Happy Tuesday, y’all! This week, Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl handed the reins over to Alice from The Wallflower Digest. And what has Alice picked for this week’s topic? She wants us to share books that feature our favorite theme or plot device. I love this idea, as it allows me to showcase some books I’ve read and enjoyed that feature my favorite type of characters–the mature citizens of the world. Who doesn’t love reading a book that features an older protagonist?
Don’t get me wrong—I still love reading books with 20-somethings as the main characters. But I enjoy reading books that feature older characters as I’ve gotten older. While these books feature characters that are older than myself, they all still make me smile and feel good about getting older.
I have excluded some books, because everyone knows and loves the characters (Ove and Harold Fry for example). While some of these books may be popular, the cast of characters is too great to ignore. All titles are linked to Goodreads.
Without further ado, here are ten books featuring mature citizens of the world!
Mrs Queen Takes the Train by William Kuhn
- Genre: Fiction, Humor
- Release Date: January 2012
- What happens when Queen Elizabeth II goes on an unsanctioned trip?
Lady Fortescue Steps Out by M.C. Beaton
- Genre: Historical Fiction, Humor
- Release Date: January 1992
- A group of upper crust seniors find themselves broke, and trying to find a way to survive.
The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise by Colleen Oakley
- Genre: Contemporary
- Release Date: March 2023
- A fun road trip featuring two women in different parts of their lives trying to figure things out.
The Door-to-Door Bookstore by Carsten Henn
- Genre: Contemporary, Translated
- Release Date: November 2020 (in Germain); August 2023 (in English)
- Using books to bring people together, and create your own community.
The Witches of Moonshyne Manor by Bianca Marais
- Genre: Fantasy, Contemporary, Magic
- Release Date: August 2022
- A group of women working together to save their home.
The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick
- Genre: Contemporary
- Release Date: January 2016
- Shaking up routines can change your perceptions.
Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson
- Genre: Contemporary
- Release Date: March 2010
- What’s more important, personal happiness or family obligations?
The Borrowed Life of Fredrick Fife by Anna Johnston
- Genre: Contemporary
- Release Date: July 2024
- It’s never too late to become a part of a family.
The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules by Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg
- Genre: Contemporary, Translated
- Release Date: January 2012 (in Swedish), February 2014 (in English)
- Never underestimate the retirement crowd!
Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper
- Genre: Contemporary, Historical Fiction
- Release Date: January 2015
- You’re never too old to take that first step.
That’s ten books with mature citizens of the world as main characters. Have you read any of these books? What do you think of books with mature characters? Are there any that you would recommend?
Are you looking for some more books to read? Check out my other bookish lists, book reviews, and monthly reading wrap-ups.
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You might enjoy Abigail and Alexa Save the Wedding! Just FINSHED the arc! Mother of groom and mother of bride povs! Fun and light read with more mature characters!
And… did you read Sipsworth?
More mature characters are pretty awesome.
A great choice! Love your list. Here’s mine: https://damppebbles.com/2025/03/11/toptentuesday-11th-march-2025/
Great theme! I think I’d read The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules just because the cover is awesome. Thanks for sharing!
I love this idea!!
Thanks for introducing me to Mrs. Queen Takes the Train and The Witches of Moonshine Manor. They sound like they could be right up my alley but.
I love the theme of mature characters. Now we just need these mature characters to be written by mature authors. lol
I love older characters too! Arthur Pepper was really good.
I’ve really come to enjoy books about older characters. It’s a nice change of pace, and I’m seeking them out more often.
Ooh, I do love a story featuring mature characters. Have you read The Thursday Murder Club? That one is a fun read! I’ve got Tanner and Louise on my TBR and I’m very excited to give it a try. It sounds like a real tearjerker, lol! Great list 🙂
I loved The Thursday Murder Club. I didn’t include it here because I was wanting to highlight some other books.
Pam
your title graphic is adorable 🙂
The ‘Mrs. Queen’ book looks super fun, and I’ve heard of M.C. Beaton’s books but never read them. Maybe someday I should remedy this. 😉
Great selection. A Man Called Ove is excellent and so is The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window and Disappeared! A recent favourite would be Frank and Red.
Ove and Allan are two of my favorite characters. If you enjoyed their stories, you should check out Fredrick Fife.
Pam
I love this theme. I’m always looking for books with mature characters. I haven’t read any of these.
I haven’t read any of these, but I barely read books with characters who are older than I am.
Wonderful list. Let me see if I can think of a few more — The 100-year-old man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared; Sipsworth; The Thursday Murder Club members 00 What a fun topic. My mom is 96 and still loves to read I should supply her with your list.
I remember laughing when I was reading The 100-Year-Old-Man, and enjoying the antics of the Thursday Murder Club members.
Pam
Great topic choice! We don’t see middle aged – older protagonists nearly enough!
Fab list! I also recommend The Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman!
I’ve read the first couple books in the series, and enjoyed them.I just wanted to highlight a few other books as well.
Pam
I love older characters. At 34 years old they are either much younger or older than me 🤣
I enjoyed The Witches of Moonshyne Manor
Have a great week!
Great list! You might also enjoy the Elderly Lady books by Helene Tursten. I read the second one (An Elderly Lady Must Not Be Crossed) and really enjoyed it.
Thank you for the rec.
Pam
Oh great topic! I’ve read a few books lately with older characters (like the Richard Osman series, also quite beloved) and I’ve really been enjoying them.
I’ve enjoyed reading the few Osman books I’ve read so far.
Pam
I have read several of these, but there are many on here that I will be checking out. Great choice, Pam.
I do like this topic and subject! I really like The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kip by Sara Brunsvold and Where The Blue Sky Ends by Katie Powner.
Thanks for the recs!
Pam
I’ve read a couple of them, and liked them a lot! Fun choice!
This might just be my favorite topic by you ever! I love reading books with older characters, and was thrilled to see The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise, a book I’ve been meaning to read forever.
Some of my favorite books featuring mature characters is The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle where the main character is an older man forced into retirement, and The Secret, Book, and Scone Society by Ellery Adams has the four women in said society aged 40s and 50s. Also, I adored The Change by Kirsten Miller.
Thank you for the recs!
Pam
Fun topic! Even though I turn 50 this year, I tend to avoid books with “mature citizens” as the main character. I’m not sure why, especially since A MAN CALLED OVE is one of my favorite books of all time. I definitely need to be less ageist in my reading, so thanks for this motivating list.
Happy TTT (on a Wednesday)!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
I’m turning 50 this year too! And Ove is one of my favorite books, I didn’t include it here as I wanted to highlight other books.
Pam
You should read Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murders!! It’s great. Also, Killers of a Certain Age by Raybourn.
I loved Killers of a Certain Age!
Pam
Oh, I love this so much. I don’t think I’m very familiar with these. Would love to see more books with mature characters gain popularity in the book community.
Seconding the rec for Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q Sutanto. If you like romance, you might try Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory or Infinite Jes by Sam Starbuck. Of course there are dozens of mystery series with middle aged or old protagonists; alas, the ones I am familiar with are all out of print. If you like SFF, you might try Gentleman Jole And The Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold or the Sharing Knife series by the same author; also The Book of Atrix Wolfe by Patricia A McKillip. This is a topic rich in titles! Thanks for the list and happy reading.
Thanks for using the word “mature” for my generation and above. 😉 But what a lovely idea. I will remember that whenever I need a new idea.
Thanks for visiting my post:
https://momobookblog.blogspot.com/2025/03/top-ten-tuesday-expats.html
I have really enjoyed these books by Hooper, and by Phaedra Patrick. So I tried Patrick with her next book, and was so disappointed