Books About Menopause

12 hours ago 3

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Menopause, and its hot sister, Perimenopause: they come for us all, and wow, can it be a ride.

I was not informed at all about menopause by anyone in my life, and learned about it the same way I learned about sex: through books.

The sex books were romances, which wasn’t always great, and Judy Blume books, which turned me off of the name “Ralph” for the entirety of my life. I learned a lot through fiction, and then nonfiction, when it came (heh heh) to sexuality.

With menopause, thankfully there are MANY MORE books to choose from, and many more community resources – this list from The Menopause Wiki is substantial!

Here are some that I’ve read, examined, or had recommended to me, and I would LOVE to know which books you recommend to those of us in the Bitchery who are Feeling the Change, having Personal Summers, Enduring Insomnia, and maybe have Unending Rage (that was my first symptom).

What Fresh Hell Is This?
Author: Heather Corinna
Released: June 1, 2021 by Hachette Go
Genre: Nonfiction
What to Expect When You’re Not Expected to Expect Anything Anymore
Did you see the title and flame-filled cover of this book, and did your weary, sweaty, confused, and exasperated soul scream, That one! That is the book for me!!? If so, I’d first like to extend my deepest sympathies, an ice pack, and some of these very helpful edibles. If it’s three in the morning as you’re reading this, as it may well be, you likely want those more than a book. But since I can’t really give you the other stuff, I can at least offer you this book. . . .
Perimenopause and menopause experiences are as unique as all of us who move through them. While there’s no one-size-fits-all, Heather Corinna tells you what can happen and what you can do to take care of yourself, all the while busting pernicious myths, offering real self-care tips—the kind that won’t break the bank or your soul—and running the gamut from hot flashes to hormone therapy. With big-tent, practical, clear information and support, and inclusive of so many who have long been left out of the discussion—people with disabilities; queer, transgender, nonbinary, and other gender-diverse people; BIPOC; working class and other folks—What Fresh Hell Is This? is the cooling pillow and empathetic best friend to help you through the fire.
Written by Heather Corinna, founder of Scarleteen, one of the most helpful websites in the known universe, this book is wonderfully inclusive because it includes queer, nonbinary, trans, and disabled folks. It’s fierce and very Gen-X in style, which I appreciate immensely.
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The Menopause Manifesto
Author: Jen Gunter
Released: May 25, 2021 by Citadel Press
Genre: Nonfiction
The internationally renowned, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Vagina Bible , Dr. Jen Gunter has been called the world’s most famous–and outspoken–gynecologist (The Guardian), the internet’s OB/GYN, and one of the fiercest advocates for women’s health. Now, in The Menopause Manifesto, Dr. Jen Gunter brings you empowerment through knowledge by countering stubborn myths and misunderstandings about menopause with hard facts, real science, fascinating historical perspective, and expert advice.
The only thing predictable about menopause is its unpredictability. Factor in widespread misinformation, a lack of research, and the culture of shame around women’s bodies, and it’s no wonder women are unsure what to expect during the menopause transition and beyond.
Menopause is not a disease–it’s a planned change, like puberty. And just like puberty, we should be educated on what’s to come years in advance, rather than the current practice of leaving people on their own with bothersome symptoms and too much conflicting information. Knowing what is happening, why, and what to do about it is both empowering and reassuring.
Frank and funny, Dr. Jen debunks misogynistic attitudes and challenges the
over-mystification of menopause to reveal everything you really need to know about:
– Perimenopause
– Hot flashes
– Sleep disruption
– Sex and libido
– Depression and mood changes
– Skin and hair issues
– Outdated therapies
– Breast health
– Weight and muscle mass
– Health maintenance screening
– And much more!
Filled with practical, reassuring information, this essential guide will revolutionize how women experience menopause–including how their lives can be even better for it!
Tara reviewed this book, written by Dr. Jen Gunter, who also wrote The Vagina Bible, and who has been a on the podcast in episode 367. The Vagina Bible, Shoes, and Other Essentials: A Conversation with Dr. Jen Gunter, and in episode 459. Facts, Feminism, and Menopause with Dr. Jen Gunter.
Tara gave this book an A, saying “I didn’t expect this book to make me cry, but it did. Specifically, I got teary when I was reading the introduction and came across this sentence: “It shouldn’t require an act of feminism to know how your body works, but it does.” I felt equal parts furious, seen, and relieved….” I’ve read it, too, and concur that it’s excellent at making me feel recognized, particularly the chapter on where the scaremongering negativity toward hormone replacement therapy came from.
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The New Menopause
Author: Mary Claire Haver
Released: April 30, 2024 by Rodale Books
Genre: Nonfiction
Filling a gaping hole in menopause care, everything a woman needs to know to thrive during her hormonal transition and beyond, as well as the tools to help her take charge of her health at this pivotal life stage–by the bestselling author of The Galveston Diet.
