Check out unforgettable stories, intriguing mysteries, and heartwarming journeys featuring older adults who prove that courage, humor, and determination have no age limit. These titles celebrate characters whose life experiences lead to unexpected discoveries, second chances, and extraordinary adventures.
And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer / Fredrik Backman
As his memories begin to fade, an elderly grandfather reflects on a lifetime of love, family, and regrets while sharing precious moments with his grandson, Noah. In a dreamlike place where past and present intertwine, he revisits his enduring love for his late wife and his complicated relationship with his son, Ted. Through humor, tenderness, and quiet wisdom, the family learns to cherish the memories that remain and prepare for the inevitable goodbye. This poignant novella is a moving meditation on memory, love, forgiveness, and the bonds that endure across generations.
Other formats: large print, ebook (hoopla, Libby), audio (CD, Libby)
Havoc / Christopher Pollen
Widow Maggie Burkhardt, 81, has settled into a long-term stay at a fading luxury hotel on the Nile, hoping to leave her troubled past behind. Known for meddling in other people’s lives, she becomes fascinated by Tess, a young mother, and her eight-year-old son, Otto, who have just arrived. As Maggie inserts herself into their lives, her need to control events leads to an increasingly dangerous psychological battle. Twisty and atmospheric, this suspense novel explores grief, manipulation, aging, and the blurred line between protector and predator through the eyes of an unforgettable unreliable narrator.
Other formats: audio (hoopla, Libby)
The Good Earth / Pearl S. Buck
Born into poverty in rural China, Wang Lung is a hardworking farmer whose fortunes change after his marriage to the quiet, capable O-Lan. As their family grows, abundance gives way to famine, forcing them to seek survival in the city before returning home to rebuild. Through perseverance and a deep connection to the land, Wang Lung gains wealth and status, but prosperity brings pride, greed, and family conflict. His children, raised in comfort, value luxury more than the fields that secured their future. Spanning decades, The Good Earth explores the bond between people and the land while examining wealth, tradition, ambition, and the changing values of successive generations.
Other formats: large print, ebook (hoopla), audio (CD, Libby)
The Correspondent / Virginia Evans
Sybil Van Antwerp has always made sense of life through letters. Each morning, she writes to family, friends, authors, and even strangers, including one person to whom she never sends her letters. Content with the life she has built as a mother, grandmother, lawyer, and divorcee, Sybil’s routine is disrupted when unexpected letters from her past force her to confront a long-buried heartbreak. As old wounds resurface, she realizes the unsent letter she has written for years must finally be shared before she can truly forgive and move forward. Told through her correspondence, this warm and reflective novel explores the healing power of words, the comfort of books, and the relationships that shape a lifetime.
Other formats: large print, ebook (Libby), audio (Libby)
The Heart of Winter / Jonathan Evison
Married for nearly 70 years, Abe and Ruth Winter look back on a lifetime of love, loss, secrets, and resilience that began with a disastrous college blind date. When Ruth faces a serious illness, the couple must confront aging, shifting family dynamics, and the challenges of caregiving. Moving between past and present, this heartfelt novel celebrates enduring love and the strength found in everyday moments.
Other format: large print
Mr. Katō Plays Family / Milena Michiko Flašar
A curmudgeonly recent retiree, Mr. Katō finds little joy beyond his daily walks and dreams of owning a dog. When a young woman recruits him to work for Happy Family, a business where employees pose as relatives for clients, he secretly takes the job. Through his unusual roles, Mr. Katō rediscovers purpose, reexamines his own family relationships, and strives to become the husband and father he always wanted to be.
Other format: audio (hoopla)
The Old Man and the Sea / Ernest Hemingway
This 1952 novella is about an aging Cuban fisherman, Santiago, who endures a grueling, epic battle with a giant marlin in the Gulf Stream, exploring themes of perseverance, courage, and the struggle between humanity and nature. Despite his physical defeat, the story is a testament to the human spirit’s ability to triumph through struggle.
Other formats: braille, ebook (Libby), audio (CD, Libby)
It’s Not All Downhill from Here / Terry McMillan
Loretha Curry’s life is full—sometimes crowded, but full. On the eve of her 68th birthday, she has a booming beauty supply empire, lifelong friends, and a husband who still surprises her. Though carrying a few extra pounds, she refuses to believe her best days are behind her and is determined to prove her mother, her twin sister, and others wrong. When an unexpected loss upends her world, Loretha must draw on her strength, resourcefulness, and determination to keep thriving, pursue joy, heal old wounds, and build new paths—with help from her friends.
Other format: audio (Libby)
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel / Deborah Moggach
When Dr. Ravi Kapoor’s cousin sets up a retirement home in India, Ravi’s father-in-law is one of its first guests, but what the renovation lacks in promised amenities and luxury, it makes up for in adventure, stunning beauty, and unexpected love.
Other formats: ebook (Libby), audio (Libby)
Wilderness / Lance Weller
Civil War veteran Abel Truman, now elderly and disabled, endures a solitary existence in a driftwood shack on the Pacific Coast before undertaking one last hike through the Olympic Mountains, a journey during which he reflects on the war’s savagery and the people who touched his life.
Other format: audio (hoopla)
An Available Man / Hilma Wolitzer
After the death of his beloved wife, Bee, 62-year-old science teacher Edward Schuyler is content with a quiet life of teaching, gardening, and birdwatching. To his surprise, however, he finds himself the focus of unwanted romantic attention from widows, friends eager to play matchmaker, and even a flirtatious married neighbor. Still deep in mourning, Edward has no interest in starting over. When his well-meaning stepchildren secretly place a personal ad for him in The New York Review of Books, he is reluctantly drawn into the unpredictable world of companionship, forcing him to reconsider love, loss, and the possibility of a new chapter.
