Crazy Joy: Finding Wild Happiness in a World That's Upside Down by Mary Katherine Backstrom Book Review

In Crazy Joy, Mary Katherine Backstrom revealed the true meaning of happiness and how fleeting it is and how instead we can choose to follow joy. She explained in her book how she suffers from OCD, PTSD, ADHD, bipolar 2. She compared it to Pokémon cards and how you never know which one will you get. She went into detail about how one day she took on a politician over Twitter and he claimed to be a Christian. She tweeted to him how in 18 months she was running for office and going to take over his seat. It went viral and caused herself some backlash. Her business colleague called her in asking her about what direction her career was going to go. They were a faith-based publisher and they didn’t know she was going to go political. She also didn’t tell her husband and he wasn’t happy when he found out what she tweeted. A lot of stories in the book, she described it as a conversation with her therapist to relay the message. She explained how she was on a quest for happiness and the next toy that promises to provide with happiness. In the book, she wants to help readers to break through the cycle and to achieve crazy true joy. 

 

 

 

I would recommend this awesome book about happiness and discovering joy and contentment in our daily lives. I immensely loved her humor and how open she was in explaining that some days is feels like the different characters in Christopher Robin popular stories from Winnie the Pooh. I liked the story about Publix and the pecan pies and the trouble she went to at first to hid that she purchased one from there instead of making her own. I also enjoyed her sharing the story about D.A.R.E. and Scruff McGruff and how he discussed with kids in the 90’s about drugs, guns, and protecting yourself from strangers. She even described how she told on her father for drinking alcohol and mixed humor into the story. I also liked how she enclosed tour guide takeaways at the end of each chapter. 

 

 

 

"I received this book free from the publisher, Hachette Book Group/Faithwords for my honest review.”

 

 

 

 

If you would like to purchase a copy, check it out on Amazon.com:

 

 

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Crazy-Joy-Finding-Happiness-Upside/dp/154601554X

Holy Hot Mess: Finding God in the Details of this Weird and Wonderful Life By Mary Katherine Backstrom Book Review

In Holy Hot Mess, Mary Katherine Backstorm has written a brand-new book guiding readers into embracing their messy life and not pretending to have it all together. Mary starts the book by sharing a personal story about how she went out to lunch with a friend and her husband and how she admitted checked under the two car seats to see if they had crumbs under them. She thought her friend had the perfect life and this helped her to realize that no one is perfect and that everyone has crumbs under their seats. She opened up about how important it is to be open and honest with others and to be willing to share our struggles with others and connect with them on a deeper level. She explained how critical it is to be authentic even in our messy life. In the book, she also shared how she discovered that she had breast cancer and had to have a mastectomy at age 34. She revealed how she had to rely on her faith and unanswered prayers. She was eventually healed. She will also discuss her marriage and parenting and dealing with depression. 

 

 

One of my favorite stories was one she included was about her mother’s friend Beth. Beth was a cigarette smoking student and her mom was a cheerleader and they didn’t have a lot in common. But they remained friends and she even performed at her wedding. Beth also had a difficult life and lost her husband and released an album discussing the grief. One of the songs that helped her breakthrough from the heartache was one she wrote entitled, “Happy Girl”, which was later a top hit for Martina McBride. Beth also worked with Faith Hill, Willie Nelson, and Elton John. She explained how God is with us and He is there to help us heal. 

 

 

I would recommend this incredible book to anyone who is live a life freely and to embrace even the messy parts. I immensely loved the stories she shared in the book. She included a mixture of funny and heart gushing stories. I loved the story about the goat adventure and how she encouraged readers to find friends who are true friends. This story will have you laughing at how crazy it was. I also loved the story about the anniversary rat and how her husband got her that for her 1^st year of marriage. I appreciated how she shared this personal story and what it taught her about not letting our expectations of another person control us and to offer grace when needed and to realize that each person isn’t perfect. 

 

 

"I received this book free from the publisher, Hachette Book Group/Faithwords for my honest review.” 

 

 

 

If you would like to purchase a copy of Holy Hot Mess, check it out on Amazon.com:

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Holy-Hot-Mess-Finding-Wonderful/dp/1546015493