Book about woman doing something interesting

[Anonymous]

Nancy Drew

[Anonymous]

The Second Ending, by Michelle Hoffman -

I’m only halfway through at this point, but I highly recommend it. Light in tone (a bit zany in spots, like WYG Bernadette) but actually quite substantive, underneath. Main character is a quirky 50 year old former child prodigy pianist whose daughters are now off to college. Book begins with her briefly wondering about her purpose now that her girls are out of the house but doesn’t get stuck there - it quickly launches into a plot that just keeps growing. I’m enjoying the quick but regular touches on the evolution of her long-term marriage, the exploration of art/identity/purpose, and how the past/present keep colliding for us all. Plus, the supporting characters are interesting and fun in their own right, too.

Johanna Porter is Not Sorry, by Sara Read

I read this last year and it actually has a lot in common with The Second Ending. Main character is a mom in her 40s with a teenage daughter, but it not about her as a mother - it’s about how her pre-mom life as a up and coming artist come back around 15-20 years later. Plot-driven and not a heavy read, but like Second Ending, substantive and thought-provoking. Again, nice exploration of the role of art in one’s life and purpose/authenticity, more broadly.

I’d love other books like this if people have recommendations - re women in their late 40s/50s who are contemplating or experiencing life after their kids go off to college, but focusing more on the “Next Act” adventures than the “empty nest” piece.

[Anonymous]

Murder She Wrote

[Anonymous]

Red Cell, by Mark E. Henshaw - The first of three books in the “Kyra Stryker” series. CIA/ NatSec thrillers with a female lead.

The Change, by Kirsten Miller - Women in their late 40s/50s get sucked into a mystery while riding the waves of various mid-life transitions. Not the best plotted novel or mystery ever, but definitely kept me reading.

[Anonymous]

Travis Baldree writes about a female orc who stops marauding to open a coffee shop, help with a book shop and fall in love with a (female) dwarf.

[Anonymous]

I don't think I've read many books where the women are primarily mom/lovers. But it's probably because I read a lot of murder mysteries, and the women are either dying, killing, or solving. Anyway, my suggestions:

Lucky - Alice Sebold's (Memoir; I liked it SO much better than Lovely Bones)

Wild - Cheryl Strayed (Personal journey; I HATED her and thought that she was incredibly stupid, but the book is decent)

Thinking in Pictures - Temple Grandin

Any Agatha Christie novel featuring Ms. Marple

Any early Kay Scarpetta books - Postmortem, Body of Evidence, All that remains, etc.

Beverly Connor's Lindsay Chamberlain or Diane Fallon series

Kathy Reichs Temperance Brennan series

[Anonymous]

The Nightingale

[Anonymous]

We Carry Their Bones - nonfiction written by a forensic anthropologist who investigated the deaths of students at a juvenile reform school in Florida

The Invention of Wings - novel about an enslaved woman and a white woman who feels constrained by wealthy Charleston society

Manhattan Beach - novel about a woman in NY who becomes a diver during WWII

What You Have Heard is True - nonfiction by a woman who traveled to El Salvador to learn/write about the country's political situation

The Enchanted - novel about a woman who investigates the pasts of death row inmates

Just Kids - Patti Smith memoir

While Justice Sleeps - mystery/thriller written by Stacey Abrams. Honestly not very good, but the protagonist is a law clerk trying to unravel a mystery involving supreme court justices, wealthy corporate interests, etc.

Rough Magic - non-fiction by a young woman about her participation in a 1,000 kilometer horse race across Mongolia

[Anonymous]

I second Katherine Graham's book.

Also, take a look at Desert Queen and Flirting with Danger.

I found Lucy Worsley's biography of Agatha Christie quite good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Non-Fiction/Memoir: West with the Night by Beryl Markham.

I was going to recommend this!

[Anonymous]

I'll focus on nonfiction that hasn't been mentioned yet.

Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin by Jill Lepore

Diary of a Midwife by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain

The Doctors Blackwell by Janice Nimura

Square Haunting: Five Women Writers Between the Wars by Francesca Wade

[Anonymous]

The Ruth Galloway series by Elly Griffiths features a female archaeologist who helps solve murders. There is a love interest and she does become a mom, but her career is important to her and a big part of her identity.

[Anonymous]

Fiction: The Mysts of Avalon

Nonfiction: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

[Anonymous]

The Winter Street series by Elin Hilderbrand though you just missed the best time to be reading it (December)

[Anonymous]

Julia Child My Life in France