Readers,
This week my life took a surprise detour into Crazy Town. In a very Oldster-adjacent turn of events, just after editing two upcoming pieces in which contributors wrote about caring for their older mothers, my 85-year-old mom fell ill, and I had to race to Long Island so I could tag-team with my sister in caring for her. (I’m still here. If you’re waiting for an email back from me, please be patient.)
In the midst of hospital chaos I haven’t had the focus necessary for writing my weekly Letter from the Editor. So instead, today I’m publishing the third edition of The Oldster Bookshelf, which I’d had in the works.
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I’ve now received over 300 emails at oldsterbookshelf@gmail.com, which is both encouraging and frustrating, because I can only include a handful each time.
Once again, please keep these caveats in mind:
I will likely not have read most of the books I feature in Oldster Bookshelf. I have only one brain, and it is very busy editing Oldster and Memoir Land. I will have read descriptions of the books, which have come to me via the authors or others recommending them.
I will not be able to feature everyone. I will feature only those books that sound like they’ll be of interest to Oldster readers. Please be understanding about this.
Please be patient, as I will only be able to feature a limited number of books per installment, and the series will be occasional. If your book isn’t in this edition, it’s possible it could show up later. But I can’t go back and forth about it over email. I am too busy with everything else I’m publishing. Thank you for understanding.
Click here to get more out of this email by reading it online instead of in your email.
Alright, with no further ado, I give you the third edition of the Oldster Bookshelf. Under each cover image is the author’s preferred buy link.
The Future of Work is Grey: The Untapped Value of Age in the Workforce by Dan Pontefract
Published May 5th by Page Two
My cousin Ellen B. Cohen, JD, MA, PCC pointed me to this book, written by a friend and colleague of hers.
“A massive demographic shift is reshaping the world, one that is permanently altering how we work. People are healthier, living longer, and redefining the concept of retirement. The Future of Work Is Grey, by award-winning author Dan Pontefract, reveals the critical ways we must rethink work in an era of demographic, economic, and productivity upheaval.
For decades, leaders have clung to outdated models that assume younger workers will always outnumber older generations, that retirement at 65 is an unshakable norm, and that older employees have little left to offer. This mindset has left us working and leading in a period of ‘age debt’—the workplace equivalent of the climate crisis. It is the cumulative burden organizations face as our populations age, birth rates plummet, middle-aged workers become overwhelmed, internal skills gaps widen, multi-generational issues intensify, and various economic structures fail to keep pace.”
Nine Lives: My Risky Road from Fifties Rebel to Feminist Critic by Claire Kahane
Published in June, 2025 by Brandylane Publishers
“In this riveting memoir, Claire Kahane unveils her intimate self-transformations in the course of nine decades. Born in the Great Depression to Jewish immigrants and determined to prove herself a free spirit in a male dominated world, Kahane went on the road, hitchhiking her way into and out of risky adventures and romantic affairs.. But what starts out as a "road book" takes a different turn in midlife. In scenes dramatically illustrating the growing influence of psychoanalysis and feminism, she becomes a feminist professor, mother and wife, living out the contradictions she was teaching in the classroom. In later life her story changes tracks again when a visit to Auschwitz compels her to confront her own family history of Holocaust loss and renewal. The memoir ends with a surprising new twist that opens to a hopeful future.”
“Claire Kahane has written a memoir for our times: an account of a life spent in pursuit of lived experience long before it was permissible for women like Kahane to do just that. Rich and lively, vivid and bold, Nine Lives is bound to reach a wide and responsive readership.” — Vivian Gornick
Night Terminus: A Novel by Ellis Scott
Published March 3rd by Rare Machines/Dundurn Press
“Night Terminus explores the aftermath of the AIDS crisis and the fates of the survivors. Spanning forty years and three continents, the novel mines the wreckage from the pandemic, set against a backdrop of late twentieth-century political events, and features a cast of outsiders, young and old, all veterans of a war with many heroes but no parades. It explores themes of agency over life and death, the existential role of art, statelessness and belonging, and the universal search for spiritual meaning.”
