For $0\le α\le 1$, Nikiforov proposed to study the spectral properties of the family of matrices $A_α(G)=αD(G)+(1-α)A(G)$ of a graph $G$, where $D(G)$ is the degree diagonal matrix and $A(G)$ is the adjacency matrix. The $α$-spectral radius of $G$ is the largest eigenvalue of $A_α(G)$. We give upper bounds for $α$-spectral radius for unicyclic graphs $G$ with maximum degree $Δ\ge 2$, connected irregular graphs with given maximum degree and and some other graph parameters, and graphs with given domination number, respectively. We determine the unique tree with second maximum $α$-spectral radius among trees, and the unique tree with maximum $α$-spectral radius among trees with given diameter. For a graph with two pendant paths at a vertex or at two adjacent vertex, we prove results concerning the behavior of the $α$-spectral radius under relocation of a pendant edge in a pendant path. We also determine the unique graphs such that the difference between the maximum degree and the $α$-spectral radius is maximum among trees, unicyclic graphs and non-bipartite graphs, respectively.