Anne Aly, Liz Byrski, Sarah Drummond, Mehreen Faruqi, Goldie Goldbloom, Krissy Kneen, Jeanine Leane, Brigid Lowry and Pat Torres are among fifteen voices recounting what it is like to be a woman on the other side of 40. These are stories of identity and survival, and a celebration of getting older and wiser, and becoming more certain of who you are and where you want to be.

At age thirty-two, I had overcome cancer and the amputation of my left leg. I had paid my dues and figured it would take a lot more than turning seventy to bring me down. Or would it? I began to wonder about other women of a certain age and what paths they've taken and how they are managing their own changing tides. So, I invited ordinary women with extraordinary stories to get real about aging. With wit, humor and staunch frankness, these women explain, discuss, call out and examine how they continue to negotiate the dynamic currents of aging. In my own response to aging, I've written personal stories and anecdotes around my own discoveries. Some are serious, inspirational, illuminating. Others are outrageous, foolish, awkward and funny. Our stories, together, powerfully impart what it means to possess a certain wisdom, a certain comfort, a certain sensuality, a certain persona . . . not despite but precisely because of the experience of growing older.

Photos of the silver, sexy superheroes we deserve: mature men who can warm up your bed and fix your (obviously) broken scale. Just how long do you plan on defying the laws of gravity? Responding to overwhelming demand, the Cambridge Women’s Pornography Cooperative has researched deeply into the desires of women of a certain age. The result: forty steamy scenarios show hunky yet distinguished men catering to every whim. These handsome hotties insist she take an early retirement, delight in the silver in her hair, and best of all, take over the cooking and cleaning. Mrrow! Scientifically proven to make women swoon, Porn for Women of a Certain Age will leave the ladies begging for more. Praise for Porn for New Moms “Genius gift idea . . . (I’ll be getting one for each of the 10 baby showers I have in the next three months!)” —Glamour Magazine “It’s a book we wouldn’t mind sharing with every mother we know.” —Parenting.com “This new book from Chronicle has got to be my favorite baby shower gift idea this year.” —RookieMom.com

The beloved New York Times columnist "inspires women to embrace aging and look at it with a new sense of hope" in this lively, fascinating, eye-opening look at women and aging in America (Parade Magazine). "You're not getting older, you're getting better," or so promised the famous 1970's ad -- for women's hair dye. Americans have always had a complicated relationship with aging: embrace it, deny it, defer it -- and women have been on the front lines of the battle, willingly or not. In her lively social history of American women and aging, acclaimed New York Times columnist Gail Collins illustrates the ways in which age is an arbitrary concept that has swung back and forth over the centuries. From Plymouth Rock (when a woman was considered marriageable if "civil and under fifty years of age"), to a few generations later, when they were quietly retired to elderdom once they had passed the optimum age for reproduction, to recent decades when freedom from striving in the workplace and caretaking at home is often celebrated, to the first female nominee for president, American attitudes towards age have been a moving target. Gail Collins gives women reason to expect the best of their golden years.

Older women often feel invisible, but sometimes that's their secret weapon. Billie, Mary Alice, Helen and Natalie have worked for the Museum, an elite network of assassins, for forty years. But now their talents are considered old-school and no one appreciates their real-world resourcefulness in an age of technology. When the foursome is sent on an all-expenses-paid trip to mark their retirement, they are targeted by one of their own. Only the Board, the top-level members of the Museum, can order the termination of field agents, and the women realise they've been marked for death. To get out alive they have to turn against their own organization, relying on experience and each other to get the job done, knowing that working together is the secret to their survival. They're about to teach the Board what it really means to be a woman - and a killer - of a certain age.

From social and political issues to found poems, Gibson's fresh, evocative (and sometimes provocative) writing is both modern and timeless. These poems spring from taxis, supermarkets and long car drives through the wind and rain. They spring from fantasies, daydreams, nightmares, from love and hate, but, above all, they exalt and enhance everyday experiences.

We know that the population is getting older and that there are more older women than older men. Yet, women of a certain age are almost invisible in the media and popular culture. This text explores why this is so and examines the public and private worlds of older women.

The best-selling author of BRINGING UP BÉBÉ investigates life in her forties, and wonders whether her mind will ever catch up with her face. When Pamela Druckerman turns 40, waiters start calling her "Madame," and she detects a new message in mens' gazes: I would sleep with her, but only if doing so required no effort whatsoever. Yet forty isn't even technically middle-aged anymore. And there are upsides: After a lifetime of being clueless, Druckerman can finally grasp the subtext of conversations, maintain (somewhat) healthy relationships and spot narcissists before they ruin her life. What are the modern forties? What do we know once we reach them? What makes someone a "grown-up" anyway? And why didn't anyone warn us that we'd get cellulite on our arms? Part frank memoir, part hilarious investigation of daily life, There Are No Grown-Ups diagnoses the in-between decade when... • Everyone you meet looks a little bit familiar. • You're matter-of-fact about chin hair. • You can no longer wear anything ironically. • There's at least one sport your doctor forbids you to play. • You become impatient while scrolling down to your year of birth. • Your parents have stopped trying to change you. • You don't want to be with the cool people anymore; you want to be with your people. • You realize that everyone is winging it, some just do it more confidently. • You know that it's ok if you don't like jazz. Internationally best-selling author and New York Times contributor Pamela Druckerman leads us on a quest for wisdom, self-knowledge and the right pair of pants. A witty dispatch from the front lines of the forties, THERE ARE NO GROWN-UPS is a (midlife) coming-of-age story--and a book for anyone trying to find their place in the world.

This book was written to give 'women of a certain age . . . ' a personal opportunity to examine relationship choices they have made in the past, as well as to have new information and greater choices going forward. "Jacki Gethner has written a wonderful book that allows women to experience their power through the understanding that, in any relationship situation, they have the right and creativity to exert choices. Behind Door#3 is the perfect book for women's groups, book clubs, therapy groups, and for sharing among girlfriends." Sally Fisher AIDS Activist: founder Intersect Worldwide & AIDS Mastery, Writer, Theater Producer, Blogger: "Don't Just Stand There. Do Something" "Beautifully written . . . Powerful information. A must-read and powerful workbook for any woman entering the world of dating." Lorren Sandt, Executive Director Caring Ambassadors Program, Inc.