Happy New Year! And welcome (or welcome back) to The Reader’s Den, now in its second year.

I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman by Nora Ephron, a former #1 New York Times bestseller, kicks off the list this year. As the years roll by, many over a certain age move into an increasingly-complex maintenance schedule, and several of the 15 essays in the book examine these efforts. If we can’t ultimately win the war against aging—as each of us knows somewhere inside—we might as well laugh at it. As you read this book, you will laugh.

But far more than middle-aged women will appreciate the book: foodies, New Yorkers, booklovers, former White House interns... there is something for almost everyone here. Women, and perhaps men, of any age can relate to the essay, “I Hate My Purse.” As Ephron says, it’s for those who understand that “your purse is, in some absolutely horrible way, you.” After laughing your way through most of the slim volume, you will be moved by the final essay, “Considering the Alternative.”

Read the reviews.

Find or reserve it at a library near you.

Listen to the audiobook.

Download the e-version.