“It’s wild writing: sexy, unguarded, raw, and ardent … highly recommended.”—The Millions After a decade of heavy partying and hard drinking in London, Amy Liptrot returns home to Orkney, a remote island off the north of Scotland. The Outrun maps Amy’s inspiring recovery as she walks along windy coasts, swims in icy Atlantic waters, tracks Orkney’s wildlife, and reconnects with her parents, revisiting and rediscovering the place that shaped her. A Guardian Best Nonfiction Book of 2016 Sunday Times Top Ten Bestseller New Statesman Book of the Year

These humorous and inspirational blog posts from 45 of the best midlife bloggers offer proof that tumbling over the far side of 45 is worth the journey. This anthology includes the true story of the middle-aged woman who attempted to give her husband a lap dance in the kitchen but the result was anything but steamy. Another writer describes how you’re allowed to teach your grandchild descriptive words such as “dingleberry” and “fartcake” without an ounce of guilt. Other bloggers offers poignant stories about aging, caregiving, and how to celebrate Mother’s Day after the children are grown and live far away. These feisty females will encourage you to keep your chins up and your reading glasses handy!

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “An unflinching examination of how our drinking culture hurts women and a gorgeous memoir of how one woman healed herself.”—Glennon Doyle, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Untamed “You don’t know how much you need this book, or maybe you do. Either way, it will save your life.”—Melissa Hartwig Urban, Whole30 co-founder and CEO The founder of the first female-focused recovery program offers a groundbreaking look at alcohol and a radical new path to sobriety. We live in a world obsessed with drinking. We drink at baby showers and work events, brunch and book club, graduations and funerals. Yet no one ever questions alcohol’s ubiquity—in fact, the only thing ever questioned is why someone doesn’t drink. It is a qualifier for belonging and if you don’t imbibe, you are considered an anomaly. As a society, we are obsessed with health and wellness, yet we uphold alcohol as some kind of magic elixir, though it is anything but. When Holly Whitaker decided to seek help after one too many benders, she embarked on a journey that led not only to her own sobriety, but revealed the insidious role alcohol plays in our society and in the lives of women in particular. What’s more, she could not ignore the ways that alcohol companies were targeting women, just as the tobacco industry had successfully done generations before. Fueled by her own emerging feminism, she also realized that the predominant systems of recovery are archaic, patriarchal, and ineffective for the unique needs of women and other historically oppressed people—who don’t need to lose their egos and surrender to a male concept of God, as the tenets of Alcoholics Anonymous state, but who need to cultivate a deeper understanding of their own identities and take control of their lives. When Holly found an alternate way out of her own addiction, she felt a calling to create a sober community with resources for anyone questioning their relationship with drinking, so that they might find their way as well. Her resultant feminine-centric recovery program focuses on getting at the root causes that lead people to overindulge and provides the tools necessary to break the cycle of addiction, showing us what is possible when we remove alcohol and destroy our belief system around it. Written in a relatable voice that is honest and witty, Quit Like a Woman is at once a groundbreaking look at drinking culture and a road map to cutting out alcohol in order to live our best lives without the crutch of intoxication. You will never look at drinking the same way again.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER They met over their dogs. Gail Caldwell and Caroline Knapp (author of Drinking: A Love Story) became best friends, talking about everything from their love of books and their shared history of a struggle with alcohol to their relationships with men. Walking the woods of New England and rowing on the Charles River, these two private, self-reliant women created an attachment more profound than either of them could ever have foreseen. Then, several years into this remarkable connection, Knapp was diagnosed with cancer. With her signature exquisite prose, Caldwell mines the deepest levels of devotion, and courage in this gorgeous memoir about treasuring a best friend, and coming of age in midlife. Let’s Take the Long Way Home is a celebration of the profound transformations that come from intimate connection—and it affirms, once again, why Gail Caldwell is recognized as one of our bravest and most honest literary voices.

Devika has an unstable mind, or so the doctors have been saying. While working on her second book, she starts receiving letters from an enigmatic woman who was already dead. While a bewildered police force investigates mysterious cases happening around town, Devika decides to unfold the true story behind these strange psychotic incidents and the purpose of those letters. Is there more to all this than what meets the eye? Is all this real at all, or just a figment of her imagination? In her search for truth, Devika cannot trust anybody, not even herself. Struggling between her volatile mind and a personal crisis that saps every bit of sanity out of her, Devika has to find answers. She has to take the journey which could take her to the doorstep of a complete mental breakdown…a wild ride between the real and the paranormal world to find the truth behind The Dead Woman Writing.

Written in response to the Hawk's Nest Tunnel disaster of 1931 in Gauley Bridge, West Virginia, The Book of the Dead is an important part of West Virginia's cultural heritage and a powerful account of one of the worst industrial catastrophes in American history. The poems collected here investigate the roots of a tragedy that killed hundreds of workers, most of them African American. They are a rare engagement with the overlap between race and environment in Appalachia. Published for the first time alongside photographs by Nancy Naumburg, who accompanied Rukeyser to Gauley Bridge in 1936, this edition of The Book of the Dead includes an introduction by Catherine Venable Moore, whose writing on the topic has been anthologized in Best American Essays.

A heartwarming collection of stories about the cats and the lives they’ve touched around them, previously published in the anthology The Little Book of Puppy Love Sometimes, animals come into our lives just when we need them most. In these true stories about the powerful connections between people and their cats, Jo Coudert and Jennifer Basye Sander uncover the simple joys of loving and being loved by our favorite feline companions. In this book you’ll meet the lost cat who comforts a grieving woman, the orange tabby with psychic abilities, the purring kitten rescued from a freeway overpass, the litter of strays who made “cat people” out of their resistant owners, and many, many more. These animals don’t just bring us comfort—they save our lives. Coudert and Sander celebrate the everyday miracles that happen when we form bonds with animals. This new edition combines charming stories into a perfect collection for anyone who melts at every kitty meow.

Few relationships are as simple—and rewarding—as those between man and animal. From the loyal dog who risks his own life to rescue a drowning boy to the lost kitten who comforts a grieving woman to an abandoned horse and foster child who come to save each other, these inspiring true stories highlight the hope, healing, happiness and—most of all—unconditional love animals bring to our lives. Whether you love sloppy dog kisses, melt at every kitty meow or give your heart to horses, birds or even moose, this heartwarming collection is one to treasure.

"If you're a feisty, robust female tumbling down the far side of fifty, grab a glass of cabernet (oh hell, grab the whole bottle), wear your rhinestone-studded reading glasses, and savor some witty words of wisdom."--Back cover.

Leave the Lipstick, Take the Iguana is the 9th book in the bestselling Travelers' Tales humor series which began with There's No Toilet Paper on the Road Less Traveled followed by the now classic "underwear" women's humor series which began with top seller and still-selling Sand in My Bra.