# Recommend a book for a middle-aged woman... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 5, 2010, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-for-a-middle-aged-woman/538367 "2010-05-05T02:16:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-for-a-middle-aged-woman/538367/1 "2010-05-05T02:16:54Z")
It’s not for me, I’m not a middle-aged woman. I’ve decided to give my mother a book for mother’s day. I picked out [Eat, Pray, Love](http://www.amazon.com/Eat-Pray-Love-Everything-Indonesia/dp/0670034711) by Elizabeth Gilbert. Since it’s pretty cheap I want to buy her another book. **Eat, Pray, Love** seems like a perfect fit for her. It’s about spirituality, womanhood and foreign culture. A movie about the book is being made with Julia Roberts, and it’s an Oprah book club selection. Now I need another book that’s based on similar themes as **Eat, Pray, Love**. She did did not like **The Secret** , so we are talking about a book on spirituality but not as dumb as **The Secret**. Middle-aged females and self-proclaimed experts on middle-aged females are invited to respond. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-for-a-middle-aged-woman/538367/2 "2010-05-05T03:36:18Z")
I recommend The Secret Life of Bees (Kidd) or Their Eyes Were Watching God (Hurston!) ---
**Author:** ![Anna\_Nimity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Anna\_Nimity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anna_Nimity)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-for-a-middle-aged-woman/538367/3 "2010-05-05T03:46:30Z")
I second Hazle’s choices…especially Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-for-a-middle-aged-woman/538367/4 "2010-05-05T03:54:02Z")
I’m 43, is that middle-aged? I’m currently reading **Devotion** by Dani Shapiro and enjoying it. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-for-a-middle-aged-woman/538367/5 "2010-05-05T07:10:00Z")
How about **Reading Lolita in Teheran**? ---
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-for-a-middle-aged-woman/538367/6 "2010-05-05T17:41:10Z")
[The Three Weissmans of Westport](http://www.amazon.com/Three-Weissmanns-Westport-Novel/dp/0374299048/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1273081083&sr=8-1)? It’s about two sisters (late forties and early fifties) who move with their mother to a relative’s beach house in Westport after the mother’s husband abruptly divorces her. I found it to be very well-written, but light. It parallels _Sense and Sensibility_, so I enjoyed waiting for the next updated plot twist, but I think it’d be fun even if one had never heard of Jane Austen. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-for-a-middle-aged-woman/538367/7 "2010-05-05T18:14:15Z")
It’s not spiritual and it’s not about a foreign culture, but everybody likes [The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society](http://www.amazon.com/Guernsey-Literary-Potato-Society-Readers/dp/0385341008/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1273083006&sr=1-1). It’s an epistolary novel, set in Guernsey in 1946. It’s totally charming but not smarmy. If she can handle something a bit darker, I’d suggest [A Fine Balance](http://www.amazon.com/Fine-Balance-Oprahs-Book-Club/dp/140003065X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1273083145&sr=1-1). It’s set in India in the 70’s. It’s a big book which can be daunting, but it’s a real page-turner, heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-for-a-middle-aged-woman/538367/8 "2010-05-05T18:27:04Z")
**The Faith Club** , by Ranya Idliby, Suzanne Oliver, and Priscilla Warner. It’s non-fiction, about these three women in New York City who started their own spiritual discussion club (one is Jewish, one is Christian, and one is Muslim) after 9/11. In my opinion, it’s a little uneven, but overall an interesting premise, and the Muslim woman is of Palestinian background and I liked the insights into that culture. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-for-a-middle-aged-woman/538367/9 "2010-05-05T19:09:57Z")
How about Alexander McCall Smith’s [#1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Series](http://www.amazon.com/Ladies-Detective-Agency-5-Book-Boxed/dp/0307261581)? They’re light, atmospheric and moral (in a charming rather than sanctimonious way). Ko, Middle Aged Woman ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-for-a-middle-aged-woman/538367/10 "2010-05-05T22:31:20Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > It’s not spiritual and it’s not about a foreign culture, but everybody likes [The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society](http://www.amazon.com/Guernsey-Literary-Potato-Society-Readers/dp/0385341008/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1273083006&sr=1-1). It’s an epistolary novel, set in Guernsey in 1946. It’s totally charming but not smarmy. **AuntiePam** , you beat me to it. Charming is exactly the word I used to describe that book. I can’t think of one I’ve enjoyed more lately. And maybe this one? I haven’t read it, but the friend I gave it to enjoyed it. _Three Cups of Tea_, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-for-a-middle-aged-woman/538367/11 "2010-05-06T00:03:36Z")
One of my new favorites is [Broken for You](http://www.amazon.com/Broken-You-Stephanie-Kallos/dp/0802142109/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1273103911&sr=8-1), which was recommended to me by my mother. It’s about relationships among women, and has some beautiful spiritual aspects. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-for-a-middle-aged-woman/538367/12 "2010-05-06T01:25:46Z")
Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-for-a-middle-aged-woman/538367/13 "2010-05-06T01:58:17Z")
My mom (early 50s) is big into books about foreign culture too and really like **A Thousand Splendid Suns** by Khaled Hosseini. ---
**Author:** ![Perciful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Perciful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perciful)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-for-a-middle-aged-woman/538367/14 "2010-05-06T02:21:06Z")
I got my Mom two nurse trilogies put out by Guideposts. As she is a retired nurse I thought she would like them. She is a big Nora Roberts fan but she has read them all! ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-for-a-middle-aged-woman/538367/15 "2010-05-06T03:29:12Z")
Middle-aged (48) woman checking in. At the moment I am finishing up “Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter”. Really enjoying it but don’t think I would recommend it to too many other women my age of my aquaintance, unless I know a bit more about their tastes. Books I just picked up from the library today: The Double Comfort Safari Club - Alexander McCall Smith’s latest The Virgin In the Ice - Ellis Peters - a Brother Cadfael re-read Making Rounds with Oscar - David Dosa MD - a non-fiction book Books I’ve enjoyed that other women my age I know also enjoyed: Others in The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series (McCall Smith) Classics such as Jane Eyre and the Jane Austin book of your choice A number of Elizabeth Peter’s books, especially the first few Amelia Peabody books I don’t read a lot of what’s been aimed at my demographic in the last few years. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-for-a-middle-aged-woman/538367/16 "2010-05-06T13:16:58Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > One of my new favorites is [Broken for You](http://www.amazon.com/Broken-You-Stephanie-Kallos/dp/0802142109/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1273103911&sr=8-1), which was recommended to me by my mother. It’s about relationships among women, and has some beautiful spiritual aspects. It was a good book, but don’t give it to anyone who collects dishes. Like me. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![JuliaSqueezer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/82dd89/32.png) [@JuliaSqueezer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JuliaSqueezer)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-for-a-middle-aged-woman/538367/17 "2010-05-06T13:38:57Z")
Middle aged woman checking in here. I really loved \*The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society \*as well as \*Water for Elephants \*by Sara Gruen. Currently reading \*The Postmistress \*by Sarah Blake and I think it’s going to be on my favorites list, too.