Reading helps keep your brain active, reduces stress, and offers enjoyment at any stage of life. Looking for books to help you learn and grow? Members of LiveUp’s Ageing Well Advisory Group (AWAG) have provided a list of their top picks for 2026.
About AWAG
The Ageing Well Advisory Group (AWAG) helps LiveUp stay centred around its primary audience – you. AWAG advises LiveUp by representing voices of older people in Australia.
LiveUp's mission is to be an evidence-based resource for older adults. Part of this is about working with people in the community. We want to be led by your lived experience. It helps us make sure we’re offering relevant ageing information and resources.
AWAG consists of 14 members. Members are between 45 and 85 years of age, with a national presence covering each state. They help improve LiveUp resources by giving us their feedback.
You can learn more about AWAG and how to get involved here.
About AWAG’s recommended books
Members of AWAG have curated this list of age-positive book recommendations. These are personally recommended reads – from older readers, for older readers.
The overall list covers a broad range of genres and themes. In this article, you’ll find books about the science of ageing well, as well as some self-help books. Perhaps they’ll help you expand your mind!
Books about ageing well: science, stories, and inspiration
These books might change how you think about growing older:
Ageless: The New Science of Getting Older Without Getting Old
by Andrew Steele
Ageless is a guide to why you get old, and how you can stop it. Steele details the progress science has made in recent years to help humans live longer without getting frail or ill.
Ageing Well: A Guide to Rejuvenation and Longevity
by George Cromack
Ageing Well explores some of the latest health practices and examines the most beneficial ways you can make your body healthy and strong.
Can Adventure Prevent Dementia? A guide to outwitting Alzheimer’s
by Dr Helena Popovic
Dr Popovic is a leading expert on improving brain function. This book is filled with her scientific insights, as well as laugh-out-loud stories of Dad and daughter’s adventure with dementia. It’s never too late or too early to boost your brain, avert Alzheimer’s, and defy dementia.
This book cured my broken heart after watching my beloved father fade away with this awful disease, and it has completely changed the way I eat, live, exercise, and integrate into my community on a daily basis.
— AWAG memberWith the End in Mind
by Kathryn Mannix
Healthy ageing isn’t only about living longer. It's also about finding peace and purpose at every stage of life. With the End in Mind shows how understanding the end stages of life can help you live more fully in the present.
Touching, tragic, funny, and wise, this exceptional book brings together the author’s lifetime of medical experience to tell powerful stories of life, dying, and death. Guides us through conversations, attitudes, and ways of being with those we love, to bring about peace, love, and acceptance at end-of-life times. Life-changing stuff for me.
— AWAG memberBooks about rethinking life: psychology and self-help
These books can provide some tools for adapting your mindset:
Reinvent Yourself: Psychological Insights That Will Transform Your Work Life
by Susan Kahn
In Reinvent Yourself, Susan Kahn offers original psychological insights. Discover strategies to focus your efforts, build your network, and navigate any challenge in your career.
As I believe ageing is a process of reinventing oneself throughout one’s life, the book inspired me to act on the inevitable, periodically reinventing myself.
— AWAG memberPositivity: Discover the Upward Spiral That Will Change Your Life
by Barbara Frederickson
Dr Barbara Fredrickson offers lab-tested tools for boosting emotional resilience. In this book, you'll learn:
- What positivity is
- Why it matters more than happiness
- How to calculate, track, and improve your ratio of positive to negative emotions
Flourish
by Martin Seligman
Flourish details inspiring stories of Positive Psychology in action. It also offers a new theory on what makes people flourish and how to truly get the most out of life.
Based on positive psychology, these amazing books [Positivity and Flourish] have made a profound improvement to my outlook and response to normal fluctuations in my mood. They have equipped me with practical ways of living in the world in a more healthy and contented life.
— AWAG memberReading matters for healthy ageing
Reading a book is a great way to relax, unwind, and reduce stress – and it’s a good mental exercise for your brain. Making reading into a hobby can help you keep your brain active and healthy as you get older.
Reading can also help you connect with others. You can share your favourite stories with friends – or meet new people through book clubs and library groups.
Here are some other fun facts about reading:
- Listening to audiobooks can exercise your brain as much as reading with your eyes.
- You can borrow eBooks and audiobooks from your local library using free apps like BorrowBox and Libby.
- Assistive products like magnifiers or book stands can make reading easier if you experience eye strain or arthritis.
Getting started
To get started on your reading list, you could:
- Borrow from your local library
- Join a local book club
- Swap books with friends
You can use LiveUp’s social activities finder to discover book clubs near you. For example, you might find groups like the Tough Guy Book Club for men who like to read – or any other club that suits your interests.
If you need more information about healthy ageing, get in touch with one of our helpful site navigators on 1800 951 971.
You can also find more peer-recommended reads here:
References
Chang, Y.-H., Wu, I.-C., & Hsiung, C. A. (2021). Reading activity prevents long-term decline in cognitive function in older people: Evidence from a 14-year longitudinal study. International Psychogeriatrics, 33(1), 63-74. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1041610220000812
Magner, B. (2021). Yes, audiobooks count as 'real reading'. Here are 3 top titles to get you started. https://theconversation.com/yes-audiobooks-count-as-real-reading-here-are-3-top-titles-to-get-you-started-166097
Laermans, J., Scheers, H., Vandekerckhove, P., & De Buck, E. (2020). Recreational book reading for promoting cognitive functioning and emotional well-being in older adults: A systematic review. Campbell Systematic Reviews, 16(4), e1117. https://doi.org/10.1002/cl2.1117
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