such a beautiful concept that I really relate to and would write myself so I absolutely loved this! greatly written and such a lovely read

Great book! The author decided to record her joys in her 55th year. The essays spoke to her life just post pandemic and beyond. I think we can all appreciate how introspective we became in 2020. I especially enjoyed her essay on choosing to not give to many .....as we get older. She suggests really looking at your own life and doing a self-edit. What brings you joy? (keep) What does not bring you joy? (question assumptions and toss.) The author included some helpful guiding questions at the end of the book to create your own joy document.

When did you last hear the word ‘joy’? Ten to one it was something to do with decluttering which, personally, brings me no joy whatsoever. I like my stuff. Alternatively, if it’s Christmas, you may have heard Joy to the World, but that comes way down my list of joyful music. Reading this book really did bring me joy. I read it with a smile on my face and a feeling of kinship with the author. Humour brings joy and Jennifer McGaha’s writing is funny and relatable and as delicious as the fruit cake she describes in the first essay.

When I requested this from NetGalley, I was attracted by the bright cover, but a bit wary that it was going to be a self-help book. I needn’t have worried, it’s not another manifesto for improving your life. Instead, it shares stories, anecdotes and musings by somebody who finds joy in her life, without suggesting these are the things everyone should do. This is my honest review after reading the free digital ARC from NetGalley.

There’s also been a trend in the last few years to create gratitude journals or gratitude jars, making a daily note of things you are – surprise, surprise – grateful for. Joy is perhaps a better metric than gratitude because some people have a twisted Pollyanna-like desire to give thanks for bad things that supposedly gave the opportunity to learn a life lesson. Believe me, getting a life-threatening disease is rarely a reason for gratitude. Perhaps this is rather like the original idea behind ‘The Joy Document’, but not every chapter/essay is about pure joy. Sometimes it’s about something that made the author stop, think and connect. Other people’s stories and the joy of sharing them can be the goal.

The book starts with a reminiscence of being a small girl, frightened by the antics of Evangelical Christians and comforted by her grandmother shaking with laughter as she cuddled her. That same grandmother, when asked what was the best age to be, said it was 55. As Jennifer McGaha approached that age, she decided to pay attention and write down things that gave her joy, attempting not to wander off into reminiscence or contemplation of the future, but to stay in the moment. This resulted in the thoughtful essays in this book.

From the stories, anecdotes and musings in this book, I would say that the ability to feel joy depends on the ability to notice details, to observe nature. Yes, to have fun with friends and family and take time to do the things you want to do. But also to smile wryly when things don’t turn out as expected, to look for the humorous side in every experience and to change direction when you come up against a dead end. No point hitting your head against a brick wall.

I have passed that momentous age, but I’m not much inclined to meditation or mindfulness, nor reading about them. If I see a book flagged as ‘spirituality’, I generally scroll further. But the cheery cover and the optimistic subtitle pulled me in. If 55 is halfway, then 110 is the goal! The idea of creating your midlife experiences is also appealing, rather than sliding towards decrepitude, though not everyone is granted the health to have that choice. What we all have is the choice of our own attitude to whatever happens.

McGaha’s writing style really resonates with me; it’s like reading a letter from a friend with a good sense of humour. She’s a bit younger than me, but not a lot, and she’s American whereas I’m British. But she reminds me of a lot of my online friends, BookCrossers and bloggers, and I think we have a lot in common. I couldn’t believe it when she mentioned using her mother’s Jovan musk perfume. That was my first, overwhelming perfume. I still have the empty bottle and sniffing it every couple of years takes me straight back to the early 1980s.

There are many hilarious stories in this collection, many of them related to teaching and the things students say. The trick for remembering students’ names, for instance. Or the student who offers up a 70-year-old badass biker woman to counter other takes of unhappy middle-aged women facing their own loss of youth.

One slightly irritating tic that Jennifer McGaha’s pieces have is a tendency to end on a thrice-repeated phrase. “And yet. And yet. And yet.” Or “And I see you. And I see you. And I see you.” Or “Tell me. Tell me. Tell me.” I’m sure she knows she’s doing it. She does, after all, teach creative writing. It probably has a fancy name I don’t know about because they hadn’t invented creative writing courses when I was a student, or at least, not that I’d ever heard of. In isolation, it wouldn’t be an issue, but when you’re reading her pieces one after another, it strikes you as a bit much. Actually, I bet she has students who do this sort of thing to add extra words at the end of an essay. Ha!

Many of the stories are thoughtful or make you think. The author rails against a self help author who believes that over the age of fifty, we should stop trying to achieve things ourselves and mentor, coach and help younger people. McGaha points out that many women step off the career ladder to help their family and only have the opportunity to pick up their careers or achieve their own dreams after the age of fifty. So relatable!

