Book Review: "Good Joy, Bad Joy" by Mikki Brammer

After reading Mikki Brammer’s wonderfully heartwarming book, I feel the need to give all of my friends hugs and tell them how important they are to me. So for those of you reading this review, consider yourself hugged and loved.

“Do we ever truly shed the lessons ingrained in us as kids or are they part of our beings forever? Is there still time for me to try out a different way of being in the world? I think I’d like to find out.”

Joy is 89 years old. Although she’s surprised at her longevity, and it’s been sad losing her husband and her friends, she still has a lot to live for. She loves her daughter Elizabeth and her grandson Finn, her young piano students, and her bountiful garden.

One of her biggest joys is her best friend Hazel. They’ve known each other since they were 8 years old, and while the paths they took in life were quite different, there is a fierce love between them. Hazel has always seemed larger than life, wearing brightly colored clothes and dyed red hair, and she has so much gusto for adventure.

But when Hazel tells Joy she has terminal cancer, Joy can’t fathom a world without her friend. And while she’s always done the right things in life, trying not to make any ripples, Joy is suddenly wanting to be different. She starts causing mischief, which leads to shoplifting, and suddenly she’s in the midst of a crime. While she loves the recklessness of “Bad Joy,” she knows this isn’t her real self.

I was both moved and amused by this book. Brammer did such a great job being true to her characters and keeping the story melodrama-free. (There were many places a lesser writer might have gone for big crises.) Joy is a memorable character, and I’m inspired to borrow some of her kindness for myself.

Book Review: "The Good Stranger" by Dete Meserve

Boy, we could all use a book like this right now!!

Kate Bradley is a television news reporter who has moved from LA to NYC for a gig at a national news channel. She has uprooted her life, and after a few days she’s not sure she made the right decision. She doesn’t feel at home in the city, and feels it’s harsh and cold.

One night after a massive blackout hits, Kate expects the story she’ll be covering is about the panic, the looting, the destruction that came afterward. But instead there seems to be a massive wave of generosity sweeping the city. Anonymous people are paying for strangers’ medical bills, sending gifts of clothing and food to homeless people, leaving gift cards on all cars in a parking lot, etc.

Who is behind this movement of good deeds? Is it a marketing gimmick for a company? Are people being set up? Kate teams up with a handsome program host to try and find the mysterious people responsible, chasing down every lead and leaving no stone unturned.

But someone doesn’t want Kate to find out the truth, and they send menacing letters and get closer and closer to her. As she deals with her own personal issues while trying to trace this path of kindness, she realizes that the connections it is fostering may be more important than the deeds themselves.

The Good Stranger was such a unique mystery—how often is someone trying to track someone down for doing something good? But beyond that, what a terrific concept this book was based on. In this chaotic time, we all could use some kindness, couldn’t we?

Although this is the third book featuring Kate Bradley, I didn’t feel as if I was missing anything having not read the previous books. But Dete Meserve did such a great job I’ll definitely go back and read the other two!!

I was honored to be part of the blog tour for this book. Thanks to Kate Rock Book Tours, Dete Meserve, and Lake Union Publishing for providing a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review!