2021 Authors and Main Characters over 50

[Carol]

Monica wrote: "Has there been a widget created for this challenge? I can't find it. I just saw this challenge in Anita's newsletter and have inadvertently already read 7 books this year that qualify:

[book:Caste..."

Funny, Isabel Wilkerson is forever 40 or so in my brain. Thanks for the nudge toward reality-land :)

Here's a link to the challenge widget, now displayed at our landing page.

https://www.goodreads.com/challenges/...

Thank you, Monica!

[Anita]

Monica wrote: "Has there been a widget created for this challenge? I can't find it. I just saw this challenge in Anita's newsletter and have inadvertently already read 7 books this year that qualify:

[book:Caste..."

Hi Monica!

There is a widget for this challenge, and here's a link to our Challenges thread. It should be right at the top, but you can set up your shelves for any of our challenges there. Alternatively, the link can always be found at the top right of any 'Read Women' group page, along with the polls and bookshelf, etc., links.

[Carol]

FYI, for anyone participating in our group read of Piranesi this month, it qualifies for this challenge. Susanna Clarke is 59.

[Alwynne]

Thought people might like this article by Hilma Wolitzer about writing later in life:

https://lithub.com/the-ironic-twist-o...

[Story]

Alwynne wrote: "Thought people might like this article by Hilma Wolitzer about writing later in life:

https://lithub.com/the-ironic-twist-o..."

Thank you for this. I enjoyed it.

[Story]

I'd forgotten about this challenge but have read a few books this year that fit:

Almost There, a memoir by Nuala O'Faolain written in her 60s. I found it quite sad, especially in the parts where she imagines what her old age might be like. She died in her late 60s of cancer.

Someone at a Distance written when Dorothy Whipple was in her late 50s or early 60s. Whipple was a wonderful discovery for me this year.

Real Estate, a memoir in which the author Deborah Levy turns sixty. This was my favourite book of 2021.

Islands of Mercy by Rose Tremain and written in her 70s. Not her best book but okay.

A Funny Kind of Paradise by Jo Owens. Both the author and her protagonist are in their 60s. This one lingered in my mind for quite a long time after I finished it.

[Alwynne]

That's great Story, I really loved the Levy autobigraphies too, and Whipple's writing's addictive, even if I'm not totally sure why. But everything of hers I've tried was completely, compulsively readable.

[Story]

Alwynne wrote: "Whipple's writing's addictive, even if I'm not totally sure why. But everything of hers I've tried was completely, compulsively r..."

I was wondering when I read her novel why I was so unable to put it down. Interesting to hear both that her other books have the same quality and that you also had the same reaction (since you read more critically than I do, I suspect.)

[Monica]

I am ending the year reading quite a few books by women over 50. My goal was 10. I'm sitting at 11 with 3 more planned this month. If everything goes as planned, here are my books authored by women over 50 and BTW all but one of them were 4 stars or more (though admittedly my 4 star rating range is wide and soft at the lower end 😉)

by Isabel Wilkerson ****
by Jacqueline Woodson ****
by Claudia Rankine *****
by Sheri S. Tepper ***
by Patricia B. McConnell *****
by Elizabeth Kolbert ****
by Ursula K. Le Guin *****
by Rebecca Roanhorse ****
by Carol Anderson *****
by Mary Roach ****
by Cicely Tyson *****

Planned for December reads:

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells
Chouette by Claire Oshetsky

Women who write books over the age of 50 are definitely present in this era. At least in terms of writing books that interest me...