want some recommendations please from some older ladies?

Pregnant

pg?

Are you pg, Zippity?

the very last thing on my mind is the menopause lol

I'm at least 10 years away from the menopause, I hope(!) but just thinking about it makes me

I'd be gutted if someone gave me a book on it. Or anything else to do with getting old.

lol at older lady and miss read how grim is that

and a book on the menopause...horrific idea

I'd give you a slap

last book i read was bedroom secrets of the master chefs by irvine walsh

atonement ian mcewan

My mum & stepmum both devoured The Vanishing of Esme Lennox by Maggie McFarrell(sp?). Worth a try.

If you think she is more of a traditional older lady, there is a collection of Maeve Binchy short stories with a Christmassy theme called This Year Will be Different. Older ladies though are like everyone else and hard to categorise in reading tastes!

My mum is 65 and mostly reads fantasy fiction, including Terry Pratchett. She also appears addicted to murder mysteries!

Can't you or your dh bring up books in conversation, like has she read any good ones lately she could recommend for you or a friend so then you'll have some idea of her tastes. Plus find out if she likes to read books more than once or is a one time only reader because if she likes to read them more than once it won't matter too much if you buy her something she's already read.

around 50? well I'm nearly 47 and love Terry Pratchett.

Thing is, if she loves reading theres a good chance she's already got a lot of things we might recommend. Either get her book tokens or ask her if theres anything she'd especially like, as you can get hold of anything from Amazon

Don't give her a book on the menopause, fgs! Argh!

As an 'older lady' I wouldn't really want Miss Read books. They were fine when graduating from the Children's to the Adult section of the library but not my choice today.

As others have said, at my bookclub there's no correlation between book titles and age. My mum is almost 80 and gets the latest titles asap!

What about Anne Tyler's books for your mil? Or Bill Bryson, Anne Marie MacDonald, Margaret Forster, the chap-who wrote-Atonement-whose-name-I've-forgotten?

I second The No 1 ladies Detective Agency books and anything by Alexander McCall smithh. My mum and MIL love them.
Also Katie Fforde is great for fun reading.

I used to read Miss Read in my lunch breaks when I was in my twenties - like mentioned below, I couldn't read them now. Avoid Wicked, the new Jilly Cooper like the plague.

m coming up to 50, and I love 'The Earth Children' Books the first one was Clan of teh Cave Bear they are by Jaen Auel.

Also love Lee Child, Jodi Picoult.

I mis-read your nickname as MerlotDRama at first Merlot!

Well it's either the menopause or anger management you need a book on, Grumpyoldwoman!

My Mum has often got two or eight books on the go at any one time! She likes stuff varying from old Agatha Christies/Ngaio Marsh/Dorothy L Sayers for the whodunnits, to Enid Blyton/Noel Streatfield books to revisit our childhood to Maeve Binchy/Katie Flynn/Katie Fford for genteel chick-lit. She read a biography of Georgiania, Duchess of Devonshire when she was in hospital for a thyroid op. That was my brother's choice for her (he was in the midst of a history degree at the time) but she found it strangely engrossing.

If you give her a book on the menopause, you can expect to receive from her "How to Cure Your Irrational Mood Swings And Stop Being a Bitch in 30 Days" (including relaxation CD).

Second merlotmama - I'm also in a book group whose members range from 30-63. We all like the same sorts of books generally, and if we don't it rarely has anything to do with age.

The new Kate Atkinson is a good read. Other books that have been popular with our group recently are:

Ursula Under - Ingrid Hill
The Thunderbolt Kid - Bill Bryson
Star of the Sea - Joseph O'Connor
Winter In Madrid - CJ Samson
Brooklyn Follies - Paul Auster

My mum is 73 and likes the No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. Quite a few of my friends in their 40s like it too. It's usually somewhere up in the best seller list.

.....AND what's more, a person in her 50's does not consider herself an 'older lady'...or this one doesn't.

Older ladies to me are those in their 80's.

I am the same age as your mil. I am also in a Book Group with people ranging from early 30's to early 60's and I have to say I have not noticed age being a factor in peoples' likes/dislikes.

Do not give a book on the menopause. , unless you want to patronise or insult her. She may be well past it or sailing unconcernedly through it. If I wanted a book on a topic like that I'd go to the library.

If she loves reading you'd be best picking something fairly new to make sure she hasn't already read it. I think it's more thoughtful to ask first - or give a book token, which may not be exciting but is always welcome.

Oh God no, not Miss Read. Like being given Yardley English Lavender perfume when you have always seen yourself as a Je Reviens type or whatever. Like being given the Grumpy Old Woman's Guide to Life or something, which happened to me a few months ago I suppose I can see what they were aiming at but there was a smile failure at the factory that day i can tell you.

I think if you don't know her preferences, try In a Good Light by Clare somebody. EVERYBODY I KNOW LOVES IT including my mum, who is quite picky about what she will read now, though voracious reader earlier in life.

Kate Atkinson another good call.

Kate Atkinson. Nowhere near chick-lit but not too heavy. Enjoyable. here I would buy locally and keep receipts in case she has read any of them.

i read miss read when i was 11. cmt what is she actually like? what sort of clothes does she wear? programmes she watches/ listens to? goes on holiday? cooks drinks gardens.....