Nine Books About Aging, Growing, and Changing

Living in a body is an exercise in enduring surprise and accepting change. During our lifetimes, we spring leaks, heal, grow, get sick, and age. We wake up some days and don’t recognize ourselves in the mirror. Some transformations appear on schedule—new rolls of flesh, sudden tufts of hair—and others come upon us suddenly: humbling bruises, unforeseen illnesses. But too frequently, we sanitize the moisture and mess of being alive with bland metaphors.