This is a Love Song: Thoughts from the B Side of a Gen X Life

by Dina Honour

"Let’s call it a love song to a firefly generation. An ode to feet on the door jambs, the phone cord winding from toe to thigh. A poem to handheld tape recorders, boom boxes, and the small thrill of hitting Record at the perfect moment.”

Firmly planted on the B side of life, Honour took all the emotions and anxieties she felt about aging, pushed them through a sieve of Aqua Net and neon, and ended up with a collection that will make you laugh, cry, and seriously consider who you want around during a zombie apocalypse. Rooted in the music, movies, and trends of her youth—what she calls “generational DNA; our Gen X Jordache genes”—Honour writes with wit and candor about everything from hot flashes to Dolly Parton, marriage, and an imagined sequel to Sixteen Candles. And, of course, a zombie apocalypse.

Honour’s gift as a writer is her knack for finding small moments and building outward until she reveals bigger truths.

This Is a Love Song is not a song; it’s an ode to a generation navigating midlife.

From the author of It’s a Lot to Unpack and There’s Some Place Like Lessons From a Decade Abroad.

197 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 1, 2025

About the author

Dina Honour left New York City in 2008 and has been dreaming Big Apple dreams ever since.

Along the way she's navigated culture shock in Nicosia, fallen in love with a fairy tale in Copenhagen, and ran head first against the brick wall of herself in Berlin.

When she's not raising her family, she writes books, essays, and excellent birthday cards. Much of her work centers around women, identity, and our ideas of home.

Reviews

[Miss 80's Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a certified, card-carrying member of Gen X (born in 1980 so yes, I made the cut and no, I will not be accepting Xennial allegations), I am an absolute sucker for a good nostalgic read and this delivered exactly that.

This book feels like flipping through an old photo album. Part memory lane, part reflection on where we are now, and somehow both backward-and forward-looking at the same time. So many of the essays hit me right in the feels. As someone who has lived, loved, and lost, I felt completely seen.

It made me nostalgic not just for the childhood we all survived (barely), but for the friendships, the family, the moments. And yes, the people who aren’t here anymore. You will laugh. You will cry. You might do both in the same chapter.

And if you don’t at least once wonder whether Samantha and Jake actually went the distance after Sixteen Candles… are you even Gen X?

Long live the 1980s. The greatest decade ever!

Thank you to Dina Honour and Book Sirens for this ARC. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honour has made me fall in love with my generation. She seamlessly weaved between childhood nostalgia, teen angst in a tiny town and the glaring fact that we are on the other side of 50. We are aging, in menopause, and even grandparents but our stamp in history seemed forgotten. Lost. Not important. Nothing to see here.
Not anymore! Honour brings it all back vividly, yet strides into the future with no fear. A must read for all of us because “each one of us is a brain, and an athlete, and a basket case, a princess.” Here’s to Honour for making it clear: We Are Generation X and we were here! We were enough.

[Sunny Lin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just absolutely love the way Honour writes — with such witty finesse that lures you into her world. Her stories carry a hint of nostalgia and sweet memories from the past, yet feel so heartwarming. She addresses important subjects in life — like marriage, aging, and death — in such a raw and deeply human manner. Bravo !!

[Amy Day · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a joy to read! Honour captures all the feelings of the unique generation that is GenX. I felt seen, I cried a little, and I also have a special bottle of champagne just waiting. A must read for anyone at the midpoint of their lives, looking in both directions.

[Sehrishaq · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Snap crackle and pop used to be for cereal now it's morning knees"

Isn’t it wonderful when you read a book that draws you in so deeply, it feels as though the author has written your very thoughts in perfect clarity?

I find Honours' writing mesmerizing. She has a way with words that makes everything she says feel familiar, it brings your memories rushing back.

"This is a love song" is a beautiful homage to the transitions that define us; the hesitant steps of adulting, menopause, the slow unfolding of age, and the constancy of friendship, family, and love.

Long after you’ve turned the final page, it lingers like a song half remembered. It's an honest, candid portrayal of her life and experiences that she's allowed herself to share with the world. I loved every bit of it.

I received an advance review copy.

