The Pandemic Midlife Crisis


Book Description

Gen X women were overwhelmed and stretched like never before by the COVID-19 pandemic. They were hit hard in all of their many roles--as workers, as caregivers, and more. In this essay collection, 31 midlife women describe their experiences confronting the daily challenges of pandemic life. They are writers, teachers, artists, mothers, daughters, caregivers, activists, friends, and neighbors. Their stories highlight change, flexibility, isolation, connection, loss, and ingenuity, but at the core of each piece is resilience. The Pandemic Midlife Crisis: Gen X Women on the Brink takes readers behind the news headlines of job losses, virtual schooling, and quarantines and into the lives of real midlife women who have found themselves on the brink of so many things during this pandemic: crisis and reinvention, breakdowns and breakthroughs. Within the stories of this collection--the 5th HerStories Project anthology--it is our hope that you'll find the comfort and connection of knowing you are not alone right now.




Why We Can't Sleep


Book Description

The acclaimed author explores the hidden crises of Gen X women in this “engaging hybrid of first-person confession, reportage [and] pop culture analysis” (The New Republic). Ada Calhoun was married with children and a good career—and yet she was miserable. She thought she had no right to complain until she realized how many other Generation X women felt the same way. What could be behind this troubling trend? To find out, Calhoun delved into housing costs, HR trends, credit card debt averages, and divorce data. At every turn, she saw that Gen X women were facing new problems as they entered middle age—problems that were being largely overlooked. Calhoun spoke with women across America who were part of the generation raised to “have it all.” She found that most were exhausted, terrified about money, under-employed, and overwhelmed. And instead of being heard, they were being told to lean in, take “me-time,” or make a chore chart to get their lives and homes in order. In Why We Can’t Sleep, Calhoun opens up the cultural and political contexts of Gen X’s predicament. She offers practical advice on how to ourselves out of the abyss—and keep the next generation of women from falling in. The result is reassuring, empowering, and essential reading for all middle-aged women, and anyone who hopes to understand them.




Midlife, No Crisis


Book Description

In this useful and lovely guidebook to midlife for women, life and health coach Lisa Levine provides easy, actionable tools to help readers let go of what's holding them back and become the best version of themselves. Packed with humor, inspirational quotes, and practical advice, Midlife, No Crisis encourages readers to practice self-care, cultivate positive habits, and overcome fear so that they can start living an awesome life.




Your Keys, Our Home


Book Description

If you've ever dreamed of casting off your worldly possessions and traveling to your heart's content, this story about two intrepid seniors will inspire you no matter your age. Michael and Debbie Campbell felt they had one more adventure in them before considering retirement in the traditional sense, so they filled two rolling duffel bags with life's essentials (including their own pillows) and hit the road. Three years later, having sold their home in Seattle, their "Senior Nomad" lifestyle has no end in sight. Ride along as they share tales of living full-time in Airbnbs in over 50 countries and pay tribute to the many hosts who not only helped them live daily life, but also offered unique opportunities to experience their cities. From the barber's chair in Dublin and the dentist's chair in Split, to a wild motorcycle ride in Athens, a peek behind the Soviet Curtain in Transnistria, and the demise of a chicken for dinner in Marrakech, hosts made the Campbell's dream of adventure come true. Discover how Debbie and Michael find their next Airbnb, how they get there, and the many ways they enjoy their new city just as the locals do. Learn their tips and tricks for using Airbnb and how they get the most out of each stay, all while spending little more than they would have spent settled into their rocking chairs in Seattle.




Midlife Crisis: Adapt, Evolve, Survive


Book Description

UNLIMITED HAPPINESS AND ETERNAL LIFE One is a fool’s errand and the other a distinct possibility. In this data-driven survival guide, Dr. Bob Nguyen takes you on a whirlwind campaign that covers these endeavors and much more. From building awareness and managing expectations, to life repurposing and fostering relationships, to adopting the latest anti-ageing and longevity biohacks, this book delivers a practical, actionable and wide-ranging response to the common calamity that is midlife crisis. In these pages, Nguyen first describes turmoil typical of each decade of life, detailing how COVID took the crisis out of midlife and made it a transgenerational pandemic. Suddenly, adults of all ages had the time and space to ponder their options and realize their need to adapt and evolve by discovering new routes to purpose and fulfillment. Following crisis, Nguyen then explores the mindsets and plots out the circuitous paths that can lead to emotional well-being and social connectivity. In the last section, he takes a science-based, literal approach to survival itself. He explores the process of ageing, shedding light on this DNA-centered phenomenon and unveiling the workarounds to its relentless progression. In this era of discovery, the quest for eternal life and the science to make it feasible seem on the cusp of converging. Weaving together fields as disparate as physics and philosophy, economics and religion, Nguyen writes an evidence-based manual that spins quite the socio-scientific yarn, mapping out a course for personal discovery and life-changing transformations. Catalyzed by crisis, this is a journey to find your best, longest life, regardless of your age. And with radically expanded human lifespan in scientists’ crosshairs, you better buckle up, lock in and get ready to adapt, evolve and survive!




