The Springboard List

Career Comeback
by Lisa Johnson Mandell

Unfortunately, getting older can be a career killer. That’s what entertainment journalist Lisa Johnson Mandell discovered when she sent out a resume that made her sound like an aged veteran. Her new career makeover guide-expanded from the Wall Street Journal article about revamping her “older” image to land her dream job-acknowledges that experience matters, but looking and acting up-to-date matter just as much.

Mandell provides ten strategies for putting a youthful spin on resumes, Web pages, and personal presentation. Looking young and staying technologically current is crucial to competing in an increasingly tough job market. CAREER COMEBACK offers the ultimate makeover to-do list: From “botoxing” your resume by deleting dates and early jobs, tech-savvy tricks for starting and improving your website or blog and online networking, to updating your wardrobe, Mandell shares the secrets that will get mid-career job seekers noticed and on the payroll.

Let It Bleed

by Ethan Russell with Gerard Van der Leun

LET IT BLEED takes you where no Rolling Stones book has before. Author and photographer Ethan Russell was one of only sixteen people–including the Rolling Stones–who made up the 1969 tour. He was with them in their hotel rooms, at rehearsals, and on stage. He tells the story of this monumental and historic tour firsthand, including recollections from band members, crew, security, and other sixties icons–like Abbie Hoffman and Little Richard–they met along the way. And he also includes amazing photos of the performers who toured with the Stones that year: the legendary Tina Turner and B. B. King.

Through vivid quotes taken from his interviews with the band and crew, and through more than 220 revealing photographs, Russell takes you behind the scenes for an uncensored look inside the Rolling Stones’ world at the end of the sixties. It was an idealistic time, with an overarching belief that music could bring us all together. But the events that led to the terrible violence and stabbing death at Altamont would change rock and roll forever.

The Gift of an Ordinary Day

by Katrina Kenison

The Gift of an Ordinary Day is an intimate memoir of a family in transition–boys becoming teenagers, careers ending and new ones opening up, an attempt to find a deeper sense of place, and a slower pace, in a small New England town.  It is a story of mid-life longings and discoveries, of lessons learned in the search for home and a new sense of purpose, and the bittersweet intensity of life with teenagers–holding on, letting go. 
 
Poised on the threshold between family life as she’s always known it and her older son’s departure for college, Kenison is surprised to find that the times she treasures most  are the ordinary, unremarkable moments of everyday life, the very moments that she once took for granted, or rushed right through without noticing at all. 

The relationships, hopes, and dreams that Kenison illuminates will touch women’s hearts, and her words will inspire mothers everywhere as they try to make peace with the inevitable changes in store.

When the Time Comes

by Paula Span

What will you do when you get the call that a loved one has had a heart attack or a stroke?  Or when you realize that a family member is too frail to live alone, but too healthy for a nursing home?

Journalist Paula Span shares the resonant narratives of several families who faced these questions.  Each family contemplates the alternatives in elder care (from assisted living to multigenerational living to home care, nursing care, and at the end, hospice care) and chooses the right path for its needs.  Span writes about the families’ emotional challenges, their practical discoveries, and the good news that some of them find a situation that has worked for them and their loved ones.  And many find joy in the duty of caring for an older loved one.

There are 45 million Americans caring for family members currently, and as the    77 million boomers continue to age, this number will only go up.  Paula Span’s stories are revealing and informative.  They give a sense of all the emotional and practical factors that go into the major decisions about caregiving, so that readers will be better able to figure out what to do when the time comes for them and their loved ones.

In his candid and engaging new book HOW I GOT TO BE WHOEVER IT IS I AM, successful actor, author, and activist, Charles Grodin, looks back at the major events and private moments that have shaped his life. And, since Grodin is one of the best storytellers around, he can’t help but entertain while offering insight gained from a wealth of experience.