[Jodi Sh. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been a fan of Dina Honour's work since I heard her read an award winning essay at a writer's conference years ago. Smart, more than funny—she's sharp and clever, and more than a feminist—she believes equality and dignity. Plus, she's fierce. This collection of connected essays does not disappoint. I highlighted so many single sentences that popped out for me, that I identified with personally, any one of which would entice me to read further, the way she hits my generation in a single phrase referring to "trying to get out of a small Jack and Diane town." If you know, you know, if you don't, it still all works. She's smart like that. Her take on marriage and the work it takes, warning us to beware not of the hard days but of the "filler" days. On some of the unpleasantness of aging "is discovering all the ways in which my younger self was an asshole.”

When I read this book, I feel like I'm sitting across the table with an old friend. A good friend. A friend who can take her, and my, experiences and sum them up in a phrase or two and make me laugh at a childhood where we were "handed a set of keys at age seven" and still went on to make a life for ourselves. With mistakes and missteps, love and heartbreak, and come out the other side better for it.

It is the kind of book I will not pass along to someone else, I prefer to keep it here by my bedside, to pick up any time I'm feeling a little lonely or isolated from the world or from myself. Which makes it sound so heavy. It's not. She's just that good and that real.

Note: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I volunteered because that's how much I love her writing.

[Lisa Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book! Prepare to be taken on an open, honest, heart warming nostalgic journey back to your teens, with perfectly described visuals of the daily sights, smells and sounds we lived. Then, nod along to the equally open, honest and sometimes heart wrenching hot messy journey of our 50'; Motherhood, Marriage and Menopause…. The Holy Trinity of the Three M's for those of us on 'Side B' of the mix tape of our lives.

Gen X Women… we ROCK and Ms Honour's observational critique, peppered with heartbreak and humour, is the narrative we all need in our lives. Absolutely LOVED it and highly recommend this for every Woman, regardless of their age or status. What's not to love when a soundtrack is included?! 🤟🏻

I received an advance copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Catriona Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a Love Song is essential reading for any 50ish woman - or any woman who’s ever going to be 50ish. These essays are full of delicious nostalgia, life-affirming storytelling, and fresh, delightful metaphors that perfectly encapsulate something completely true that you’d never thought of before.
The author explores memories of a Gen X childhood, motherhood, midlife, and more with specific, surprising detail that opens up a universe of memories. She unpicks the pop culture and language that made us, inspiring us to knit it into something new and even more inspiring.
Somehow, she makes us ache for the past and simultaneously ache to make more of the moment in front of us.
Dina Honour is the writer I want to be when I grow up.
You have to read this book!

[David Geschke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh… my… God. You have to read this book. It’s one of the best books I’ve ever read. I only found it because somehow the author and I became Facebook friends and when I see that someone I know has written a book I’ll usually buy it. So glad I did, too. Seems like this book is kind of geared towards women, but - as I told Dina - great writing is great writing. And she is not just a good writer - she’s exceptional. This book hit my heart hard every time I picked it up. I loved it. I feel like it’s one of those books I’ll probably read again, too. And I can’t recommend it enough. It’s fantastic. I’m off to buy every other book she’s published now… :)

[Joanne Irwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Call me biased but I loved every track of this clever collection. It brought back so many memories and feelings. I went back to my youth through the stories and nostalgia. I’m blessed to have shared so much with Dina, for staying connected through the decades that went by in a blink and of course for the dedication to our Aqua Net girls! Love you!

[Mahua Cavanagh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun. Eloquent. Nostalgic while very much present and looking to the future. Reminds you that you’re not crazy. There is an entire generation of us feeling all these things.

[Kim Burett-Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I delight in the way Dina Honour tells a story and gives her raw, honest opinion on the subject at hand. She can write a clever, witty turn of phrase on almost any topic and has done so without exception in "This is a Love Song".
To me, nostalgia is like a cup of hot chocolate, it makes you feel warm and cozy while you consume it but the feeling is fleeting. The most poignant parts to in this book are the observations on things such as: redefining what "special" means when you are at the midpoint in life and recognizing that spending to much time "longing too hard for the past" can stunt our chance at growth.
Honour's keen power of observation is notable in these stories. If you enjoy this, I highly recommend reading her other books as well.