Best Books About Perimenopause: Six Titles Worth Reading in 2025

Why a Good Book on Perimenopause Can Change Everything

There is a specific kind of relief that comes from reading something that accurately describes what you have been experiencing. Not in a clinical checklist way, but in a way that explains the why, makes it feel less random, and gives you language to bring to a doctor's appointment.

Perimenopause has historically been under-discussed, under-researched, and poorly communicated even by well-meaning healthcare providers. The books that have emerged in the past several years are filling that gap in serious ways. Some come from neuroscientists, some from OB-GYNs with decades in practice, some from health journalists and practitioners who have lived through the experience themselves.

This list covers six titles that stand out for different reasons. They represent different angles and different reading experiences, so the best one for you depends on what you most need right now.

The Menopause Brain by Dr. Lisa Mosconi

Dr. Lisa Mosconi is a neuroscientist and director of the Women's Brain Initiative at Weill Cornell Medicine. Her book approaches perimenopause and menopause from a perspective almost no one else has taken: the brain. Specifically, how hormonal changes affect brain structure, function, and long-term cognitive health.

The research she presents is both reassuring and clarifying. Many of the cognitive symptoms women experience during perimenopause, brain fog, memory lapses, word-finding difficulties, processing speed changes, have neurological explanations grounded in how estrogen interacts with brain metabolism and connectivity. She argues, with evidence, that these changes are real, significant, and deserve to be taken seriously.

The book also covers brain health strategies, including nutrition, sleep, exercise, and stress management, in the context of neuroscience rather than general wellness advice. The reading experience is accessible despite the depth of the science.

Best for: women who want to understand the neurological dimension of perimenopause, who are concerned about cognitive changes, or who are interested in long-term brain health strategies. Also excellent for people who want to bring hard science to conversations with skeptical healthcare providers.

The Menopause Manifesto by Dr. Jen Gunter

Dr. Jen Gunter is an OB-GYN with a reputation for dismantling wellness myths with sharp, clear language. Her book on menopause reflects exactly that approach. It is part medical reference, part cultural argument, and part practical guide, all written with a directness that is a relief after years of vague, euphemistic information.

The Menopause Manifesto covers the biology of menopause in clear terms, addresses common misconceptions (including those perpetuated by wellness marketing), discusses hormone therapy in a balanced and evidence-grounded way, and spends real time on the social and political dimension of why menopause has been so poorly served by medicine.

Gunter is an outspoken advocate for hormone therapy when appropriate and is critical of the misinformation that has led many women and their doctors to avoid it unnecessarily. She does not, however, pretend that hormone therapy is right for everyone. The nuance is there.

Best for: women who want a comprehensive, no-nonsense medical overview of menopause and perimenopause, who are skeptical of wellness industry framing, or who want to go into their next doctor appointment better informed about hormone therapy options.

Estrogen Matters by Dr. Avrum Bluming and Carol Tavris

Estrogen Matters is arguably the most focused and research-intensive book on this list. Dr. Avrum Bluming is an oncologist and clinical professor of medicine. Carol Tavris is a social psychologist and science writer. Together they set out to examine the evidence on hormone replacement therapy with a particular focus on the fears that arose following the Women's Health Initiative study in 2002.

The WHI study, which was widely reported as proving that HRT causes breast cancer, transformed prescribing practice for decades. Bluming and Tavris make the detailed case that the study's findings were misinterpreted, over-applied to populations it did not study, and that the resulting decline in HRT use caused real harm to millions of women.

This is not a book that argues HRT is for everyone. It is a book that argues the evidence against HRT was overstated, and that many women who could benefit from it have been frightened away by a poorly communicated scientific narrative. Whether you end up agreeing with every argument or not, the book will give you a much more informed basis for your own conversations with your healthcare provider.

Best for: women who have been advised against or are uncertain about hormone therapy, who want to engage deeply with the research rather than accept a summary, and who appreciate a rigorous, referenced argument.