The combination of being impeached as class president by his fifth grade teacher (and then winning many school elections thereafter) with being thrown out of Hebrew School for asking too many questions (only to find a much better teacher as a result) informed Grodin’s view of himself and made him adept at dealing with rejection–an important skill for an actor.  Grodin’s success in plays in high school and adventures in college theater led him to a career in acting, studying with the great teachers like Uta Hagen and Lee Strasberg. 

Grodin shares behind-the-scenes tales of working on plays like Same Time Next Year and movies like The Heartbreak Kid and Midnight Run–even how close he came to playing the lead in The Graduate.  His stories feature the many actors, directors, writers, and producers, with whom he’s worked, such as Robert DeNiro, Dustin Hoffman, Johnny Carson, Orson Welles, Warren Beatty, and other colorful characters. 

Grodin’s greatest work isn’t limited to stage and screen, however.  He has been an award winning talk show host and commentator on Sixty Minutes II, and he reveals insights about the political and personal side of journalism and some of the larger-than-life characters he’s interviewed. 

Still, it is the personal aspects of Grodin’s life that are truly revealing and funny.  He shares intimate anecdotes of humorous dating experiences during the carefree 70s along with stories of what it was like to be a young actor then with friends and colleagues like Robert Redford, Gene Wilder, and Dustin Hoffman.

But it is Grodin’s tales of the lives he’s helped save with his relentless advocacy work that make you realize what a great guy Charles Grodin really is.  We are lucky that the nice guy his friends call, “Chuck” brings us along to share a little of his journey of how he got to be who he really is!

The author is donating 100 percent of his royalties from sales of this book to Mentoring USA, a New York City based nonprofit that forges powerful, transformative connections for young people through the advocacy and involvement of mentors.

Our lives are so filled with junk from the past-from dried up tubes of glue to old grudges-that it’s a wonder we can get up in the morning,” exclaims motivator, best-selling author, columnist, and life coach Gail Blanke.

“If you want to grow, you gotta let go,” is Blanke’s mantra; and that means eliminating all the clutter-physical and emotional-that holds you back, weighs you down, or just makes you feel bad about yourself.

In THROW OUT FIFTY THINGS she takes us through each room of the house-from the attic to the garage-and even to the far reaches of our minds. Through poignant and humorous stories, she inspires us to get rid of the “life plaque” we’ve allowed to build-up there.

-That junk drawer (you know that drawer) in the kitchen? Empty it!
-Those old regrets? Throw ‘em out!
-That make-up from your “old” look? Toss it!
-That relationship that depresses you? Dump it!

Once you’ve hit fifty–you’ll be surprised how easy it is to get there–and once you’ve thrown out that too-tight belt and too-small view of yourself, you’ll be ready to step out into the clearing and into the next, and greatest, segment of your life.

You are divorced, you’re widowed, or maybe you’ve just been busy with other things. Lately though you might be ready (are you?) to meet (but where, and how?) another romantic partner. In GETTING NAKED AGAIN, clinical psychologist and New York Times bestselling author Judith Sills, PhD, leads readers through each stage of the process, offering sophisticated advice and sharing insightful stories about women like you, who have experienced relationship loss and are successfully pursuing new romance. In this book, Sills offers a frank, funny, and unusually savvy look at midlife dating- including smart sexual strategies, predictable new relationship patterns, financial maneuvering, and interpersonal finesse. Be prepared: This is not your daughter’s dating guide.

Judith Sills is a regular contributor and relationship expert on the Today show and in other national media outlets. She is the author of many bestselling books, including Excess Baggage, A Fine Romance, and The Comfort Trap.

