Mindset

“The Paris Architect” is the debut novel of American author Charles Belfoure. His own personal interest with historical preservation inspired a fascinating fictional book about World War II. It is full of characters who demonstrate the spectrum of human emotion that is revealed times of political conflict.

The book is set in Nazi occupied France and tells the story of Lucien, a struggling architect, who, like many people in Paris, was not all that sympathetic to the Jews. He was Read More

“The Valley of Amazement” is a novel by Amy Tan, a New York Times bestselling author with magical writing skills. Ms Tan was born in the United States to immigrant Chinese parents and her writing often tries to penetrate the unique cultural impact of her parents’ homeland. Read More

What do medieval beguines, communal living apartments, the Golden Girls and Suzanne Braun Levine all have in common? They’re all examples of how women can support one another in dealing with the challenges of getting older. There are many things that today’s women can learn from the idea of shared living communities.  Read More

We all have amazing life stories to tell. In this latest episode of the Sixty and Me Show, I talk with Ben Gran, a successful freelance writer, about the process and importance of learning how to write a memoir. Read More

The Firebird is the latest book by New York Times best-selling author Susanna Kearsley. She was a museum curator before becoming a writer and her love for ancient artifacts and the mysteries they embody is woven in this book. Read More

All of us need to learn how to deal with grief at some point in our lives. Some people, like myself, lose someone close to them as children. Others lose their husband after decades of being happily married. Nothing can prepare you for losing someone you love, but, there are ways to help the healing process along. Read More

Still Life with Bread Crumbs: A Novel is a new book by Anna Quindlen, a bestselling author and journalist that I have admired for years. Her collective works show her to be a woman of great depth and compassion. Read More

When I was in college I had a lot on my mind. Looking back, it seems like I was worried about just about everything in my life. So, every morning, over-stressed and sleep deprived, I would order a cup of coffee and a huge cinnamon bun, dripping with icing. I would devour my 800-calorie “breakfast” in less than five minutes. Honestly, it was almost an addiction. Read More

It took me 3 years to fully be able to admit that I was sixty years old. I think it’s hard for a lot of women to accept that we’re getting older – after all, 60 has the sound of a “big number.” Read More

I was in my twenties when I first read Margaret Laurence’s The Stone Angel. It made an enormous impression on me. This is one of those must read books for women, told through Hagar Shipley’s ninety-year-old eyes. Throughout the book, small nostalgic events trigger flashbacks that reveal the story of her life and her strong and often irrational personality. I remember a scene where she imagines herself as a beautiful young woman, swirling, laughing and dancing with her husband. Then, in real life, she finds herself falling down the stairs in her 65-year-old son’s home. Read More