Books for mid-life (crisis and not)
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Anonymous
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I'm mid-40s and struggling a bit. Not in true crisis -- not quitting my job or having an affair or spending money in weird and ostentatious ways. I'm just quietly struggling with feelings of wasted potential, being unsure of what the next phase of my life will look like, some regret, and in particular, feeling a bit lonely and disconnected.
Anyone have books to recommend about these subjects? Fiction, self-help, biographies, anything. Just books that helped you work through some of the mid-life blahs. I feel like I have a decent life but that I've squandered my career potential and feel kind of lonely without a supportive, loving extended family or a many close friends I can talk to. |
Anonymous
| How about Man Walks Into a Room by Nicole Krauss? It's about amnesia and forgetting one's life. Its a good read but it is only fiction, so probably a distraction more than an aid. |
Anonymous
| I know most people read Wintering by Katherine May as a "pandemic book." But I think it is an interesting look at the natural downturns of life, which for me, spoke quite a bit to the malaise of midlife. |
Anonymous
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Books (all NF, can't think of fiction):
Why we can't sleep On being 40ish Life reimagined Podcasts: Gen-X Women Forties Stories The Shift Grown A$$ women's guide |
Anonymous
| When I was in similar spot, someone suggested I read Anna Karenina. (I didn't but I pass this along). |
Anonymous
That's really funny. What a suggestion! |
Anonymous
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Kind of all over the place with suggestions, but these come to mind all for different reasons
Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty The Idea of You by Robinne Lee Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid |
Anonymous
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Woman Last Seen in Her Thirties by Camile Pagan
Where'd You Go Bernadette |
Anonymous
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The Power of Fun by Catherine Price
Life Reimagined by Barbara Bradley Haggerty |
Anonymous
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What Alice forgot also crossed my mind as a suggestion so since a PP also thought of it, I thought it might be worth saying that I did too.
I might also suggest Five Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand when it comes out this summer. GL! |
Anonymous
Me again - I also read nora goes off script and hadn’t thought of it myself but now upon further consideration might also agree with that as a suggestion. |
Anonymous
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OP here and thank you for suggestions so far! Making a list for summer reading.
Also, in my googling on this I came across this website: http://booksastherapy.com Added Ecco Homo by Nietzsche and A Scattering (poems) by Christopher Reid. Thought I'd share in case anyone else is using this thread as a resource. |
Anonymous
To be clear, these are all fiction mid-life crisis dramas. I wouldn't go to them for advice, but they are easy fiction reads that will let you escape into someone else's midlife crisis. Escapism really. |
Anonymous
Christopher Reid is a bit stiff, pompous and overly-academic. If you want to read good poems that will inspire you and kick your butt, let me know and I'll put a list of poets together for you. |
Anonymous
| Breathing Lessons - Anne Tyler. Nearly all her books are about women who want to leave home / having a mid-life crisis. Some run away and go back, some stay away. They are fabulously written and often set in atmospheric places. |