This is the book that Bobbi Brown’s fans have been waiting for: her 25-plus years of makeup styling experience distilled into one complete, gorgeous book. Bobbi looks at everything from skincare basics to every aspect of facial makeup–from how to find the right color and type of foundation for any skin tone to how to apply every detail of eye makeup (Brows, Eye Liner, Eye Shadow, and Eye Lashes) no matter your eye color and shape. Of course there are never-before-seen tips on blush, bronzer, lip liners, lipstick, etc. And Bobbi looks beyond the face with informative chapters on “Hands and Feet” and “Body Skin Care.” Each chapter has thorough step-by-step basic directions for makeup application and easy-to-follow photographs and line drawings, along with Bobbi’s expert, yet assuring, advice. Plus, there’s a groundbreaking section of the book that will be of special interest to women who’ve wanted to know how makeup stylists do what they do: the top beauty secrets only these artists know, essential equipment to keep on hand, how to break into the business, and how to work with photographers and celebrities.

Breathtaking photos of the finished faces-from everyday looks to exotic runway style-along with advice on putting it all together for every woman, make this a book like no other.

BOBBI BROWN’S MAKEUP MANUAL will be the only book any woman will need to look absolutely fabulous.

At 49, cartoonist Marian Henley hasn’t committed to marrying the man with whom she has been dating for seven years. But as the Big 5-0 looms, she realizes that above all else she wants a child. Her story follows the heartbreaking ups and downs of going through the international adoption process; deciding when it’s time to grow up and maybe even get married; and in the end, it’s the story of a daughter’s relationship with her father, and how becoming a mother finally led her to understand him. THE SHINIEST JEWEL is a touching narrative, accompanied by Marian’s winsome drawings, that beautifully weaves together her realizations about the joy, and sometimes heartbreak, of building a family.

Mary Ellen Geist decided to leave her job as a CBS Radio anchor to return home to Michigan when her father’s Alzheimer’s got to be too much for her mother to shoulder alone. She chose to live her life by a different set of priorities: to be guided by her heart, not by outside accomplishment and recognition.

The New York Times wrote a front page story on Mary Ellen on Thanksgiving 2005. It was one of the most e-mailed stories for the month. Through her own story and through interviews with doctors and other women who’ve followed the “Daughter Track”–leaving a job to care for an aging parent–Geist offers emotional insights on how to encourage interaction with the loved one you’re caring for; how to determine daily tasks that are achievable and rewarding; how the personality of the patient affects the caregiving and the progression of the diseases; as well as invaluable advice about how caregivers can take care of themselves while accomplishing the Herculean task of constantly caring for others.

Geist’s years in journalism allow her to report on Boomers’ caretaking dilemmas with professional objectivity, and her warm voice brings compassion and insight to one of the most difficult stituations a son or daughter may face during his or her life.

Baby boomers’ expectations for their marriages are often unrealistic. When their relationship comes up short on romance and sex, but seems long on disagreements and strife, many boomers choose to leave.

THE MARRIAGE BENEFIT is less a book about how to make our relationships better than it is about how our relationships can make us better if we just work on our expectations and improve communications. Harvard professor and psychotherapist O’Connell offers a peek behind the door of a marriage therapist, where readers can see that their problems are not unique.

Through wonderfully revealing anecdotes of couples with problems many of us face: long-held bitterness, diminished sexuality, the scars of infidelity, and the search for authentic meaning, O’Connell shows how by respecting each other’s individuality, looking for “real” sex, and learning how to play with each other again, we can reap the benefits of the long-term emotional investment we’ve made.

For the amazing female pioneers who shattered the glass ceiling, a practical and inspiring guide to reinventing what’s next.

Boomer women have been trailblazers throughout their professional lives. Now that their careers are losing their edge and children leave the nest, these women are ready to do for retirement what they did for the working world–redefine it. The first book from The Transition Network focuses on the unique needs of women as they explore new possibilities and redesign the old model of retirement, which no longer offers the challenges that these women experienced throughout their careers.

This book shows how to create new and exciting work and volunteer opportunities and how to discover new outlets for creativity and passion. Rich in practical advice and stories from women who have successfully navigated this stage, SMART WOMEN DON’T RETIRE — THEY BREAK FREE is a blueprint for women seeking a whole new set of life choices.

