Tom's Life Bits

Six Books to Build a Dream On
Our picks for the year's best guides to later life By DIANE COLE

If our mail is any indicator, readers age 50-plus are hungry for books that can help them keep fit mentally, physically and financially. Their appetite is equally large for personal musings about roads already traveled and strategies for exploring the territory that lies ahead. With that in mind, here are our recommendations for the year's best books, those that can help you make the most of life now and in the years to come:

THE OVERVIEW For a comprehensive road map, try “Master Class: Living Longer, Stronger and Happier” by Peter Spiers (which we highlighted earlier in the year). Mr. Spiers gathered his recommendations for remaining curious, creative, intellectually stimulated and on the go from the experiences of hundreds of participants, ages 50 to 80, in Elderhostel Inc.'s Road Scholar lifelong-learning programs.

EVERYONE'S TALKING Reading the essays in editor Mark Evan Chimsky's anthology “65 Things to Do When You Retire” is like having your own brainstorming session with 65 highly knowledgeable men and women of a certain age and many different walks of life. The collection is full of candor, humor and wisdom. Some essayists inspire as they chronicle how they faced the shock and inertia of a suddenly blank calendar after their jobs ended—and then rebounded to set (and meet) such diverse post-50 goals as training for the Senior Olympics, moving to another country, returning to writing and founding a prison ministry. Others present step-by-step strategies for putting together a retirement game plan that will suit your temperament, interests and budget.

YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND Then again, instead of 65 conversations, you may prefer just one with a trusted confidante. In “Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake: A Memoir,” columnist and novelist Anna Quindlen reflects on her changing perspectives through the decades, from her days as a wunderkind New York Times reporter in her 20s to a mom in her 30s to an empty-nester who just hit 60—and who still has the moxie to learn to do a headstand. For her, growing older means growing comfortable with both who she is now and what came before (including struggles with alcohol). Throughout, Ms. Quindlen focuses less on the downside of wrinkles and more on the joy and grace of adding candles to the birthday cake, a view shaped by her mother's untimely death at the age of 40, when Ms. Quindlen was just 19. Her buoyant yet realistic tone is a comfort and a tonic.

BRAIN SCIENCE FOR US ALL “The Scientific American Healthy Aging Brain: The Neuroscience of Making the Most of Your Mature Mind” by Judith Horstman delivers a wealth of information you can understand and use to improve your odds for a brain-healthy future. Ms. Horstman demystifies the aging process, with the reassuring news that in general the brain is more flexible and sturdier than you imagine. She talks about how injury, illness and interactions among various medications can cause the brain to malfunction; busts common myths (dementia is not inevitable); and evaluates what works (big thumbs up go to challenging your brain through lifelong reading and learning) and what doesn't (there's little evidence to support the efficacy of most brain-fitness products). One striking conclusion: “Don't substitute computer games for physical exercise,” Ms. Horstman writes. “That's an area where the scientific evidence for brain benefit is very strong.”

WORKING IT “Great Jobs for Everyone 50+: Finding Work That Keeps You Happy and Healthy…and Pays the Bills” by AARP columnist Kerry Hannon is a must read for anyone mulling what kind of work will work for you in the next phase of your life. Ms. Hannon scopes out the pluses and minuses across a wide swath of options: new job or encore career, volunteer work or home business, full time or part time, by the season or contract by contract. Her tone is practical, realistic and optimistic, with nitty-gritty tips about how to explore, what to expect, and the qualifications and skills you'll need in a wide range of fields, including nonprofits, health care, education, sales and retail. Especially helpful: her “Great Jobs Workshop,” including sections on assessing your skills, doing marketplace research, and updating networking, job-search, interview and tech skills.

CHANGE AT ANY AGE Now that you have all these ideas about what you'd like to change (whether it's starting an exercise plan, plotting a job hunt, managing your budget or moving elsewhere), here's the book to tell you how to get going: “Changeology: 5 Steps to Realizing Your Goals and Resolutions” by John Norcross. A leading researcher on the psychology of change, Mr. Norcross has identified five distinct stages common to successful behavioral change, which he calls the five P's: psych (getting ready by specifying realistic goals), prep (preparing to take the leap), perspire (taking action), persevere (managing slips) and persist (maintaining change). He then breaks down each of those steps into doable smaller ones. Sure, this will require time and effort. But if the motivation is there, the reward is lasting.