20.6 It's A Fact - Julia103's Task Getting Older

[SRC Moderator, Moderator]

20.6 It's A Fact - Julia103's Task" Getting Older

I will be turning 65 in February 2025, which in the United States defines me as a senior citizen. It's a scary thought. In honor of my upcoming birthday, choose one of the following options.
Books can be either fiction or non-fiction.

Due my advancing age, books with MPG Children, Kids, or related genres are NOT allowed.
Required State the option.

Option 1: Read a book where a main character is a senior citizen.
If you choose a biography or memoir at least 65% of the book needs to take place after the protagonist turned 65. It is not enough to say that the subject was over age 65 when the book was published.
For this task a term that describes an older age like "elderly, old, retired, senior citizen, octogenarian" or resident(s) in a retirement community to describe the characters is sufficient. (The exact age does not need to be given.)
IE: A Man Called Ove Killers of a Certain AgeAn Elderly Lady Is Up to No GoodRetirement Homes Are MurderThe Thursday Murder Club
This list might help for inspiration: Elderly Protagonist Books
Required If the elderly age isn't evident from the main page, provide a reference.

Option 2: Read a book that was first published in 1960. This list may give ideas, but the book does not need to be on the list.
Best Books 1960

Option 3: Read a book that was on the New York Times Bestsellers list in February 1960 (regardless of publication date). New York Times lists:
Week of February 7: https://www.hawes.com/1960/1960-02-07...
Week of February 14 :https://www.hawes.com/1960/1960-02-14...
Week of February 21:https://www.hawes.com/1960/1960-02-21...
Week of February 28 https://www.hawes.com/1960/1960-02-28...
Required: State which week of February used.

Option 4: Read a book that is set in a year ending in 65 (i.e. 1065, 1865, 1965...).
Books set in the future (2065, 2165 ...) are allowed as long as the year is clearly stated in the book description, metadata (Setting) or within the text of the book. Books set in the past may be used if a year is given in the description or the text of the book or if a historical event is given to date it. (For example: Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865; the Selma to Montgomery Civil Rights March was in 1965)
At least 50% of the book needs to take place in the chosen year.
Required: If the year is not evident on the main page, provide a reference.

[Julia]

Yes - these work

Option 1:
Remarkably Bright Creatures
The Legendary Wolf

[Julia]

No - doesn't fit

[Erin (NY)]

For option 1, would Remarkably Bright Creatures work? It is from the list, but I can't quite tell... Is being on the top of the list sufficient?

[Julia]

Erin (NY) wrote: "For option 1, would Remarkably Bright Creatures work? It is from the list, but I can't quite tell... Is being on the top of the list sufficient?"

I wasn't sure at first (trying to calculate from eighteen-year-old son vanished over thirty years ago), but then I looked at the sample on Amazon. The first section from the human POV (Tova) says she is seventy years old, so this would work.

[Jessica]

Hi, I'd like to read The Legendary Wolf for option 1. It references his being an assassin decades ago. If that isn't enough I can give either a page snippet from Kindle edition that references his being early 60's or the book is number 1 on the GR list Protagonists over 60. Would either reference work?

Page 9 'He's an older fellow in his mid-sixties, a few years older than me.'
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

[Julia]

Jessica wrote: "Hi, I'd like to read The Legendary Wolf for option 1. It references his being an assassin decades ago. If that isn't enough I can give either a page snippet from Kindle edition that..."

This works. The reviews include one by the author that says "However, decades ago, Grayson went AWOL on his government and disappeared. Now he’s an old man who is disenchanted with the world"

[Erin (NY)]

Julia wrote: "Erin (NY) wrote: "For option 1, would Remarkably Bright Creatures work? It is from the list, but I can't quite tell... Is being on the top of the list sufficient?"

I wasn't sure at..."

Thank you so much!

[Robin P]

Does Ebenezer Scrooge count as a senior citizen for Option 1? He is certainly always played to look elderly.

[Julia]

Sorry, this would need confirmation from the book text rather than acting portrayals.
Can you find somewhere in the book that references his age or some way to figure it out? (For example, when the Ghost of Christmas Past takes him back, does it say how years ago they went?)

[Robin P]

Julia wrote: "Sorry, this would need confirmation from the book text rather than acting portrayals.
Can you find somewhere in the book that references his age or some way to figure it out? (For example, when th..."

You're right, I just looked it up and a birthdate is given, which puts him in his 50's. No problem, I have other options.

[Kelly]

Can I have approval to use A Forty Year Kiss for Option 1? Both main characters, Charlie and Vivian, are in their sixties. They were originally married in their early 20s, divorced after 4 years, and reunite 40 years later - putting them in their mid-60s.

This interview with the author references the characters as being in their sixties: https://chireviewofbooks.com/2025/02/...

[Julia]

Sorry, you would need something to show that at least one of the main characters is 65+ years old. "Sixties" or "mid-sixties" isn't enough. The book description doesn't use any of the words that are in the task: old, elderly, retired...

If you can document that a character was 21 or older at the time of the wedding and that the marriage was a full four years so that s/he was 25+ when they divorced, that would mean 65+ after 40 years. But without showing that they weren't 19 and 20 when they married (which would bring them to 63 and 64) it doesn't work.

I didn't see anything in the interview that referred to the characters as elderly or senior or addressed their actual ages.