THE TRANSITION NETWORK is a nation-wide community of women who are creating exhilarating new transition possibilities. Members network through monthly programs; online; and through dynamic peer groups. Members have had successful careers in government, finance, international corporations, and the arts.

Barbara Corcoran has built her career on knowing where people will live even before they know it themselves. Now she turns her keen eye toward predicting “the next big things” in real estate for Baby Boomers planning retirement. In NEXTVILLE, Corcoran identifies the top eight trends that are changing where (and how) Boomers are retiring, and delivers her signature “Barb’s Rules” for choosing real estate that no Boomer can afford to miss. Healthier and wealthier than their parents were at retirement, Boomers aren’t going to head to a condo in Boca Raton the way grandma did. All the rules have changed. This group is looking for locations that reflect their passions—and Corcoran reveals the smartest real estate choices they can make today to ensure a secure, comfortable, and fabulously fun tomorrow.

The millon-dollar question is this: do readers have at least $1 million in liquid assets to support themselves for the 20-plus years that usually follow retirement? And if not, how can they get started today to get there? Whether one is 35, 45, or even 55, widely-respected financial analyst Michael K. Farr outlines the steps necessary to reach this ambitious but achievable goal:

Step 1: Save it…the 25 simple things that can be done to save $300-$500 a month

Step 2: Invest it…the proven techniques everyone can use to  demystify investing

Step 3: Personalize it…investment strategies specifically tailored to those in their 30s, 40s, and 50s

Step 4: Manage and Protect it…how to keep one’s investments growing and safe in volatile markets

Step 5: Pass it On…creating a lasting personal legacy

Kathleen Turner’s unique blend of beauty, intelligence, raw sexuality, and drive has propelled her career. Now, in this gutsy memoir, the screen icon reveals the risks she’s taken and what she’s learned, both personally and professionally. From her film debut as the sultry schemer in Body Heat to her recent craft-stretching role as Martha in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, she shares behind-the-scenes stories of working with Jack Nicholson, Michael Douglas, Nicolas Cage, William Hurt, Steve Martin, Francis Ford Coppola, John Huston, John Waters, Ken Russell, and Edward Albee.Turner also talks openly about the father she lost at a young age, her 20-year marriage (and recent separation), her successful struggle with rheumatoid arthritis, and how her life of activism refl ects her deeply-held beliefs. Her stories of triumph, along with humorous stories from her acting career, make for a wonderful read.

Forget getting older gracefully—This is the beauty and style bible every woman has been waiting for!  HOW NOT TO LOOK OLD is the first—ever cheat sheet of to-dos and fast fixes that pay-off big time—all from Charla and her friends, the best hair pros, makeup artists, designers, dermatologists, cosmetic dentists and personal shoppers in the biz.

Packed with eye-opening details on hair color, brows, lipstick, wrinkle-erasers, jeans, shapewear, jewelry, heels, and more, the book speaks to every woman: from low maintenance types who don’t want to spend a fortune or tons of time on her looks to high maintenance women who believe in looking fabulous at any price. There’s also too-old vs. just-right before and after photos, celebrity examples of good and bad style, shopping lists of Charla’s brilliant buys in fashion and beauty products, coveted addresses of ‘Where the top beauty pros go,’ fun sidebars—and more.

Known to national audiences from her ten years on NBC’s Today show, style expert Charla Krupp dishes out her secrets in this ‘ultimate’ to-do list for looking hip and fabulous — no matter what your age.

As Charles says, “If you don’t get wiser as you get older, then you just get older.” The core of this book is about identifying our mistakes, learning from them, and not repeating them. Charles Grodin, a very funny individual who has appeared in movies, television and currently is on WCBS Radio every day, has asked his friends — from Robert Redford, Paul Newman, Shirley MacLaine, Alan Alda, Regis Philbin, Ben Stiller — to share sometimes very revealing memories of the biggest mistake they’ve made.