Life After Truth


Book Description

"Fifteen years after graduating from Harvard, five close friends on the cusp of middle age are still pursuing an elusive happiness and wondering if they’ve wasted their youthful opportunities. Jules, already a famous actor when she arrived on campus, is changing in mysterious ways but won’t share what is haunting her. Mariam and Rowan, who married young, are struggling with the demands of family life and starting to regret prioritising meaning over wealth in their careers. Eloise, now a professor who studies the psychology of happiness, is troubled by her younger wife’s radical politics. And Jomo, founder of a luxury jewellery company, has been carrying an engagement ring around for months, unsure whether his girlfriend is the one. The soul searching begins in earnest at their much-anticipated college reunion weekend on the Harvard campus, when the most infamous member of their class, Frederick - senior advisor and son of the recently elected and loathed US president - turns up dead. Old friends often think they know everything about one another, but time has a way of making us strangers to those we love - and to ourselves."--Publisher description.




Love among the Castelli Romani: A Midlife Crisis for Two


Book Description

Not far south of Rome are the Castelli Romani, seventeen small hill-towns of beautiful, undiscovered charm in Lazio, hill-towns which have everything Rome does, but on a smaller, more humane scale. Love Among the Castelli Romani: A Midlife Crisis for Two recounts the authors’ two-year adventure in the area. Revealing the nature, mythology, history, culture, food, and people of four of the hill-towns—Albano, Castel Gandolfo, Frascati, and Nemi—they introduce the reader to the towns and the distinctly Italian life there, during the escapades of their midlife rediscovery of their love and the joy of the simple life. Reading Rome through the Castelli Romani, and the Castelli Romani through Rome, the book is part travel memoir, part anthology of Latin and English literature, part biography of a marriage, part lyric meditation on midlife, all while our authors learn Italian, explore two crater lakes, eat and drink local food and wine, make friends, survive Covid, and unlock the unknown pleasures of an Italy just outside the known pleasures of Rome itself. The first English language treatment of the area in over one hundred years, Love Among the Castelli Romani is a Grand Tour of an area Roman emperors, medieval churchmen, renaissance aristocrats, and modern fortunates have all called home as they have escaped the heat and busyness of Rome in search of a cooler, greener, quieter side of Italian life. The book is for the real or armchair traveler ready for a new experience of Italy.




Your Future Self


Book Description

Set your future self up for success with the “fascinating, profound, and immediately practical guide to shaping your life to come, while living more richly in the moment."―Oliver Burkeman, author of Four Thousand Weeks We've all had the desire to travel through time and see what our lives will be like later in life. But while we want the best possible future for ourselves, we often fail to make decisions that would truly make that version of the future a reality: Why do we choose steak over vegetables at dinner, waving off concerns about high cholesterol? Why do we splurge on luxury cars rather than save for retirement? Why can’t we stick to our exercise programs? Why are so many of us so disconnected from our future selves? Based on over a decade of groundbreaking research, Your Future Self is the “entertaining and powerful book” (Carol Dweck, author of Mindset) that explains that in our minds, our future selves often look like strangers. Many of us view the future as incredibly distant, making us more likely to opt for immediate gratification that disregards our health and well-being in the years to come. People who are able to connect with their future selves, however, are better able to balance living for today and planning for tomorrow. “Mind-boggling and soul-stirring” (Daniel H. Pink, author of The Power of Regret), Your Future Self describes the mental mistakes we make in thinking about the future and gives us practical advice for imagining our best future so we can make that vision a reality.




Building the Post-Pandemic University


Book Description

This timely book offers a detailed, multidisciplinary view on the radical changes in higher education caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Chapters carefully investigate how the pandemic led to massive disruption in the sector, examining the contentious politics involved and various managerial and policy changes that stemmed from this unprecedented crisis.




Midlife (Or How To Hero At Fifty!) #5


Book Description

Ruben Kwan tries to save a young legacy firefighter while dealing with the threat of the Maroon Suits. He learns some shocking new information about his past that may explain his special abilities, but the ramifications of this news could mean the unthinkable. Is it possible his father is still alive?