Menopause is inevitable, but suffering through it is not! This is the empowering approach to self-advocacy that pioneering women’s health advocate Dr. Mary Claire Haver takes for women in the midst of hormonal change in The New Menopause. A comprehensive, authoritative book of science-backed information and lived experience, it covers every woman’s needs:
– From changes in your appearance and sleep patterns to neurological, musculoskeletal, psychological, and sexual issues, a comprehensive A to Z toolkit of science-backed options for coping with symptoms.
– What to do to mediate the risks associated with your body’s natural drop in estrogen production, including for diabetes, dementia, Alzheimer’s, osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, and weight gain.
– How to advocate and prepare for annual midlife wellness visits, including questions for your doctor and how to insist on whole life care.
– The very latest research on the benefits and side effects of hormone replacement therapy.
Arming women with the power to secure vibrant health and well-being for the rest of their lives, The New Menopause is sure to become the bible of midlife wellness for present and future generations.
Hilariously (to me) the summary starts with “filling a gaping hole in menopause care,” which is imagery that makes my immature inner 13 year old laugh herself silly. This book has a solid amount of information about mental health changes that may come with the arrival of Meno and her sister Peri, such as increased anxiety or auditory hallucinations.
Important Caveat: This book was recommended to me by a neighbor, and does include a lot of references to the author’s prior book, The Galveston Diet, so if you’re uninterested in diet-focused discussion, you may want to skip this one. Also worth mentioning is that Dr. Haver has a line of vitamins and supplements, and I remain very skeptical of anyone trying to give me health information while also profiting from products related to that issue.
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The Definitive Guide to the Perimenopause and Menopause
Author: Louise Newson
Released: March 16, 2023 by Yellow Kite
Genre: Nonfiction
Your complete, expert, evidence-based guide to the perimenopause and menopause.
Dr Louise Newson is fast becoming the leading medical expert on hormone health. This revised and expanded edition of her bestselling book has all the information and advice you need to understand the impact of low hormone levels on your perimenopause symptoms as well as on your future health post-menopause. There’s an up-to-date guide to HRT doses, how to deal with HRT availability fluctuations, new research on testosterone and its benefits beyond libido boosting and startling findings on how low hormones can increase our propensity towards addictive behaviours, including intake of alcohol. New interviews with experts including Dr Lisa Mosconi discuss pertinent questions such as whether HRT can reduce the risk of dementia, and new case studies from Newson Health reveal essential research on how hormone imbalance can impact the neurodivergent brain.
With the gender pay gap highlighting inequality in the workplace and women’s pension pots diminished, it is vitally important that the frightening stats showing almost 60% of women have taken time off work or reduced their hours due to menopause symptoms are broadcast far and wide. This book will empower and inform you to improve your own menopause care as well as understand the bigger societal issues that have been ignored for far too long.
Published in 2023 by a UK-based menopause specialist, this book focuses on evidence-based information (thank heavens) and research from Dr. Newson’s nonprofit Newson Health Research and Education. Some reviewers thought that there wasn’t enough information on subjects like vaginal prolapse (ugh) and recommend this book as a starting point for further investigation and research.
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The Menopause Brain
Author: Lisa Mosconi
Released: March 12, 2024 by Avery
Genre: Nonfiction
The New York Times bestselling author of The XX Brain shows women how to navigate menopause successfully and come out the other side with an even better brain.
Menopause and perimenopause are still a black box to most doctors, leaving patients exasperated as they grapple with symptoms ranging from hot flashes to insomnia to brain fog. As a leading neuroscientist and women’s brain health specialist, Dr. Mosconi unravels these mysteries by revealing how menopause doesn’t just impact the ovaries—it’s a hormonal show in which the brain takes center stage.
The decline of the hormone estrogen during menopause influences everything from body temperature to mood to memory, potentially paving the way for cognitive decline later in life. To conquer these challenges successfully, Dr. Mosconi brings us the latest approaches—explaining the role of cutting-edge hormone replacement therapies like “designer estrogens,” hormonal contraception, and key lifestyle changes encompassing diet, exercise, self-care, and self-talk.
Best of all, Dr. Mosconi dispels the myth that menopause signifies an end, demonstrating that it’s actually a transition. Contrary to popular belief, if we know how to take care of ourselves during menopause, we can emerge with a renewed, enhanced brain—ushering in a meaningful and vibrant new chapter of life.