Rosie O’Donnell looks back to her college days and her inability to express her love for a close girlfriend. Regis Philbin learned to trust his instincts when an early talk show got cancelled. Irwin Redlener, the Co-founder of The Children’s Health Fund, examines a near-mistake—how he almost cancelled a trip to see a grown son who soon after died in a skiing accident. Dr. Nicholas Perricone learns to shift his perspective after witnessing the bravery of a young girl during his internship. Senator Orrin Hatch discusses his mistaken vote against making Martin Luthor King Day a national holiday. And Carol Burnett’s hilarious essay explains why meeting Cary Grant turned out to be a big mistake!

This book offers intimate insights into dozens of celebrated figures’ lives.

Too many people ‘flunk’ retirement—even after a lifetime of hard work. Why? Because they only plan on their financial needs, not their emotional ones as they move into the next phase of life.

The key to a successful retirement lies in your personality, NOT in your bank account. My Next Phase—featured in The New York Times, BusinessWeek, and The Washington Post—offers a revolutionary, step-by-step process to figure out your personal “Retirement Style” and creates a unique retirement plan based on who you are. Take the My Next Phase quizzes and find out:

WHAT’S YOUR SOCIAL STYLE? If you’re outgoing, you’ll need companionship through your days, whether you leave your job or keep working. If you’re contemplative, you’ll need solitude as well as social connection to find fulfillment in the years ahead.

WHAT’S YOUR STRESS STYLE? If you’re resilient, you’ll push yourself to find challenge—and get bored without it. If you’re responsive, you’ll need to pace yourself. Either way, you’ll need a passion that gives you a reason to get out of bed each day.

WHAT’S YOUR PLANNING STYLE? If you’re structured, you’ll prefer to schedule your time. If you’re flexible, you’ll want a freer, less scheduled life.

And many more questions (and answers) to ensure a happy, fulfilling ‘next phase’ of life.

Thirty million mothers between 40 and 60 years old are about to face childless households for the first time in decades. For some women, it is a lonely and confusing time; but for the vast majority, it’s a journey of joy and discovery.

Through intensive and wide-ranging original research, author Carin Rubenstein reveals how and why some mothers thrive and others do not. She breaks the post-motherhood launch down into three stage— grief, relief, and joy. If a woman makes it through to the final stage, friendships blossom, work thrives, and she develops a renewed sense of confidence and well-being. While in many instances, increased time together hastens the end of a struggling marriage, most women discover their relationships improve when children leave.

BEYOND THE MOMMY YEARS offers fascinating research, helpful advice, and amusing anecdotes to the millions facing this uncertain but potentially enriching stage of life.

All Baby Boomers must face it sooner or later: we’ve got middle-aged sex lives. Over the Hill and Between the Sheets provides an unfailingly honest anthology that is incredibly varied, wickedly funny, shockingly explicit, and surprisingly sweet about life in the bedroom after 40. Topics include an unexpected second marriage to a much younger man, the discovery of phone sex during wartime, the confession to an adulterous affair, and a his—and hers dissection of the changes in a long-term partnership—the good, the bad, and the ugly. It’s all here on the journey “over the hill and between the sheets.

The true secret to weight-loss success is all in your head. Nordine Zouareg has helped thousands of clients get healthier, be happier, and lose weight for good. And in the process, he’s discovered something astounding: the mental work his clients do before they start their diet and exercise plan is actually just as (if not more) important than the plan itself.

In Mind Over Body, Nordine describes how everyone can find this mental motivation — what he calls our ‘core desire’ — and then master the tools (visualization, meditation, affirmation) to keep on track with weight-loss goals. After readers develop this foundation, they move on to the inspiring nutrition and exercise plan—a simple, effective program developed to help shed weight and keep it off forever.

