Still Alice by Lisa Genova

Still Alice by Lisa Genova
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I appreciated the way this took me inside the life and experiences of someone going through something so different, and those experiences were so unexpected and real.

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The Secret Life of the Grown-up Brain by Barbara Strauch

The Secret Life of the Grown-up Brain: The Surprising Talents of the Middle-Aged Mind by Barbara Strauch
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was interested in the section that claimed that older adults are more easily distractable. I wonder about what causes this with children, adults, and myself. This book has other little nuggets of interesting science but despite its short length, it was full of filler anecdotes and contradictory information. While I found it interesting and entertaining, it's not sufficiently scientifically vigorous that I'd recommend it to others.

I read this because it was one of my dad's books, but because it came out in 2010, the year he died, I'm not sure he actually read it. It's just as well because he didn't have much of an opportunity to revel in his middle-aged wisdom.

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Happiness Is a Choice You Make by John Leland

Happiness Is a Choice You Make: Lessons from a Year Among the Oldest Old by John Leland
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is an interesting, thought-provoking book about old age and how to get the most quality of life. There is some science in it, but it's not a science-based book. Instead, it's based on a small number of long-term interviews. To a lesser extent, it's about facing the inevitability of death, but the focus here is on how to confront life now in order to be prepared for whatever form death takes. There are some valuable thoughts worth considering, and it has an overall inspiring tone I think a lot of people would enjoy.

For me, it doesn't go deep enough, it isn't scientific enough, and it doesn't make my top meaning-of-life books. (But it did just inspire me to go back and add that tag to a bunch of books.)

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And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer by Fredrik Backman

And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It's a nice little story, but considering the topic of dementia and decline, it seems a bit sanitized and sanguine for my taste.

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A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is not the sexy Buddhist nun story it promises to be on the first few pages. That was a disappointment. It is also not the realistic story it promises to be for the first 60% of the book as it descends into magical realism madness. But I fell in love with the characters and any book that weaves mindfulness and physics into a narrative about time is likely to win me over.

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Hourglass: Time, Memory, Marriage by Dani Shapiro

Hourglass: Time, Memory, Marriage by Dani Shapiro
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Some good writing. Interesting. She does the Joan Didion repeat repeat repeat again later thing. Doesn't give me much insight into her marriage or marriage in general. Is an interesting meditation on time and memory. Does the repeat repeat repeat thing.

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