“One of the wonderful things about getting older is that I don’t need to conform. I don’t need to fit in, nor do I need to prove a damn thing to anybody.” —From Food for Thought: Essays and Ruminations by food network star Alton Brown (February 4)

The dancer-actress-singer Josephine Baker’s 1949 memoir Fearless and Free, now publishing in English (February 4), tells of her Jazz Age stardom and spying for the French Resistance. In Legends and Soles (February 25), Sonny Vaccaro, 85, details his role in signing Michael Jordan for Nike, and Waiting on the Moon: Artists, Drifters, Grifters, and Goddesses (March 11) by Peter Wolf, 78, is the J. Geils Band frontman’s rock ’n’ roll story.

Curtis Sittenfeld, 49, author of best-selling novels like Prep and Romantic Comedy, is back with an eclectic collection of stories, Show Don’t Tell (February 25), many featuring beautifully drawn middle-aged characters—including one that brings back Lee Fiora from Prep, now older and attending her boarding school reunion.

We All Live Here by Jojo Moyes The Me Before You author offers a heartwarming story about Lila, dealing at midlife with a broken marriage, career troubles, teen drama and more. As if that’s not messy enough, she adds a sexy fling into the mix. (February 11)

Three Days in June by Anne Tyler This short, absorbing novel—full of Tyler’s usual warmth and wit—focuses on a socially awkward woman, Gail, 61, who’s forced to reconnect with her ex-husband while navigating her daughter’s wedding. (February 11)

Kills Well With Others by Deanna Raybourn In Raybourn’s riotous sequel to Killers of Certain Age, the quartet of elite female assassins are pulled out of retirement when an old mark’s family gets a hankering for overdue retribution. (March 11) —Christina lanzito

See our exclusive interview with Bill Gates, author of a new memoir, Source Code: My Beginnings (February 4), on aarp.org/billgates