You’ll learn: — The fool-proof method for preparing your mind — and your body — before you diet — Thirty delicious foods that are the staples of the Mind Over Body eating plan — When to cheat — without blowing your diet — How to get an effective workout in just 24 minutes a day — The 10 commandments of mindful strength training As the fitness coach at Miraval Life in Balance spa, Nordine has worked with celebrities, business leaders, discerning travelers, and soccer moms all across North America.

Rated the #1 spa by Conde Nast Traveler, the #1 destination spa by Travel and Leisure, and the top spa in American by Zagat, Miraval has become the premier destination for bringing people’s lives into balance and teaching them how to live mindfully. Now, in Mind Over Body, Nordine teaches the same program that has proven wildly successful for his clients (and himself!) for the past twenty years. Learn how to determine your true fitness goals…and get the tools you need to finally make it come true!

Flip Flippen is the most influential man you’ve never heard of. This personable Texan is the founder of The Flippen Group, one of the fastest-growing corporate and personal training companies in America, and his philosophy has touched the lives of some of the most powerful individuals in the country—from Wall Street leaders to top sports figures like Terry Bradshaw and his NASCAR team, and from Joel Osteen’s team at Lakewood Church to the 150,000 people who trained with Flip’s company in 2005.

Great advice for everyone, but particularly appealing to those who are taking stock of what they want to do with the rest of their lives, Flippen’s approach is surprisingly simple. When we learn how to identify our ‘personal constraints’ and take the necessary steps to correct self-limiting behaviors, we will experience a dramatic surge in productivity, achieve things we have only dreamed of, and find greater happiness overall. Flippen has created a simple process to help readers find their greatest constraint (the results may be surprising!) and build a plan to help ‘flip’ that weakness into a newfound strength.

A complete workout plan that changes your life, not just your body

There are hundreds of reasons you’re not in the shape you’d like to be. Hectic schedules, stress, and the availability of junk food are just a few of the factors that keep you from feeling and looking great.

Now, with TRAINING FOR LIFE, expert fitness coach Debbie Rocker shows you how to get the body you’ve always wanted while changing your mind for the long term. Her 14-day fitness and weight-loss program will tone muscle, build bone density, and speed weight loss using three crucial components:

• walking, the body’s most natural form of exercise
• a daily meditation system that changes the way you think about your body and yourself
• an eating plan that’s delicious and easy to follow.

Debbie uses her skill as an award-winning athlete and a trainer to the stars to personally coach you to a fitness state of mind while also improving your self-confidence. She believes that if we don’t change our minds to match our new bodies when we lose weight, our bodies will just change back-as they always do with conventional diet and weight-loss programs.

TRAINING FOR LIFE’s total transformation program is sure to convert even those who have tried all the latest fad diets and failed. With her enclosed audio CD, Debbie will be there with you as you walk your way to weight loss.

From Dr. Spock and Vietnam to iPods and the new retirement (or lack thereof), the baby boom generation-the seventy-eight million Americans born between 1946 and 1964-has dominated our society for the past sixty years, transforming American culture at every stage of its life while setting trends and revolutionizing entire industries. The members of this generation didn’t just date; they transformed sex roles and practices. They didn’t just go to the doctor; they reinvented health care. And now retirement and aging will never be the same as the oldest boomers move into their sixties, staying in the workplace or reinventing retirement, but having no thoughts of entering old-age homes.

This sociological and historical look at the last sixty years-and the next forty-features insights from baby boomers and those who’ve studied them: Dr. Andrew Weil on innovations in medicine; Erica Jong on sexual liberation; Eve Ensler on women’s view of themselves; Rob Reiner on the influence of media on this generation; and Jeremy Siegel on how we’ll finance living to one hundred.

Introduced by Ken Dychtwald-the guru of this demographic anomaly-and filled with dozens of iconic photographs, THE BOOMER CENTURY 1946-2046 is an entertaining and eye-opening look at this amazing generation.