Another particularly moving story is the tale of a friend who was supposedly dying, but then decided that rather than lie down and wait, she would fill the rest of her life with joy and friendship.

As a smallholder and Mother of Goats , I would expect Jennifer McGaha to know that a group of sheep is a flock, not a herd. This is not the first time this year that I’ve commented on this; in her book Split, Alida Brema compares clouds to a herd of sheep. Both authors are American. Is this coincidence or do people really refer to herds of sheep in the USA? In British English a group of sheep is a flock, though if you walk behind them, encouraging them to go in the right direction, that is herding them, and someone whose job it is to get sheep headed in the right direction is a shepherd (not a sheep herder or flock holder). It should be noted that herding cats is not a profession because no matter how many cats you share your life with, cats are not for herding.

I hope this book does well because I had fun reading it. In fact, I should probably say it brought me joy.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. I'm a glass 1/2 full that loves any and all little or big things that create joy. This is the authors story of joy and I love it. It brought me such joy.

Thank you Broadleaf and NetGalley for this ARC in return of my honest review.

I had high hopes upon beginning this book, anticipating that the essays would be indicators of daily or larger moments to remind the reader of the importance of having joy in one’s life. What essays I read did not fulfil this anticipation and I really sound it difficult to connect the premise of the blurb to the content I was reading.

This was a DNF for me, the essays felt much longer than necessary, containing events of a life. Sadly this content did not reveal moments of joy in a manner in was anticipating. I did not connect with the content or writing style.

Jennifer McGaha's life isn't special, which is what makes this book so special. Her life echoes so many others lives that I think anyone can find true companionship in her writing, but especially those of us fortunate enough to call ourselves Appalachians. She has brilliantly pointed out the small joys of life, in a way that doesn't feel preachy, or like a gratitude journal. This book is a warm bowl of greens and beans on your grandma's front porch. McGaha is both wholly conversational and brilliantly observant in her writing. As a storyteller, her writing evokes an Appalachian Joan Didion or Anne Lamott. I was comforted, uplifted, and impressed by The Joy Document.

This is a great book of essays about what joy means to women of a certain age. It was inspiring and I fully enjoyed it. Thank you Netgalley for the arc.

The Joy Document is a collection of well written and thought out essays on the loose subject of joy. These essays are interesting and uplifting in their storytelling and positivity.

The Joy Document : Creating a Midlife of Surprise and Delight. This book was not at all what I was expecting and I just couldn't relate to it. It is biographical and full of the author's own life events, and how she would see them now with life experience. It is nor joyful or uplifting and many of the stories are quite depressing. Not for me, but I hope other readers can relate to it.

I received a free copy from the publisher through Netgalley and voluntarily reviewed it.

I wanted to read more non-fiction and when I saw this one on Netgalley it made me curious and I requested it. I just loved the idea of a book about joy. I am glad I gave this book a try as I had a great time reading it.

The Joy Document is a collection of essays about the authors life and each of these essays is about joy or another deep emotion or feeling. I feel like not all of them are about joy exactly, but they definitely all were impactful moments in the authors life. Some could be a bit sad or reflective, while others were more uplifting or fun and others were more about surprise or things that made the author think.

I felt like I got to know the author through reading it and I liked getting a glimpse into her life and the way she thought and approached things. It feels deeply personal and also very relatable. It's like this book condenses what makes us human, those moments that really shape our lives and I thought it was a beautiful read. Not all essays I enjoyed reading as much as others, but I really enjoyed the book overall and the way this book gave a glimpse into the author's life and those moments that really matter.

Some days I read just one essay or a few and other times I just read a whole bunch of them in a row. Either way works great. It's a book you can easily pick up and read just one essay or sit down with for a longer while and read a bunch of them. This book made me think and feel. It did feel more heavy and impactful than I had expected at first, but I liked that.

To summarize: The Joy Document offers a deep and personal look into the author's life. The book contains a lot of shorter essays that all depict a moment that made an impact on the author, made her feel or think. Not all of them are quite about joy in my opinion, but they all are about deep emotions, reflections and thoughts. I liked getting a glimpse in the author's life and the way she approached things and thought about things. It could feel quite heavy and impactful, but in a good way and I enjoyed the intense vibe. I feel like this is a book about those moments that really matter, the moments that shape us, moments that make us think and feel. I hadn't read a non-fiction book like this before and I am glad I picked it up.

This book was amazing! It was such a great and inspiring read. It was very well written and I learned some great things from this book!

This book is something else! I guess that, without even knowing, I was waiting for a book like this one to come into my life. Being myself in my middle age years, I can very much relate to the emotions and intentions of the author. I needed it as I'm now trying to watch the world through new eyes, grateful that I can do it. I also love the writing style, It's talent and technique combined and result is touching. I'd give 10 stars if I could.