Usually we share a neuroscience-based book, but this month we can’t pass up the opportunity to share 30 Lessons in Living: Tried and True Advice from the Wisest Americans. This collection, by renowned Cornell University gerontologist Karl Pillemer, is the result of Pillemer’s years of study with over 1,000 older adults from a range of social, economic, and educational backgrounds. He has compiled the wisdom he has learned from conversations with people reflecting on what they did right and wrong in their long lives. The result is a truly thought-provoking and enjoyable book.

How does your brain sense flavor? Neuroscientist Gordon Shepherd delves into this question in Neurogastronomy. He skillfully considers how not just smell and taste, but also the other senses work together to make a “brain flavor system.” Moving beyond the anatomical, Shepherd looks at the ways in which the brain flavor system impacts diverse aspects of life, from emotion to memory to drug addiction.

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Why do we do things in the moment that we regret later? Why are we unable to plan for our futures in favor of doing things that only make us happy for a few moments? And why do we think we’re right in the face of overwhelming evidence we’re wrong? David Di Salvo explores this topic in his new book to shed light on the brain’s paradoxical nature. He incorporates interviews with neuroscientists and anecdotes from a variety of fields to illustrate his points. While the book is scientifically based, it still manages to be an engaging and entertaining read!

The brain is an amazing machine, but it has its flaws. Why, for example, do we so often choose short-term gratification over long-term stability? In Brain Bugs, Dean Buonomano, a professor of neurobiology and psychology at UCLA, argues that such flaws are the result of a still-evolving brain confronted with the rapidly changing complexities of the modern world. Our brains still have “bugs” inherited from our ancestors—processes and reactions that may have served humanity well in a different age, but no longer apply today.

How do children think? This is one of the major questions faced by every parent. Today’s parents try all manner of strategies to raise kids that are smart, happy, and confident, but this book digs into the inner workings of a child’s brain at different stages of development to sort through which things are mere marketing mumbo jumbo and what really works. Welcome to Your Child’s Brain offers applicable advice (some of which may surprise you) and dispels commonly held myths in favor of reliable scientific evidence.

Do you worry you might be a psychopath? If so, then you’re almost certainly not one. This is just one of the interesting findings Jon Ronson presents in his new book, which looks at psychopathy from a variety of angles. With training from one of the world’s leading experts on the topic, Ronson seeks out psychopaths of different stripes—from a terrorist to a prominent CEO—to see what makes them tick. Despite the disturbing topic, Ronson manages to make the reader laugh, cringe, and learn all at once.

Often, we think of our conscious thoughts as the major players in our brains. But in Incognito, neuroscientist David Eagleman makes the case that our conscious minds are out of the loop in most of what we do. Our instincts, our desires, our motor functions—many of the things we think, feel, and accomplish happen in neural sub-routines outside our conscious control. “We are not at the center of ourselves,” Mr.

In Braintrust, Patricia Churchland, a pioneer in the emerging field of neurophilosophy, examines the biology of the brain to find the roots of morality. She argues that moral values derive from the human impulse to preserve people allied to them, beginning with their children and reaching out from there. According to Churchland, creating these allies is facilitated by oxytocin, a brain (and body) chemical that allows for trust by inhibiting the stress response.

In The Mind's Eye, Oliver Sacks's eleventh book, he delves into issues of perception, illustrating his points with a mix of case stories, personal experiences, and essays. As with his previous books, he examines a handful of rare and fascinating disorders, exploring how profoundly they affect the patients—and the creative ways in which they work to adapt to living with them.

Want to learn how to improve your memory from a man who made it a life goal? Check out Joshua Foer's Moonwalking with Einstein. In the book, you'll find out how Foer went from being an average Joe to a finalist in the U.S.A. Memory Championships. With great content on the history of memorization, insights into how memory works in the brain, and techniques memory masters use, the book provides a wealth of fun, compelling information you'll remember long afterward reading it.