A chapter of the book appeared in the Atlantic; I found Brooks's writing engaging and borrowed a copy of the book from the library.

Brooks doesn't pull any punches as he builds the clear case for the decline of "fluid" intelligence that serves us so well in early life. But instead of leaving me distressed or frustrated, he goes on to point out the gift and strength of "crystallized" intelligence that characterizes mid- to later life.

Highlighting examples of a few well-known and a few obscure folks who make the shift from one intelligence to the other well, or fail dramatically, Brooks also includes his personal experience as a professional musician along with a wealth of research conducted by others.

Closing the book I felt hopeful and encouraged. I'll be referring to it in the future. ( )

I guess I read this book about 25 years too late. I am almost 70 years old whereas Brooks addresses people mostly aged 40 to 50. Also, I was never what I would call a workaholic and that is the type of people he envisions benefiting from this self-help book. Essentially, that was Brooks before he overheard a couple on a plane behind him. The man was saying to his wife that he might as well be dead because no-one needs him anymore.Brooks, a social scientist who was head of a think tank in Washington, DC at the time was astonished when they arrived in DC to recognize the man. He was well-known; "he has been universally beloved as a hero for his courage, patriotism, and accomplishments of many decades ago." Even the pilot of the aircraft stood at the cockpit door to shake his hand and said he had admired him for years. That defining moment caused Brooks to leave his high-powered job and find happiness in other accomplishments. Those are the lessons he gives in this book. In the end he distills his advice to seven words:
Use things.
Love people.
Worship the divine.
Sounds like good advice. ( )

8/10

I picked up this book after hearing the author on Peter Attia's The Drive podcast. I was intrigued by his ideas and hoped that in the book he might delve more into a common midlife transition for women, that of shifting priorities or starting a new career as the demands of childrearing diminish/all but disappear as kids become adults. In the end, the book doesn't contain much more than the podcast.

It's all about people (mostly men) who have devoted their lives to "success" as defined by society and now have to face the reality that their natural senescence in middle age makes it more challenging to win at that game. He doesn't address those of us who have set aside external validation for the fulfillment of raising children only to find ourselves in middle age with a huge resume gap and having had little opportunity to flex our intellect, which is now declining. How does one pivot from that without becoming silly or irrelevant? I know there are ways, and I would love to read about them.

The author also makes assumptions based on his personal experience (a trap fallen into by many a social scientist), like that women naturally make lots of friends and men need special help connecting. His main suggestion for finding and deepening friendships: do woodworking with a group of men. Women's experience is pretty much dismissed. This quote is really the only thing in the book that addresses women's experiences in middle age: "...and for women who need to rebuild relationships, perhaps it's something else entirely."

I would like to read a book by his wife about her experience raising three kids while her husband was working 60+ hours a week while earning three college degrees and then writing a book about midlife transitions. I suspect I would relate to her midlife transition more. ( )

Arthur C. Brooks’ From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life is, as the title suggests, a guide on how to thrive in the second half of one’s life. This is a great read for anyone who may be facing a decline in their professional life, pivoting to a new career, dealing with loss, and looking for a new purpose. Brooks gives helpful advice on finding fulfillment. He discusses ideas on how the change in our abilities as we age isn’t really a bad thing. He talks about crystallized intelligence (the ability to use things learned) increasing with age and being a tool you can use later in life. I really liked how Brooks used stories of people and historical figures as an example to further explain his point and ideas along with evidence of actual research. You’ll find yourself reflecting and learning continuously. The underlying theme of the book is that happiness and fulfillment can be attained in the second half of life, maybe even more so than the first, so you really shouldn’t be afraid of it. ( )