Other formats: ebook (Libby), audio (hoopla)
The Leisure Seeker / Michael Zadoorian
After 60+ years of marriage, Ella and John Robina decide to escape the doctors, caregivers, and adult children who have begun making decisions for them. Despite Ella’s cancer and John’s Alzheimer’s disease, they set off in their aging RV for one last road trip from Michigan along Route 66 toward Disneyland. As memories fade and old challenges resurface, the journey becomes a chance to rediscover their love, independence, and shared past. Their adventure is a heartfelt celebration of resilience, dignity, and the determination to live life on their own terms.
Other formats: ebook (hoopla), audio (hoopla)
Murder by Cheesecake / Rachel Ekstrom-Courage
This cozy mystery set in 1980s Miami features The Golden Girls. The plot follows Dorothy as a prime suspect in the murder of a date found in a hotel freezer, prompting the four friends to solve the case and save a chaotic wedding.
Other format: ebook (hoopla)
Marlow Murder Club / Robert Thorogood
At 77, Judith Potts enjoys her independent life in Marlow, spending her days creating crossword puzzles and answering to no one. When she witnesses what she believes is a murder while swimming in the Thames, the police dismiss her account. Determined to uncover the truth, Judith launches her own investigation and teams up with two unlikely allies: Suzie, a practical dog walker, and Becks, the vicar’s polished wife. As more deaths occur, the trio forms the Marlow Murder Club and finds itself pursuing a dangerous killer. What begins as a quest for answers soon becomes a race to solve the mystery before they become the next targets.
Other formats: audio (hoopla, Libby), ebook (hoopla, Libby)
Red Team Blues / Cory Doctorow
Martin Hench, a 67-year-old forensic accountant and Silicon Valley veteran, has spent decades tracking hidden fortunes, exposing financial fraud, and untangling complex money-laundering schemes. Living comfortably in a converted touring bus, he enjoys a quiet, successful life until an old acquaintance draws him into a high-stakes cryptocurrency mystery. What begins as a favor quickly spirals into a deadly conspiracy involving missing billions, powerful enemies, and cutting-edge financial crime. Relying on his deep knowledge of technology, finance, and Silicon Valley’s hidden history, Martin must outwit ruthless adversaries to survive. Blending suspense, cybercrime, and sharp social commentary, this thriller offers a timely look at the shadowy world of cryptocurrency and modern finance.
Slayers of Old / Jim Hines
Three former Chosen Ones—Jenny, Temple, and Annette—have traded monster hunting for a quiet retirement running a bookstore in Salem, Massachusetts. Content to leave world-saving behind, their peaceful lives are disrupted when ancient creatures awaken, a determined young hero arrives looking for adventure, and a mysterious portal begins opening beneath their shop. Reluctantly drawn back into action, the trio must use their hard-earned experience to prevent another apocalypse. Blending humor, fantasy, and heart, this novel celebrates friendship, found family, second chances, and proving that heroes never truly retire.
Afterlife / Julia Alvarez
Recently retired English professor Antonia Vega is reeling from the sudden death of her beloved husband when life presents even greater challenges. Her troubled sister vanishes and a pregnant, undocumented teenager unexpectedly appears at her doorstep seeking help. As Antonia navigates grief, family turmoil, and moral responsibility, she discovers that the wisdom found in literature is no substitute for difficult choices in the real world. Thoughtful and quietly humorous, this novel explores loss, compassion, immigration, and the enduring question of what we owe one another in times of crisis.
Other formats: large print, ebook (Libby, hoopla), audio (hoopla)
Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers / Jesse Q. Sutanto
Vera Wong is a lonely little old lady—ah, lady of a certain age—who lives above her forgotten tea shop in San Francisco’s Chinatown. She enjoys her Wulong tea and keeping tabs on her Gen-Z son online. One morning, Vera discovers a dead man in her shop with a flash drive in his hand. After secretly taking it, she decides she can solve the crime better than the police. Certain the killer will return; Vera watches her customers for clues—but unexpectedly forms friendships with them. Now she must decide if one of her newfound friends is the culprit she has been searching for.
Other formats: large print, ebook (Libby), audio (Libby)
Remarkably Bright Creatures / Shelby Van Pelt
After losing both her husband and, decades earlier, her son to an unsolved disappearance, Tova Sullivan keeps busy working the night shift at a small aquarium. There she forms an unlikely bond with Marcellus, a remarkably intelligent giant Pacific octopus. As Tova quietly searches for peace, Marcellus pieces together the truth about her son’s fate and becomes determined to help reveal the long-buried mystery. Heartwarming and gently humorous, this novel explores grief, friendship, second chances, and the unexpected connections that can change a life.
Other formats: large print, audio (hoopla), audio (Libby)
The Old Woman with the Knife / Pyŏng-mo Ku (Gu Byeong-mo)
At 65, Hornclaw is beginning to slow down. She lives modestly with only her aging rescue dog, Deadweight, for company. While others her age are expected to retire, Hornclaw is an assassin who has spent four decades eliminating double-crossers, corporate enemies, and cheating spouses. But nearing the end of her career, one mistake and a resulting injury lead to an unexpected connection with a doctor and his family. As dangerous emotions emerge and her world closes in, Hornclaw’s final assignment may also be her own bloody end.
Other formats: ebook (hoopla), audio (hoopla, Libby)
