{"id":2920,"date":"2021-11-23T15:08:41","date_gmt":"2021-11-23T22:08:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/?page_id=2920"},"modified":"2026-03-30T08:35:03","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T15:35:03","slug":"books","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/?page_id=2920","title":{"rendered":"Books"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Click on book covers (or title) to see the listing on Amazon.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/mbellah_walking_frntcvr_031826-scaled.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-3557\" src=\"https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/mbellah_walking_frntcvr_031826-230x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"230\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/mbellah_walking_frntcvr_031826-230x300.jpg 230w, https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/mbellah_walking_frntcvr_031826-785x1024.jpg 785w, https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/mbellah_walking_frntcvr_031826-768x1002.jpg 768w, https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/mbellah_walking_frntcvr_031826-1178x1536.jpg 1178w, https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/mbellah_walking_frntcvr_031826-1570x2048.jpg 1570w, https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/mbellah_walking_frntcvr_031826-830x1083.jpg 830w, https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/mbellah_walking_frntcvr_031826-350x457.jpg 350w, https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/mbellah_walking_frntcvr_031826-480x626.jpg 480w, https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/mbellah_walking_frntcvr_031826-scaled.jpg 1963w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 230px) 100vw, 230px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B0GV454KDH\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Walking at 60, 70 and Beyond: Inspiring stories and stunning photos to get you outdoors and on your feet<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Do you walk?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Would you like to walk?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Would you like to like to walk?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This is not a book about walking for exercise. This is a book about walking for joy\u2014\u201cBecause,\u201d says Dr. Bellah, \u201cif you love to walk, you\u2019ll get all the exercise you need.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So what will bring joy to your walks? Based on the words of famous walkers both living and long deceased, Bellah offers dozens of strategies. You\u2019ll learn to walk with cheerfulness, spontaneity, curiosity and imagination. You\u2019ll see how some have out-walked their troubles. And you\u2019ll discover the pleasure of places to walk, like mountains, beaches, canyons, near waterfalls and in your own neighborhood.<\/p>\n<p>As a bonus, the book features dozens of compelling nature photographs, reminding walkers of their best joy in their greatest passion.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Bellah\u2019s fifth retirement book is a fitting follow-up to his #1 bestseller, <em>1001 Fun Things To Do in Retirement.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/1001-Fun-Things-Do-Retirement\/dp\/0578396947\/ref=sr_1_1?crid=15R0IQPN6X34E&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.3_mafZwDrtlUpXpzQ90StsXYuprauW9b2om3nmMuX8iZbV5DbhcZ9mUyVvLT-NQeqwGZPoedpZvXYKvpTXGbD8WYdxIubvNbrf80QMmHiEQgFBKK7UqE4d3AVJwlrlCKc8QTQOkv1vrb1Npr5tN9-ZV_ujcQdieP4b3vrNhBXy_XCig4JrRAPn6t-2Yd_IyLLLaAX-N0F6QyFEvQVO_wYg.-pD-8WzGGmtyeGu2Qkqvo43srKRasAGCrdjZS0-5fGU&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=mike+bellah&amp;qid=1732371029&amp;sprefix=mike+bellah%2Caps%2C155&amp;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-3372 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/1001-kindle-cover-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/1001-kindle-cover-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/1001-kindle-cover-768x1154.jpg 768w, https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/1001-kindle-cover-681x1024.jpg 681w, https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/1001-kindle-cover-830x1248.jpg 830w, https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/1001-kindle-cover-230x346.jpg 230w, https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/1001-kindle-cover-350x526.jpg 350w, https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/1001-kindle-cover-480x721.jpg 480w, https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/1001-kindle-cover.jpg 1789w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a>1001 Fun Things To Do in Retirement<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Would you like to ride the world\u2019s highest cog train in Manitou Springs, Colorado?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>How about learning to surf in Oceanside, California?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Or would you enjoy being pulled by sled dogs in Wasilla, Alaska?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Mike Bellah says there are 1,001 fun things to do in retirement.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Bellah\u2019s third retirement book is fact filled, fast paced and witty.\u00a0 He introduces you to fun things to learn, fun places to visit and fun ways to get there. In addition, he lists fun things to make, fun ways to exercise and fun gigs for earning extra money. And then there are fun things to read and watch and listen to and eat.<\/p>\n<p>Bellah shows ways to increase your fun by experiencing it with others. And his final chapter asks, \u201cWhat is fun and makes the world a better place, too?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/0578334526\/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=best+retirement+gifts+are+free&amp;qid=1637765017&amp;sr=8-5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-2931\" src=\"https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/bestgifts.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"141\" height=\"218\" \/><\/a><\/em><em>The<\/em><strong><em> Best Retirement Gifts Are Free: How to Retire in a Pandemic<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In his 2<sup>nd<\/sup> book on retirement, Dr. Bellah interviews friends, reviews books and movies, chases a two-year old, dines with a middle schooler, hangs out with brothers, celebrates a wedding anniversary, takes walks and bike rides, and gives readers what they\u2019ve come to expect from him: Honest and hopeful answers to the questions they are asking. Written with dozens of brief vignettes, <em>The Best Retirement Gifts Are Free<\/em> is an ideal gift book.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mike Bellah\u2019s first retirement book showed us how to recover lost dreams. This one shows how to live them.