We live in a time when there are so many demands on our attention at every hour of the day, that it’s hard to concentrate or summon the focus to really sit down and read for more than a few moments. In fact, many of us now have trouble making our way through a book. Yet, reading can be one of life’s most rewarding pleasures, so getting yourself in the “reading frame of mind” should be a goal for this new year. It’s relaxing, stress-reducing, and mentally stimulating, all important factors for maintaining your cognitive health as you get older! Recently, reporter Doosie Morris, writing in The Guardian, described her attempts to get herself back in the habit of loving to read again. Using the metric that it can take at least 66 days to form a new habit, she concentrated on the positives and pleasures of reading to get herself back in the reading saddle. As one expert told her, “Don’t judge your reading habits. Take the time to reflect on what it was that reading gave you, and consider time spent reading as a gift to yourself.”

If you eventually find yourself back to a reading habit but worry about the isolation that long periods of reading may lead to, then you need to know about The Silent Book Club. Originally started by a group of gals in San Francisco, the idea is to welcome individuals to join together in a public, communal space to just enjoy the pleasure of reading. The “club” requires no specific title or author and welcomes whatever genre of reading you enjoy. It’s just a celebration of the act of reading in a warm and welcoming environment, that also offers the opportunity to socialize and engage with your fellow readers at a designated time (perhaps trade some book recommendations). It’s likely you’ll happen upon members of your community you might not otherwise come into contact with, another way to boost your brain and stimulate your mind. Click here to find a Silent Book Club chapter in your local community (there are 1400 such “clubs” in 54 countries), and you are welcome to start your own chapter if one doesn’t already exist near you. In fact, it’s such a good idea that the organization Grouper, which partners with Medicare Advantage programs to encourage older adults to engage in social activities, has recently partnered with the Silent Book Club to help older adults join this reading entity and get money to support the activity. You can read more about this collaboration here.

And speaking of reading, we always have book recommendations, especially as they relate to aging. For starters, take a look at a recent set of recommendations from the Wall Street Journal on the Best Books and Podcasts in 2024 About Aging and Retirement. From Minnesota comes a list of recent books to reflect on and celebrate aging. One particular book that has garnered a lot of attention among book critics is Golden Years: How Americans Invented and Reinvented Old Age, a new historical perspective on aging and the lives of older adults in today’s United States written by Duke Professor of History James Chappel. You can read 2 different reviews of the book here and here, and click here to read an interview with Professor Chappel about the book.

Finally, if you’re looking for some selections that have made it to more mainstream “best of” lists for 2025, take a look at this recent roundup from Barnes and Noble and the Literary Hub’s “291 Books We’re Looking Forward to in the New Year.” And for an abbreviated list of “The 28 Most Highly Anticipated Books of 2025,” from Harper’s Bazaar, pull out your glasses and click here.