About the author: “I am an HIV+ survivor of the AIDS crisis and a debut novelist at 62 years old. I was an out teenager when AIDS was discovered and I buried my first friend at 19. This novel is a requiem for my lost generation. I started to write only seven years ago when I retired, publishing nine stories in literary journals before writing my first novel.”
Psychedelics and the Counterculture of Aging by Abbie Rosner
To be published by Park Street Press on July 7th
“Psychedelics and the Counterculture of Aging exposes for the first time the emerging trend of older adults exploring psychedelics in ways that enhance their experience of aging. Part I brings readers up to speed on the contemporary psychedelic landscape, with essential background information and a special focus on older adults. Chapters cover research milestones, the clinically-validated protocol for safe and meaningful psychedelic journeying, the various psychedelic medicines currently in use, and the different settings where older adults are finding these experiences.
Part II examines what intentional psychedelic journeying offers in older life: healing our psyches, connecting to our authentic selves, connecting to spirit, experiencing love and forgiveness, connecting to ancestors, experiencing intimacy and pleasure and practicing letting go – all illustrated with compelling personal stories. The book concludes with the author’s vision of creating groups of older adults who study, practice mindfulness, perform community service, and journey together – while forming communities of mutual support that will ideally endure throughout their lifetime.”
Now You’re One of Us: The Incredibly Story of Redd Kross by Jeff and Steven McDonald with Dan Epstein
Published by Omnibus Press in October, 2024
“Presented in an oral history style (with interjections from co-author Dan Epstein to set the scene and provide further context), Jeff and Steven McDonald talk about becoming obsessed with music, films and trashy pop culture at an early age, and how their shared obsessions lead them to form their first band The Tourists when Jeff is 15 and Steven is just 11.
As unlikely proteges of Black Flag, they quickly become a novelty attraction on the burgeoning L.A. punk scene of the late 1970s, before changing their name to Red Cross (later changed to Redd Kross due to threatened legal action) and releasing their first EP in 1980. Hampered over the next several decades by drug addiction, a kidnapping, sibling in-fighting, management problems near-constant lineup changes, the band records infrequently and never quite manages to "breaks through" to the mainstream, despite a couple of near-misses. And yet, nearly every record Redd Kross releases seems to inspire and influence bands much bigger and more popular than they are, and the cult following that the McDonalds have established during nearly 50 years as a band remains as loyal as ever.
Told with candor and plenty of hilarity, Now You're One of Us isn't just a rock memoir; it's also an affecting tale of brotherly love and rivalry, and a life-affirming reminder to keep your freak flag flying and your creativity flowing.”
Two Years on Another Planet…or is it Alaska?: A Novel by David Bernkopf
Published by Palmetto Publishing April 28th
“Two Years on Another Planet…. or is it Alaska? Is a workplace dramedy set in the wildest environment on this or any planet. The team at Alaska’s only TV newsroom try their best to keep residents of the largest, loneliest and most isolated part of the country informed. They do it while avoiding wild moose, angry bears, and angrier politicians...all while suffering through piles of snow and months of dark. Nearing the likely end of his journalism career, Dan Rilman moves to Alaska as Executive Producer of the state’s only investigative news team. He immediately butts head with his oddball chief reporter Jeff Taggert. Somehow, they must figure out a way to work together and cover the entire giant state of Alaska.”
Ladies’ Lunch and other stories by Lore Segal
Published by Melville House in September, 2023
“From the master of the short short comes a collection of 16 stories featuring old friends who have loved and lunched together for over 40 years. These erudite, sharp-minded nonagenarians offer startling insights into friendship, family and aging.
Can the group organize a visit to one of their number in her new, and detested, assisted living situation? Is this a fabulous party with old friends, or a funeral reception? And does who was sleeping with whom, way back when, still matter? In story after story, Segal's voice is always hilarious and urbane, heartbreaking and profound, keen and utterly unsentimental, as she tackles aging's affronts.”
Just One More Game: A Pickleball Quest by Clare Frank
Published April 7th by Abrams Books
“Acclaimed author and retired firefighter Clare Frank dives into the phenomenon behind the paddle. Blending immersive reporting, cultural history, and sharp personal narrative, she traces pickleball’s quirky origins, explosive rise, and surprising emotional pull: from rec centers to PickleCon to the very court where it was born. What begins as one woman’s obsession becomes a larger story about play, ambition, aging, and the communities we build around the things we love.”
