Aging Middle Age

Every woman will eventually go through menopause—that's half the population of the planet! And yet it's something that is still not fully explored. It's held in shame for some women and ignored by others. It can be devastating to some and a call to freedom for others. After going through her own 'change', Alison Daddo wanted to explore all the feelings around menopause and especially the post menopausal years that so many women talk about as being 'the best years of their life'.

Although we've been conditioned to think middle aged is practically a four-letter word, the realities of women in midlife today are far different from what our mothers experienced. Women in their 40s, 50s, and even 60s are living younger, vibrant lives. But influenced by our youth-obsessed culture, we fear that when we hit midlife, we stop being relevant and no longer have options - that it's simply too late for us.

How can I be nearing middle age when 26 feels like yesterday? After the craziness of my 20s and hard work of my 30s, what’s next? Who am I now that youth is behind me? These were the questions Lise Carlaw and Sarah Wills asked themselves as they entered a milestone decade—their 40s. And they’re not alone. The second phase of life can seem daunting. But it’s so much more too. There is power in knowing who you are, ditching ‘nice’ for what’s important and arriving at the stage in your life when you decide rather than ‘slide’.

If you are a woman over 40 and feel your confidence slipping, can't land a job despite your stellar experience and qualifications, or suddenly find yourself feeling ignored or dismissed, this book is for you. Or maybe you feel out of sync with today's younger workers and corporate culture and realize you are losing your seat at the table.

New abilities, new secrets. Does deception run in her genes? Millie's friends have warned her new home construction results in more divorces than infidelity does, but the problems that come out of the woodwork while designing her dream home have nothing to do with her marriage. Well, almost nothing. Practicing her familial gifts stirs up worlds of trouble and has her questioning what it means for her children and grandchildren. Will the forces working against her husband put his life in jeopardy or can she bridge the gap between him and the forest she loves? Pick up a hammer and join Millie...

From the New York Times reporter whose beat is culture and ideas comes a fascinating, revelatory, and timely social history of the concept of middle age. For the first time ever, the middle-aged make up the biggest, richest, and most influential segment of the country, yet the history of middle age has remained largely untold. This important and immensely listenable book finally fills the gap.

Kiss Tomorrow Hello brings together the experiences and reflections of women as they embark on a new stage of life. The 25 stellar writers gathered here explore a wide range of concerns, including keeping love and sex alive, discovering family secrets, negotiating the demands of illness and infertility, letting children go, making peace with parents, and contemplating plastic surgery. The tales are true, the confessions candid, and the humor infectious.

Sincerity is Duffy’s final collection of poems as Poet Laureate and the much-anticipated successor to the Costa Award-winning The Bees. Time and its passage are at the heart of this reflective work, which gazes out from the autumn of life. There are moving elegies here for what has departed; whether that be children who have flown the nest, a way of life, literary luminaries, past loves, lost parents or our own youth.

If you found a cougar lounging in your living room, would you run? Or would you hang out with it peacefully? The way you answer this question may be the difference between being generally happy or generally miserable. How do you find happiness in your current life? It’s a choice, and it starts with you. You taking care of yourself. You doing the work. You trying something and if what you try doesn’t work, trying something else. Self-care isn’t selfish, it’s essential. Forget trite self-help advice about bubble baths and smiling, this is self-care for the real world. “What to Do If...