Bobbi Brown, CEO of a major cosmetics company bearing her name, began the trend toward natural-looking cosmetics and has gathered a loyal fan base of top editors at elite fashion magazines, including InStyle, Vogue, Allure and Harper’s Bazaar. Celebrities such as Meryl Streep, Annette Bening, Susan Sarandon, and Oprah—as well as millions of “regular” women throughout the world—swear by her beauty advice.Just in time for her 50th birthday, Bobbi Brown has written THE book redefining beauty for women over 40, BOBBI BROWN LIVING BEAUTY. In this refreshing look at beauty and aging, Bobbi offers readers specific surgery-free solutions for a stunning face, showing how makeup can solve many of the “flaws” that many women go under the knife to fix. In fact, the right makeup can create glowing skin, lift the cheeks, plump the skin…and take years off a woman’s face. Bobbi demonstrates how it’s done.

With step-by-step makeup instructions and inspiring essays by role models like Susan Sarandon and Lorraine Bracco, Bobbi Brown’s natural approach to aging will enlighten and inspire women everywhere.

Whether it’s going from the multi-bedroom suburban house to the city condo, or from a country and city house to one cozy cottage, millions of Americans in the coming years will face the task of planning a shift to smaller or more practical quarters, paring down a lifetime of possessions and furnishing their new lives with things that have meaning. This simplification of surroundings and “stuff” will liberate people in mid-life to pursue their passions such as travel or hobbies without the responsibilities of a big house weighing them down.

Rightsizing will be more than a handbook about the process of planning a new environment, jettisoning a lifetime’s worth fo surplus household items, and moving painlessly into a more suitable space. It will also be the first comprehensive guide to the emotional passage that this winnowing process entails, providing a prescription for the internal hurdles that can easily sabotage sensible decision making.

This is not your mother’s midlife!

Kate Klimo and Buffy Shutt have been best friends since they met more than thirty years ago on their first day of college. In the intervening years, they’ve helped each other through everything: love for their kids, frustrations with their husbands, job successes, health scares—all the ups and downs of daily life. But a funny thing happened when Kate and Buffy reached their fiftieth birthdays. At just about the time their AARP cards arrived in the mail, they found themselves facing a whole new set of midlife challenges that took them totally by surprise:

• What do I do when Mom can’t live alone anymore?
• Will my kids ever leave the nest?
• How can I reconnect with a long-lost friend?
• When will I be able to stop working?
• What do I want to be when I grow up?

Kate and Buffy have done the research, read the books, asked the experts, and found the answers to these questions—and dozens more—to create an information-filled “girlfriend’s guide to midlife.” These two best friends offer practical tips, exercises, and valuable resources to help readers make the most of the second half of their lives. Coming of Age . . . All Over Again is the ultimate midlife handbook from two women who have been there, done that, and lived to tell the tale!

Dr. Kleiner, a leading nutrition authority on eating for strength, has put together a diet that has already been tested in Seattle with a Seattle Good Mood Diet weight loss group program. Bob Condor highlighted the progress of the group in the Seattle Post Intelligencer from Nov. 1, 2004 through April 2005. The author has since received thousands of requests for more information.

The idea behind this book is that you can choose healthy foods that both make you feel great and, when eaten according to the plan, help you lose weight. Most diets cause chemical changes in the brain that make the dieter feel depressed. The typical plan is often too low in calories. In this diet, the participants eat feel-good foods with both ideal timing and ideal combinations. People’s energy levels soar and participants feel better in days.

The key is to combine the right foods-i.e. balance of protein and fats to go with carbs. The plan outlines a diet of about 40 percent carbs, 30 percent proteins, and 30 percent fats and fiber. Participants eat from a list of “feel good foods,” and eliminate excessive added sugar in processed foods. Sweets are not taboo, but the authors believes in “eat it only if you love it” when it comes to sweets. For instance, if you love pumpkin pie, have a slice, but maybe skip the crust unless it’s fabulous. A bit of chocolate and a glass of red wine a day is okay once you’re two weeks into the diet.

