and mental changes that women experience in midlife and beyond. I haven’t read this one yet, but I’m looking forward to sinking my teeth into it soon.
The XX Brain by Dr Lisa Mosconi
You’ve probably heard about this book because it’s been talked about often in the media since its publication. Until relatively recently medical research tended to focus on men’s health and didn’t pay enough attention to women’s bodies (assuming they were basically ‘men with breasts and tubes’). And specifically, the female brain was rarely studied by medical researchers. This book addresses this lack of information and brings into focus all aspects of women’s health, for example, brain fog, memory lapses, insomnia, hormonal imbalances and the increased risk of dementia. It’s the first book to look at cognitive enhancement and Alzheimer’s prevention in women and to show how women’s brain health is an important part of women’s overall health.
Why we can’t sleep: Women’s new midlife crisis by Ada Calhoun
Here’s another book that got a lot of airtime and coverage recently. It offers a specific look at why Generation X women are especially miserable during midlife. A generation raised to believe we could ‘have it all’, our age group is finding that not to be the case at all. This is an important read for middle-aged women to clarify why we might be feeling the way we do, and what we can do about it. Being a Gen-Xer, this one really appeals to me.
On being 40 (ish) by Lindsey Mead, Kate Bolick & Taffy Brodesser-Akner
This book comes highly recommended for anyone 40ish or beyond. Fifteen women capture what it feels like to reach this marvellous milestone. Filled with reflection, nostalgia and a good few laughs, this collection of essays covers an array of topics about midlife and all that it entails. I can’t wait to read this one!
And those are the eight books about midlife I recently discovered that I’m slowly working my way through. I’ve read the first four already and I’m looking forward to devouring the last four before the end of this year.
Have you read any of these books? Did you enjoy them? Are there any others that you can recommend too?
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