Books on Turning 40
Let’s read about being middle-aged
I turned 40 at the end of last week and had some thoughts on it. Along with those thoughts, I set out to read a bunch of books on turning 40. And on living life as a middle-aged person.
Let’s talk about how it went.
Lindsey Mead — On Being 40(ish)
This is the first book I found on turning 40. The record at my local library billed it as a collection of fifteen writers who tackle all the joys and struggles they face as people in their forties. It sounded perfect.
And then when I went to pick it up, I noticed the pink cover and the whimsical font. I noticed that all fifteen authors were women. I had, indeed, requested a book gendered for other readers. The horrors!
Actually not so much. I’ve got no problems reading a book gendered a different way. Just as I had no problems stepping into a movie theater by myself a month ago to watch Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
And I enjoyed most of the essays. The women wrote about their ambitions and families, their friends both living and dead, and how they changed over the course of their adult years.
For anyone (and this includes most academics) who’s ever picked up a book on a generic topic and had the entire…