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3331\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3331\" style=\"width: 194px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/tbiytb_frntcvr_061623.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3331\" src=\"https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/tbiytb_frntcvr_061623-194x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"194\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/tbiytb_frntcvr_061623-194x300.jpg 194w, https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/tbiytb_frntcvr_061623-768x1189.jpg 768w, https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/tbiytb_frntcvr_061623-662x1024.jpg 662w, https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/tbiytb_frntcvr_061623-830x1285.jpg 830w, https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/tbiytb_frntcvr_061623-230x356.jpg 230w, https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/tbiytb_frntcvr_061623-350x542.jpg 350w, https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/tbiytb_frntcvr_061623-480x743.jpg 480w, https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/tbiytb_frntcvr_061623.jpg 1710w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 194px) 100vw, 194px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3331\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Best Is Yet To Be is Now Updated!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong><em>The Best Is Yet To Be: Discovering the Secret to a Creative, Happy <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>Retirement<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When college professor Mike Bellah took an early buyout, he expected the golden years to live up to the carefree, happy times pictured in magazine ads. But, within weeks, the reality of lost identity and limited funds left him panicked and depressed. In this book, Dr. Bellah uses extensive research, personal narrative and real-time blogs to explain how he got his hope back, and, with it, discovered the secret to a happy retirement.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Best-Yet-Be-Journal-Retirement\/dp\/0578702029\/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=The+Best+Is+Yet+To+Be+Journal%3A+Write+Your+Way+to+a+Creative%2C+Happy+Retirement&amp;qid=1637764805&amp;sr=8-3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-2927\" src=\"https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/journal.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"177\" height=\"218\" \/><\/a>The Best Is Yet To Be Journal: Write Your Way to a Creative, <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>Happy Retirement<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>According to Bellah, \u201cThe most important story you will read on retirement is not mine; neither is it one written by any other author. The most important story you will read is your story, the one you will write, the one that will shape you as you shape it, the one that will help make your dreams come true.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Believe-You-Santa-Reflections-Writing\/dp\/0578810700\/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=I+Believe+In+You%2C+Santa+bellah&amp;qid=1637764738&amp;sr=8-2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-2928\" src=\"https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/santa.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"141\" height=\"218\" \/><\/a>I Believe In You, Santa<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In this collection of Mike Bellah\u2019s blogs and columns, you\u2019ll read of \u201cHobbits and Creativity,\u201d witness the \u201cConfessions of an Old Tuba Player\u201d and learn of \u201cThe Granddaughters Who Saved Christmas.\u201d Plus, you\u2019ll find out who put the \u201cbomp in the bomp bah bomp bah bomp,\u201d why laughter is still the best medicine and what the greeneyed monster has to say about jealousy. Entertaining and insightful, Bellah\u2019s writing has something for everyone.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Bicycling-through-Midlife-Crisis-Bellah\/dp\/0578802074\/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Bicycling+through+the+Midlife+Crisis&amp;qid=1637764691&amp;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-2929\" src=\"https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/bicycling.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"141\" height=\"218\" \/><\/a>Bicycling through the Midlife Crisis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In Bicycling through the Midlife Crisis, Bellah blends the tale of a tumultuous midlife crisis with a grueling mountain bike ride through the West Texas canyon lands, both journeys as full of laughter and grace as they are of peril.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/I-Saw-Jesus-This-Morning\/dp\/0578779595\/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=mike+bellah+I+saw+jesus+this+morning&amp;qid=1637764961&amp;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-2930\" src=\"https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/sawjesus.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"141\" height=\"218\" \/><\/a>I Saw Jesus This Morning<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The companion book to <em>Bicycling through the Midlife Crisis <\/em>presents the same story through a devotional lens. Part memoir, part dream vision, Dr. Bellah\u2019s fast-paced novelette examines what it means to meet Jesus today through his body, the church.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/bbbelievers.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-2951\" src=\"https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/bbbelievers.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"140\" height=\"218\" \/><\/a>Baby Boom Believers: Why we think we need it all and how to survive when we don&#8217;t get it.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Published by Tyndale House in 1988, Bellah&#8217;s first book was a finalist for a Christian Booksellers&#8217; Association Gold Medallion Award. It is now out of print.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Click on book covers (or title) to see the listing on Amazon. Walking at 60, 70 and Beyond: Inspiring stories and stunning photos to get you outdoors and on your feet Do you walk? Would you like to walk? Would you like to like to walk? This is not a book about walking for exercise. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2920","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2920"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2920\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3585,"href":"https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2920\/revisions\/3585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikebellah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}