Dr. Lisa Mosconi’s prior book is The XX Brain, and this one builds on that research to explain through a neuroscientist’s perspective what is happening to the brain during meno and peri. The first half is more neuroscience and “what is up with your brain,” which is MY JAM. But per several reviewers, alas, there is a lot of diet culture and some “please be serious” recommendations about lifestyle and food in the second half. Further, if you don’t have a uterus on board, please note that much of the book focuses on periods.
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Grown Woman Talk
Author: Sharon Malone
Released: April 9, 2024 by Crown
Genre: Nonfiction
A practical guide to aging and health for women who have felt ignored or marginalized by the medical profession, from a leading Ob/Gyn and expert on menopausal and post-reproductive health
The medical system today is increasingly complicated and impersonal, and unfortunately, it is not going to be less so in the future. The rules of engagement have changed in medicine, but no one has bothered to inform patients. Much is written about Black women and women of color, be it our increased cancer risk, our alarming obesity statistics, or our disproportionate risk of cardiovascular diseases, but very little is written for us, and a diagnosis from Dr. Internet doesn’t cut it. Talk about being sick? Dr. Sharon Malone is sick of that.
Grown Woman Talk is for all women who have often not been seen or heard. For more than three decades as a practicing Ob/Gyn in the nation’s capital and now as chief medical officer of Alloy Women’s Health, Dr. Malone has served women across the city all the way to the upper echelons of power. In this book, she gives us the nudge we all need to become effective and efficient advocates in getting the care we deserve. Part medical memoir of the Malone family experience tracing from the Jim Crow South to the highest corridors of power in Washington, part relatable clinical scenarios of women from all walks of life and experiences, and part practical medical and logistical advice, this book is a reliable and easy-to-understand resource. In addition to information on ailments like fibroids, cancer, heart disease, and perimenopause, it also helps us navigate the medical establishment of today with advice on how to choose a doctor, why our family’s health history matters, and how to decide among treatments. Combining emerging practices with the latest research the book addresses many women’s greatest gap, the one between what they believe and what is actually true.
With a combination of medical expertise, up-to-date science, and lived experience, Grown Woman Talk addresses the most common conditions women over forty deal with. And it helps women, especially Black women, identify the power they have and how to use it to chart a path to improve their health outcomes and thrive.
Grown Woman Talk focuses on menopause for Black women, who are historically underrepresented and unfairly treated in medical establishments. Dr. Malone shares medical information and medical history, some tied to her own life leading several reviewers to call this a combination guide and memoir. The focus is on self-advocacy and helping women, especially Black women, navigate the medical care they need.
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The Official We Do Not Care Club Handbook
Author: Melani Sanders
Released: January 13, 2026 by Harvest
Genre: Nonfiction
We. Do. Not. Care.
Hop aboard the Hot Mess Express, Sisters, and welcome to the club!
Do you wake up with night sweats at 3:26 a.m., overstimulated, mad at anything breathing, and ready to put the world on notice?
Do you forget the words you are saying as you are saying them?
If you have a she-shed and no longer care about clothes that fit or cellulite on your legs (legs is legs!), then welcome to the club—the We Do Not Care Club (WDNC). You’re now a card-carrying member with an exclusive invite to the biggest hormonal party in town.
This club is for all of our Sisters in perimenopause, menopause, and postmenopause who are over it. Here is a list* of things We Do Not Care about today:
- Shaving our legs. That’s on our summer bucket list. Winter is here.
- Plucking our chin hair. If we can’t see it, neither can you.
- Wearing bras. Be happy we have a shirt on.
- Wearing PJs all day. Clothes is clothes.
- Being on time. Be happy that I showed up — I don’t even want to be here.
- Cancelled plans. We didn’t want to go anywhere anyway.
- If you’re cold. Don’t even think about touching that thermostat.
*partial and incomplete
Melani Sanders, founding member of the WDNC, is here to tell you that it’s okay not to care. You’re not alone. This book is your life raft. Let’s hold on for dear life—and get through this together.
I can’t write a post about menopause without mentioning Melani Sanders’ We Do Not Care club, and the bestselling handbook she published this year. If you’ve missed Sanders’ WDNC meetings on IG or TikTok, she’s ready to tell you how few fucks we are giving as we move through peri into full menopause. Some reviews state that it was developed quickly to harness the success of her social media posts, but the writing is direct and honest, especially about sex and body changes. Those that didn’t like it seem to have objected to the profanity.
The larger message is about releasing yourself from social expectations that may never have been necessary to care about, because peri and meno are here to divest you of giving a crap about dumb stuff and finding every possible way to be comfortable at an uncomfortable time.
What about you? Do you have any books about menopause or perimenopause that you recommend?
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