I recently heard an incredible interview with a philosopher on the nature of time. She teaches at Notre Dame but check out how she combines both your loves in her Twitter description. Since our oldest still loves Legos and the younger brother loves philosophy, it was wonderful to see both together!
I almost did not read this book. The cover made me think it was going to be another one of those fluffy, feel-good books. You know, the kind in the end that leave you more convinced that Christians just can’t write honestly about the human condition.
Well, I am here to say that Joy’s splendid book is hardly spiritual pablum. Joy just finished her PhD at St. Andrews, she knows suffering firsthand, and yet she maintains a gritty confidence in Jesus Christ.
When you are my age (sixty-four, by the way), have a strong theological education, and constitutionally have a honed radar for drivel, you are ready to be disappointed by “popular” Christian books.
I was not disappointed!
The writing is beautiful, the insights are fresh, and the storytelling, even about the author’s own life is wonderful. Talking or writing about yourself is fraught with all kinds of potential hazards, but Joy avoids them. She is the winsome, fellow-traveler you would like to have as a guide and friend.
I usually read (meaning careful highlighting and note-taking) 50-60 books a year. I peruse hundreds of others. Aggressively Happy will definitely make my favorite book list for 2022, but now I feel another category needs to be added: Books that pleasantly surprised me.
I would love to open a bookstore someday. Well, not quite. Since my own teaching and writing makes that impossible, I would love to be the person who picks what gets stocked. If and when that happens, you can be sure to find this book on the shelves.
How and How Not to be Happy brilliantly makes the case that happiness is found in a relationship with God. It makes the case incrementally by offering a number of alternatives to happiness and then showing their inadequacy. Since it slowly builds its case for the Christian faith, skeptics will be more likely to give the author the attention he deserves.