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Josh Cook @joshthelibromancer.bsky.social

There's maybe never been a more important moment for #BookSky to get REALLY into small & indie presses. If you don't know where to start, tell me what you're into and I'll give you a recommendation

sep 21, 2025, 10:14 pm • 26 18

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trace press @tracepress.bsky.social

Thanks, please check out & order our books! bipoc-run, feminist, decolonial, translation.

sep 22, 2025, 12:44 am • 2 1 • view
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Miriam Gershow @miriamgershow.bsky.social

Currently looking for fiction featuring septuagenarian and octogenarian protagonists. Any recs?

sep 21, 2025, 10:44 pm • 2 0 • view
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Lawrence Schimel @lawrenceschimel.bsky.social

The two old women of the title are 75 and 80 respectively so you get both decades in one book. :) #booksky #SpinsterSeptember

Front cover of TWO OLD WOMEN by Velma Wallis. Back cover of TWO OLD WOMEN by Velma Wallis: FICTION/NATIVE AMERICAN STUDIES WINNER OF THE 1993 WESTERN STATES BOOK AWARD WINNER OF THE 1994 PACIFIC NORTHWEST BOOKSELLERS AWARD
sep 22, 2025, 6:34 pm • 4 2 • view
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Lawrence Schimel @lawrenceschimel.bsky.social

I can't recall/find the protagonist's age, but maybe also of interest would be Henning Mankell's novel ITALIAN SHOES translated by Laurie Thompson, which features an older male protagonist who, I think, is within the age range you're looking for, and aging is one of the many themes of the book.

sep 22, 2025, 5:44 pm • 0 0 • view
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Lawrence Schimel @lawrenceschimel.bsky.social

(It seems the protagonist is 70 in the second book to feature him, AFTER THE FIRE, which I didn't like as well as ITALIAN SHOES. But there isn't a large gap, as I recall, in events between the books, so he is either 70 by end of book or just about to turn... So should count for you.)

sep 22, 2025, 5:45 pm • 1 0 • view
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Lawrence Schimel @lawrenceschimel.bsky.social

Had to look it up to confirm but Jo Walton's brilliant novel MY REAL CHILDREN features an 89 year old woman as the protagonist: www.jowaltonbooks.com/books/my-rea... (The wikipedia entry for the book is spoilery, but did give the protagonist's age.)

sep 22, 2025, 5:34 pm • 2 0 • view
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Miriam Gershow @miriamgershow.bsky.social

You are a treasure! Thank you.

sep 22, 2025, 5:57 pm • 1 0 • view
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Lawrence Schimel @lawrenceschimel.bsky.social

🙂🙂🙂 Always happy to gush about good books!

sep 22, 2025, 6:00 pm • 1 0 • view
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Lawrence Schimel @lawrenceschimel.bsky.social

A timely request: Check out the hashtag #SpinsterSeptember for a lot of good recommendations! #booksky (My personal rec would be to read May Sarton, novels and journals both. Soooo good!)

sep 22, 2025, 1:52 pm • 4 1 • view
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nora 🍐 @pear-jelly.bsky.social

Thank you Lawrence! @miriamgershow.bsky.social i made a post a while back on 60+ heroines in books, you might find what you are looking for in the below picture (i’d also add The Hearing Trumpet by Leonora Carrington)

Stacks of books around a vase of flowers and knickknacks: A Year of Marvellous Ways by Sarah Winman The Sumsmer book by tover jansson Elena knows by claudia piñeiro At eighty two by may sarton Sweet bean paste by durian sukegawa To the one i love best by ludwig bemelmans Mrs palfrey at the claremont by elizabeth taylor All passion spent by Vita Sackville-West Travels with my aunt by graham green Wise children by angela carter
sep 22, 2025, 5:45 pm • 2 0 • view
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Miriam Gershow @miriamgershow.bsky.social

Oh fantastic! Thank you!

sep 22, 2025, 5:10 pm • 2 0 • view
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Lawrence Schimel @lawrenceschimel.bsky.social

I would also recommend the memoirs of Diana Athill, who writes about both publishing and aging very well. She was editorial director at Andre Deutsch and published many important voices Jean Rhys, VS Naipul, Simone de Beauvoir, Margaret Atwood, etc. STET is her most famous publishing memoir.

sep 22, 2025, 5:19 pm • 1 0 • view
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Lawrence Schimel @lawrenceschimel.bsky.social

INSTEAD OF A BOOK: LETTERS TO A FRIEND is a memoir in 30 years of her letters to gay American poet Edward Field, who is now over 100 years old (!!!). SOMEWHERE TOWARD THE END is her memoir about aging (and class, race, sex, etc.). Her own fiction is fine but the memoirs have real zing.

sep 22, 2025, 5:22 pm • 0 0 • view
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Lawrence Schimel @lawrenceschimel.bsky.social

Relatedly for good writing on both aging and writing (even if not fiction which was the original ask): Ursula K. Le Guin's NO TIME TO SPARE: THINKING ABOUT WHAT MATTERS.

Photo of my hand holding a copy of Ursula K. le Guin's NO TIME TO SPARE: THINKING ABOUT WHAT MATTERS. The cover shows a blue background with fallen/falling leaves, which are cut out from books and have lines of text crossing them.
sep 22, 2025, 5:30 pm • 3 1 • view
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Brianne Agatep @brianneagatep.bsky.social

For a fun, light read I enjoyed Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jessie Q. Sutanto.

sep 21, 2025, 11:32 pm • 2 0 • view
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Lawrence Schimel @lawrenceschimel.bsky.social

And the sequel, too. :)

sep 22, 2025, 5:23 pm • 0 0 • view