Sharon Osbourne has lived-in her own words-”fifty lives in fifty years.” As the daughter of notorious rock manager Don Arden, Sharon’s childhood was a chaotic mix of glamour and violence, one week touring with Little Richard and Jayne Mansfield, the next meeting the Animals and Electric Light Orchestra. In her late twenties, after years of fierce loyalty to her ruthless father who had betrayed her many times, Sharon finally made the painful decision to break with her family.

Sharon found her soul mate in rock star Ozzy Osbourne, turning his career around and becoming a legendary manager and rock promoter in her own right. But Ozzy’s drug-and drink-fuelled excesses-which culminated in an attempt to strangle her-made their marriage a white-knuckle ride from the start; only her devotion to their three children gave her the will to survive.

From the highs of the hit show, The Osbournes to the lows of Ozzy’s near-fatal quad-bike accident and her own colon cancer, Sharon’s tenacity, honesty and humor have triumphed again and again. In her page-turning autobiography, Sharon Osbourne reveals the truth behind the headlines in her frank, intimate and articulate way. Extreme is the astonishing story of a truly remarkable woman.

Katherine Lanpher, whose essays have appeared in the New York Times and More magazine, officially moved to Manhattan on a leap day, transferring from a rooted life in the Midwest to a new job, a new city, and a new sense of who she was. But re-invention is a tricky business and starting over in the middle of life isn’t for the feint of heart. Katherine Lanpher’s short essay on her first six months in New York—”A Manhattan Admonition” was published last August in the New York Times op-ed page and remained on their list of most e-mailed stories for weeks. Now she has written a book chronicling how her past life and loves have prepared her for unexpected discoveries in her new home. Lanpher looks back on her marriage, her early days in newspapers, and her childhood in the Midwest. And, with startling insight, she examines her new world—how beauty is defined in New York, how the landscape differs from the Midwest, and how good food and books have been constants in her life.

The tone of her essays mixes the emotional depth of Anna Quindlen with the quirky wit of David Sedaris.

Sexy and ageless skin is possible for a woman at any age—and she doesn’t have to resort to invasive treatments like Botox to get it-as long as she cares for her skin properly, says Ben Kaminsky, founder of B. Kamins, Chemist and leading authority in helping women’s skin look healthy and beautiful. In Beyond Botox, Kaminsky provides a groundbreaking 7-step plan to help skin look younger and sexier…without Botox or surgical procedures. The book’s plan is based in science and targeted specifically to women who are searching for a common-sense alternative to eating fish 6 days a week (a la Perricone).

This plan includes scientific secrets on how exercising too vigorously can rob your skin of vitality; how getting 8 hours’ sleep for a week will take years off your skin; and how using the right amount of moisturizer (and the right weight of moisturizer) will actually make a difference in how your skin looks and feels. Beyond Botox will not advocate use of only B. Kamins products. Kaminsky will talk about popular products and how to find creams that will make a difference on your skin type.

B. Kamins, Chemist has established itself as THE skincare brand for women in midlife, and this book will establish itself as THE book for women who want vital-looking skin in midlife and beyond.

Just what are married women in their thirties, forties, and fifties doing to keep the passion alive in their marriages? In her search to answer that question for herself, Holly Hollenbeck put together a “Passion Seekers” support group. The women shared stories about the missing passion in their marriages and ways they’ve found to fight bedroom boredom.

In Sex Lives of Wives, Holly examines years of research and confessions from real women and she’ll share what she’s learned about creative (and sometimes destructive) lengths to which they will go to find the missing passion. From discovering ways to make your man feel sexy so that you feel sexy, to using fantasy and play to spice up your sex life—even stories of infidelity and swinging—the wives in this book have shared their wisdom from lessons learned, sometimes the hard way. It will inspire women everywhere to embark on their own passion quest, form their own support groups, and most importantly, make passion a priority.