The New Menopause by Dr. Mary Claire Haver

Dr. Mary Claire Haver is a board-certified OB-GYN who became widely known through her social media presence before publishing The New Menopause in 2024. The book is a practical, clinically grounded guide to the full spectrum of menopause and perimenopause, with particular strength in its coverage of nutrition, body composition, and metabolic health.

Her approach takes the changing physiology of perimenopause seriously as a reason to adjust lifestyle strategies, not just manage symptoms. The sections on protein intake, resistance training, sleep, and metabolic health are evidence-based and actionable. She also covers hormone therapy clearly and without either undue alarm or uncritical advocacy.

The tone is warm and direct, and the book is structured so that readers can navigate to what is most relevant for them rather than reading linearly. The New Menopause functions well as a reference to return to at different stages of the transition.

Best for: women who want a practical, comprehensive guide that connects the dots between symptoms, lifestyle strategies, and hormone options, particularly those interested in the nutrition and body composition dimension of perimenopause.

Perimenopause Power by Maisie Hill

Maisie Hill is a women's health practitioner and period educator based in the UK. Perimenopause Power takes a different angle from the more medically oriented books on this list. It is grounded in cycle awareness, which means understanding the hormonal shifts across and between cycles and how they affect energy, mood, and capacity.

The book is particularly strong on validating the emotional and psychological dimensions of perimenopause, the grief, the identity shifts, the relationship changes, and the sense of groundlessness that many women feel but do not expect. Hill writes with warmth and without minimizing these experiences.

The practical advice covers nutrition, lifestyle, relationships, and navigating the healthcare system, all from the perspective of a practitioner who has worked closely with perimenopausal women. It is less focused on clinical research than some other titles on this list, but the lived experience it communicates is meaningful and the guidance is responsible.

Best for: women who want emotional validation alongside practical information, who connect with a cycle-aware approach, and who want a book that acknowledges the relational and psychological complexity of this transition alongside the biological.

Hormone Intelligence by Dr. Aviva Romm

Dr. Aviva Romm is a Yale-trained integrative physician and midwife who bridges conventional medicine and evidence-based natural approaches. Hormone Intelligence is a broader book than some of the others on this list. It covers women's hormonal health across the lifespan rather than focusing exclusively on perimenopause, but the perimenopause sections are thorough and the integrative perspective is particularly useful for women interested in both conventional and complementary approaches.

The book's strength is its practical framework for understanding how stress, gut health, nutrition, environmental factors, and medical history interact with hormonal health. It avoids both the dismissiveness of purely conventional framing and the overclaiming of much wellness content. The supplement and lifestyle recommendations are referenced and contextualized.

For women in perimenopause who are looking for an integrative lens, one that takes hormone therapy seriously while also exploring the fuller picture of what influences hormonal health, Hormone Intelligence provides that.

Best for: women interested in an integrative approach that includes both conventional medicine and evidence-based complementary strategies, or those who want a foundational reference on women's hormonal health across the lifespan.

How to Choose the Right Book for Where You Are Right Now

No single book will answer every question, and the one you reach for first depends on what you most need.

If you are newly realizing you might be in perimenopause and want a clinical overview, The Menopause Manifesto or The New Menopause will give you solid footing. If cognitive symptoms are your main concern, start with The Menopause Brain. If you are trying to understand the evidence on hormone therapy, Estrogen Matters is the most focused resource on that specific question. If you want emotional recognition alongside practical guidance, Perimenopause Power. For an integrative view, Hormone Intelligence.

The books on this list can also be read as a progression. Start with whichever speaks most directly to your current questions, and return to others as your situation and your knowledge evolve. Perimenopause is a transition that unfolds over years, and the questions you are asking at the beginning are often different from the ones that become important later.

Tracking your symptoms and patterns alongside your reading, using a tool like PeriPlan or any of the apps in this comparison, gives you the context to apply what you are learning to your own actual experience rather than just absorbing information in the abstract. The combination of good information and personal data is where clarity tends to come from.

This content is for informational purposes only and does not replace medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider about your specific situation.