Joyful Anyway (Kate Bowler)

 

When I heard about this book, I had to go buy it right away. It was just what I was looking for. My word of the year for 2026 is shine, as in, "...this little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine!" I have felt like there is so much that is hard. Education right now is a hard place. There is frustration with the government and teacher's rights, funding and growing misunderstandings with teachers and the government. My school is a hard place. We have had tragedy occur and despite many professing that we are one happy family, there is pettiness and cliques and heartache as fall out and I'm not sure how it'll get fixed. And then there are all the regular life struggles....but I'm supposed to feel joy, right? This book felt like a manual to finding that joy and showing it. 

Kate Bowler is a wise woman. This is a book I will read again and again until I really get it. I will read it again and again until I can really live it. I felt like a lot of this book was written like parables. They need pondering and time. There were a lot of great tidbits to grab and hold on to. I bet every story would speak differently to every person.

Goodreads says:

The bestselling author and Duke University professor discovers the true magic of it appears when we least expect it—and even if we don’t feel happy, we can be joyful, anyway.

Life aches. Joy is the cure.

After surviving a stage-four cancer diagnosis, Kate Bowler knew she was supposed to be grateful. Alive. Blessed. But she still ached—for more connection, more surprise, less resentment on an ordinary day.

So she went looking for joy. Not the toxic positivity kind. Not a 5-step plan. But the type that sneaks in unexpectedly, seemingly out of nowhere. A lemur sunbathing. A belly laugh at a funeral. A dive into the Atlantic with a shark wrangler.

In Joyful, Anyway, Bowler takes us on a hilarious and tender journey through big questions and small delights. With wry wit and deep honesty, she explores how joy can surprise us even in the middle of pain, boredom, and longing.

This is not a book about fixing your life. It is about how we can all find more—feel more—by making room for small extraordinary moments. 

For anyone who has ever felt stuck, who is achy for meaning, who feels undone by loss, who feels that joy is just out of reach, who wants, simply, to have more fun, Joyful Anyway is a delicious, insightful tour through the questions that sit in the deepest part of our souls. It proves that for every time we Is this it? Joy will there is more. 

Great Joy (Kate DiCamillo)

 

This makes me think how we all need to become as loving and caring as children are. It reminds me of how I've learned that the real feeling of Christmas comes in loving and sharing with others.

The illustrations are haunting and beautiful. The illustrator (Bagram Ibatoulline) is the same one who illustrated The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. He is Russian...and there is great feeling in his illustrations.chris

Goodreads says:

In her first picture book, America’s beloved storyteller Kate DiCamillo reunites with Bagram Ibatoulline to offer readers an unforgettable holiday gift.

It is just before Christmas when an organ grinder and monkey appear on the street corner outside Frances’s apartment. Frances can see them from her window and, sometimes, when it’s quiet, she can hear their music. In fact, Frances can’t stop thinking about them, especially after she sees the man and his monkey sleeping outside on the cold street at midnight. When the day of the Christmas pageant arrives, and it’s Frances’s turn to speak, everyone waits silently. But all Frances can think about is the organ grinder’s sad eyes — until, just in time, she finds the perfect words to share. Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo pairs once again with acclaimed artist Bagram Ibatoulline as she presents a timeless story of compassion and joy.

Option B: Finding Adversity, Building Resilience and Finding Joy (Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant)

 

I read Lean In and quite enjoyed it and this book was the same. I have definitely experienced adversity in life and love the topic of resilience. I could read this book again and again. I think most of us are stronger and more resilient than we realize. Sometimes we need a little help discovering that in ourselves. This book is a great way to do that. I have a few people in my life I'd like to share this book with, but I probably won't. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like most people need to discover their innate ability to bounce back on their own. 

For some reason, the summary on Goodreads is in some Asian language. So Amazon sums up the book like this: 

From Facebook’s COO and Wharton’s top-rated professor, the #1 New York Times best-selling authors of Lean In and Originals: a powerful, inspiring, and practical book about building resilience and moving forward after life’s inevitable setbacks.
 
After the sudden death of her husband, Sheryl Sandberg felt certain that she and her children would never feel pure joy again. “I was in ‘the void,’” she writes, “a vast emptiness that fills your heart and lungs and restricts your ability to think or even breathe.” Her friend Adam Grant, a psychologist at Wharton, told her there are concrete steps people can take to recover and rebound from life-shattering experiences. We are not born with a fixed amount of resilience. It is a muscle that everyone can build.
Option B combines Sheryl’s personal insights with Adam’s eye-opening research on finding strength in the face of adversity. Beginning with the gut-wrenching moment when she finds her husband, Dave Goldberg, collapsed on a gym floor, Sheryl opens up her heart—and her journal—to describe the acute grief and isolation she felt in the wake of his death. But Option B goes beyond Sheryl’s loss to explore how a broad range of people have overcome hardships including illness, job loss, sexual assault, natural disasters, and the violence of war. Their stories reveal the capacity of the human spirit to persevere . . . and to rediscover joy.
Resilience comes from deep within us and from support outside us. Even after the most devastating events, it is possible to grow by finding deeper meaning and gaining greater appreciation in our lives. Option B illuminates how to help others in crisis, develop compassion for ourselves, raise strong children, and create resilient families, communities, and workplaces. Many of these lessons can be applied to everyday struggles, allowing us to brave whatever lies ahead. Two weeks after losing her husband, Sheryl was preparing for a father-child activity. “I want Dave,” she cried. Her friend replied, “Option A is not available,” and then promised to help her make the most of Option B.
We all live some form of Option B. This book will help us all make the most of it.