Books

Overview

A compilation of some of the best books around on aging: Inspirational, Health, and What it is like to be Old.

Inspirational (Wall Street Journal)

Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant? Cartoonist Roz Chast’s chronicle of caring for her 90-odd-year-old parents.
The Late Starters Orchestra. Author and journalist Ari Goldman’s quest to master the cello.
Lighter as We Go: Virtues, Character Strengths, and Aging. After the stressful sandwich years, authors Mindy Greenstein and Jimmie Holland help us appreciate what we have, and give us a sense of purpose for what we still want to do.
Life Is a Wheel: Love, Death, Etc., and a Bike Ride across America. 57 year-old journalist Bruce Weber writes about his second bike trip across the U.S.
How to Be Old: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Retirement. Richard Gerberding, a retired classics professor, adapts Cicero’s idea that “the best weapons against old age are your inner qualities and virtues which you have cultivated at every stage of your life.”
What Makes Olga Run: The Mystery of the 90-Something Track Star and What She Can Teach Us About Living Longer, Happier Lives. 94-year-old Olga Kotelko explains how she does it.

Healthy Aging (The Senior List)

Healthy Aging: A Lifelong Guide to Your Well-Being. Dr. Andrew Weil combines traditional and non-traditional medical advice to help us age in good health.
Aging Wisely: Strategies for Baby Boomers and Seniors. Retired clinical professor and neurologist Dr. Robert Levine’s book helps the reader take control of their life as they age.
A Man's Guide to Healthy Aging: Stay Smart, Strong, and Active. Authors Edward Thompson Jr. and Lenard Kaye provide a man’s perspective on healthy aging.
The Gift of Years: Growing Older Gracefully. 70-year-old Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister’s book features about 40 essays on subjects like adjustment, sadness, regret and success, and advice on connecting with yourself and with others.
The Wonder of Aging: A New Approach to Embracing Life after Fifty. New York Times best-selling author Michael Gurian profiles three states of aging: Transformation (from our late forties to around sixty), Distinction (from sixty to seventy-five), and Completion (the final stage of our journey).

What it is Like To be Old (Time Goes By)

The Art of Aging, a Doctor's Prescription for Well-Being. Sherwin B. Nuland’s compassionate book about how we grow old.
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End. Dr. Atul Gawande’s best-selling book about bringing dignity to the last years of one’s life.
The Creative Age: Awakening Human Potential in the Second Half of Life. Dr. Gene D. Cohen book unknots many of the negative beliefs about getting old.
The Force of Character and the Lasting Life. Published in 1999, 85-year-old Jungian psychologist James Hillman explains how the last years can be used to conform and fulfill character.
The Fountain of Age. Published in 1993, women-rights advocate Betty Friedan takes an exhaustive look at aging.
From Ageing to Sageing. Published in 1997, Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi’s book proposes a new model of late-life development that enables older people to become spiritually radiant, physically vital, and socially responsible.
Old Age. Published in 1970, Simone de Beauvoir writes about the experience of the everyday lives of elders.
Old Age. Journey Into Simplicity. Helen M. Luke, reflects on old age through the writings of Homer, Shakespeare, T.S. Eliot and others.
Why Survive? Being Old in America. Dr. Robert N. Butler’s 1975 Pulitzer Prize winning book on aging.