Old in Art School: A Memoir of Starting Over by Nell Painter
Published by Counterpoint Press in August of 2019
A few readers have recommended this book, which I read years ago and enjoyed. “Following her retirement from Princeton University, celebrated historian Dr. Nell Irvin Painter surprised everyone in her life by returning to school—in her sixties—to earn a BFA and MFA in painting. In Old in Art School, she travels from her beloved Newark to the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design; finds meaning in the artists she loves, even as she comes to understand how they may be undervalued; and struggles with the unstable balance between the pursuit of art and the inevitable, sometimes painful demands of a life fully lived.
How are women and artists seen and judged by their age, looks, and race? What does it mean when someone says, “You will never be an artist”? Who defines what an artist is and all that goes with such an identity, and how are these ideas tied to our shared conceptions of beauty, value, and difference? Bringing to bear incisive insights from two careers, Painter weaves a frank, funny, and often surprising tale of her move from academia to art…”
Who Cares? by Ann S. Epstein
Published by Vine Leaves Press in December, 2025
“Who Cares? is the story of a lively place where old people go to die. Set in Michigan in 1960, Woodruff Home for the Aged is a public facility for the indigent elderly. When a sinking economy prompts city officials to consider a private developer’s proposal to convert the home into a pricey retirement residence, panic sets in. The residents fear displacement; the staff fear unemployment.
As the clock ticks, the novel tracks the city’s contentious deliberations, the outlandish efforts to derail the sale, and the complex web of intimacy and intrigue among its characters: Miss Mamie Martine, a feisty octogenarian with an encyclopedic knowledge of movies, and her rival, Mr. J. T. Hillenbrand, a once wealthy nonagenarian ruined by the Depression; Jilly Duprey, Mr. Hillenbrand’s biracial great-granddaughter locked in a power struggle with city manager Hugh Pepper; Laurel Robbins, the home’s idealistic director and Rupert Boyle, the well-meaning custodian who resists her reforms; and Mamie’s nephew Simon Walpole, an amateur sleuth digging up dirt on Franklin Savoy, the home’s shady would-be buyer.”
Bicentennial Eve: A Wisconsin Novella by Julie A. Jacob
To be published by Fresh Water Press May 19th
“The novella, Bicentennial Eve: A Wisconsin Novella, is a gentle, slice-of-life tale of a family gathering for the fireworks on the eve of Independence Day in 1976, America's Bicentennial. As the cast of characters go about their day, each of them struggles with their own dilemmas and decisions. From Grandma Kitty’s quest for some adventure to young Skylar’s search for a taste of first love, each member of the Ames family is looking for a little independence of their own against the backdrop of a changing country.”
The Nightingales by Emil Wilson
To be published August 4th by Avid Reader Press
“The Nightingales begins in 1985 in a small Oregon town. Lou Miller is weeks away from graduating high school when her father, Donald, invites his coworker Jim and his two dogs, Henny and Penny, to move in. What he doesn’t tell Lou or his wife, Annemarie, is that Jim has AIDS.
Annemarie is uneasy and resentful about the arrangement, but Lou, curious and openhearted, forms a deep bond with Jim. Their friendship—along with Lou’s growing devotion to Jim’s adorable Pomeranians—not only buoys Jim’s final days, but encourages Lou to live her life fully and to do it now, while she can.
Richly illustrated, imaginative, and emotionally immersive, The Nightingales is a moving (and oftentimes funny) coming-of-age story about the power of friendship, a vital slice of queer history, and a reminder that compassion can ripple outward in ways we may never fully see, but that can change us all.”
