1. How to Menopause: Take Charge of Your Health, Reclaim Your Life, and Feel Even Better Than Before by Tamsen Fadal

The topic of menopause doesn’t exactly scream “beach read,” but that’s the beauty of this book. From the start, author Tamsen Fadal draws you into her life and her mysterious symptoms — rapid heart beat, sleepless nights, forgetting how to pronounce simple words as a broadcaster on live TV — not knowing hormones were to blame.

Through her own story and insight from more than 40 experts, Fadal unpacks the countless ways perimenopause (the time leading up to menopause) and menopause affect overall health and everyday life.

Chapters also include tips, advice and recommendations for everything from brain fog and bone health to sex and dating in midlife.

Fadal’s “big sister on speed dial” approach helps answer the call for support, guidance and connection during menopause.

Read: 7 Menopause Tips from the Pros >>

2. Come Together: The Science (and Art!) of Creating Lasting Sexual Connections by Emily Nagoski, Ph.D.

You know all those steamy beach reads about couples who’ve been together for 20-plus years and can’t keep their hands off each other and are rolling in orgasms? Yeah, us neither.

But maybe there should be. In Come Together, author Emily Nagoski, Ph.D., says many of us have the idea that sexual desire and satisfaction go down in long-term relationships — but that’s not really the case.

Nagoski tackles misinformation, assumptions and barriers that can keep people from great sex, and dives deep into important questions like why we even want to have sex in the first place (Sspoiler: iIt’s not orgasms).

The approachable — at times hilarious — tone makes the fact-based science and complex nature of relationships easy to understand. And if you’re feeling like your love tank is empty, there’s advice for how to tap into your sexual prowess — and your partners — in the bedroom (or wherever you’re getting it on).

You are on vacation, after all.

Read: Good Sex with Emily Jamea: Vacation Sex >>

3. Grown Woman Talk: Your Essential Companion for Healthy Living by Sharon Malone, M.D.

Real talk: I’ve never met Michelle Obama, but I feel like I can trust her. So, when the former first lady said Grown Woman Talk is a “must-read for anyone who cares about their quality of life” — I was sold.

For people not sporting a WWMD bracelet, Grown Woman Talk offers a blend of personal experience, current data and advice on aging, aging in the healthiest way possible, and how to get the best medical care when you need it.

The information comes from a great source: Author Sharon Malone, M.D., is an OB-GYN, certified menopause practitioner and an advocate for research and education around women’s health in midlife.

Malone’s expertise gives her a unique perspective on how women can become their “best primary caregiver” despite the fact that healthcare wasn’t created with women in mind — especially women of color. Chapters offer actionable tips like how to identify health goals and how to pick a doctor.

Grown Woman Talk is about giving women the information and inspiration to live your healthiest life possible. You may find yourself calling your healthcare provider from the beach to make that appointment you’ve been putting off. It’s what Michelle would do.

4. Lift: How Women Can Reclaim Their Physical Power and Transform Their Lives by Anne Chaker

Anne Chaker was a 42-year-old mother reeling from divorce, postpartum depression and the sudden death of her father when she first learned about bodybuilding. It completely changed her life.

In Lift, Chaker recalls her journey into the world of competitive bodybuilding — rhinestone bikini and all — and her deeper search for answers surrounding society’s obsession with women having to be thin and small. Why not strong?

Chaker, a veteran journalist and former Wall Street Journal reporter, gets into the history behind the misconceptions of women’s bodies and the science behind how strength training changes the body and brain — it may even save your life.

You’ll want to get in a few arm dips on your beach lounger after reading this one.

5. All in Her Head: The Truth and Lies Early Medicine Taught Us About Women’s Bodies and Why It Matters by Elizabeth Comen, M.D.

“This book is a tribute to women’s lives: the ones they’ve lived, the ones they’ve lost, and the ones they deserve.” Yeah — powerful stuff.

From the dedication to the last page, All in Her Head grabs your attention and doesn’t let go.

Author, oncologist and medical historian Elizabeth Comen crafts a compelling narrative that blends her personal experience in the medical field with the history of women’s health issues in a way that’s both easy to understand and hard to fathom.

The result is equal parts shocking, emotional, inspiring and — at times — completely infuriating. (Tip: You may want to head to the pool to take an underwater-rage-scream break after the history of gynecology.)

Each chapter is dedicated to women’s health by body system (skin, circulatory, reproductive, etc.) and covers a wide range of topics like plastic surgery, sexual health and a chapter titled, Nerves, Nervous: The “Bitches Be Crazy” School

of Medicine.

It’s not easy to stomach all of the women’s health issues that have been ignored, dismissed or misdiagnosed over the years because of bias and lack of interest.

But knowledge is power. And knowing what women have been through, can give you the power to be unapologetic in the demand for quality of life and care.