A Gorgeous Excitement by Cynthia Weiner
Published in paperback by Crown Publishing in January
“For her breakout debut novel, native New Yorker Cynthia Weiner returned to the summer of 1986, much of which she spent at Upper East Side haunt Dorrian’s Red Hand, drinking with her girlfriends and flirting with wildly handsome and popular Robert Chambers, until the night in late August when Chambers left Dorrian’s with 18-year-old Jennifer Levin, only to inexplicably strangle her to death a few blocks away in Central Park—giving rise to national headlines about the ‘Preppy Murder’ and a grotesque media slut-shaming of Levin. For Weiner, the sobering realization that it could easily have been her or any of her friends left dead in the dirt, alone, under an elm tree, then publicly savaged for the sole offense of being young and female, was a life-altering epiphany, one that would haunt her for years and compel her to fictionalize a version of that summer to capture its essence, and lessons learned.”
Salt Sisters: A Novel by Lindsey J. Palmer
To be published by Lake Union July 14th
“Twin sisters Jocelyn and Maddy Marx grew up in a tight-knit family on Cape Cod, but they couldn’t be more different. Jocelyn, laid-back and dreamy, still lives in their hometown as a Realtor. Maddy, intense and ambitious, left for New York after college and never looked back. Until the summer they turn thirty-one. After a dramatic fall from grace in her career, a pregnant Maddy returns to the Cape with her husband and announces she’s back for good. For Jocelyn, it’s less a reconciliation than a reminder of a life that was ripped away from her and the deep grief she’s carried ever since. Back in each other’s orbit, the sisters reopen old wounds and are forced to confront what it will take to heal.
Salt Sisters is a moving exploration of sisterhood and motherhood, and the courage it takes to face the past, forgive, and finally let go. Set against the stunning backdrop of Cape Cod, the novel follows two sisters who reunite and confront their painful past in a powerful story about family expectations and life’s unforeseen turns. It’s an exploration of sisterhood and motherhood, and the courage it takes to face the past, forgive, and finally let go.”
After Italy: A Family Memoir of Arranged Marriage by Anna Monardo
Published by Bordighera Press in May, 2024
“After Italy: A Family Memoir of Arranged Marriage is the story of marriages across three generations. Starting from a marriage brokered to facilitate immigration from Southern Italy to Braddock, PA, a steel town outside of Pittsburgh, before and immediately after WWII, this memoir explores the multigenerational impact of arranged marriage.”
What Nobody Tells You About Getting Older by Mary Westheimer with illustrations by Robert Chambers
Published by Penstemon Press in August, 2025
“For people of a certain age, aging is almost all they talk about. Now a longtime collection of observations that help people handle the reality of aging (and life in general) without taking it too seriously is the fresh, irreverent, and informative book What Nobody Tells You About Getting Older. Full of practical information and resources, the book uses pragmatism and humor to help us laugh about things that might otherwise make us cry.”
All the Girls in Town: A Novel by Staci Greason
Published by Touchstone Press in 2022
“After losing her lyrics and dignity in a media-frenzied divorce, Dani takes a temp job and starts a revenge blog where she kills her famous ex, Peter, in delicious and delightful ways. Her role as a literary assassin opens the door for Red, a former girlfriend dumped again by the bad boy rocker, and an uneasy friendship begins. The two have a lot in common including despising Peter’s younger, gorgeous, and pregnant wife, Sasha, until Red goes to work for the woman.
Sasha, a successful yoga-lifestyle influencer, writes all of the lyrics for her husband’s band, The Disasters, without any credit. It never bothered her until she got pregnant and Peter left to go on tour. Now the party pictures on his socials are driving her crazy. Was Peter only using her, too? Can the three women forgive themselves for giving away their talent and love? Can they forgive each other? When Dani receives a letter exposing a darker secret, the path forward is clear. Set in Los Angeles, where discarded muses are a dime a dozen, All the Girls in Town explores the cost of loving the wrong person and the true power of friendship in reclaiming the self.”
To be considered for a future edition of the Oldster Bookshelf, you can email me at oldsterbookshelf@gmail.com with the following:
A press release.
A brief synopsis of the book.
A brief bit on your background as an author and how you came to publish it.
A cover image.
Your preferred buy link.
***You’ll be making my life easier if you keep it all short and sweet.
Re Dan Pontefract's The Future of Work Is Grey, the phrase "age debt" needs to be retired along with "gray tsunami." We are looking at the greatest accumulation of human and social capital in human history. We are age-rich.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for adding my book "Two years on another planet" to your list.
It's made my day ...no probably my month