Joyful, Anyway
Kate Bowler
The Dial Press, 304 pages
Published April 7, 2026
When my children were little, they loved to hear the story, “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt.” As we searched for imaginary bears, encountering obstacle after obstacle, we chanted the story’s refrain: “Can’t go over it. Can’t go under it. We have to go through it!”
This, I have come to believe, is life. It’s that easy — and that difficult. In a world that is simultaneously “so beautiful” and “so hard,” Bowler sees joy as “the belief that existence is good,” and makes the case for cultivating joy as we make our way through. The result is a series of tender meditations and laugh-out-loud essays, punctuated by Bowler’s research excursions as she seeks joy on a wellness retreat or during a lemur immersion.
Happily married, parenting an adorable toddler and on the fast path to tenure at Duke Divinity School, Bowler was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer at age 35. After numerous surgeries and innovative treatments, she was cured; 10 years later, she lives with chronic pain and fragile well-being. She’s shared this hard-won wisdom in best-selling books and in her popular podcast, “Everything Happens.” Joyful, Anyway tells the story of life in the new normal.
Related reading: “Reading recommendation: Prayers for imperfect days” by Rebecca Gresham
Bowler continues to tackle the tough stuff, handling with care the story of a parent’s struggle with depression or the memory of a callow doctor who fully saw her and eventually offered just what she needed. At times, she juxtaposes the ridiculous with the holy, as when a poisonous snakebite leads to a cathartic encounter with a nurse.
Connecting these narratives is what Bowler terms “the ache,” a low-grade yearning, or worse, languishing, that is simply part of being human, and this is where Joyful, Anyway digs deep. Bowler shows readers how to permit gratitude and the ache to meaningfully co-exist. Bowler is usually appropriately critical of the self-help industry; this time, she offers tangible ways to relieve the ache. Some are tongue-in-cheek (“Ways to (Almost) Guarantee Joy for No Reason”), while others draw on wisdom from Augustine, C.S. Lewis, and, of course, her son Zach. These are thoughtful resources, as well as a missed opportunity — where are the diverse contemporary voices Bowler features on her podcast? Joyful, Anyway would benefit from more perspectives of BIPOC writers, whose experiences might resonate with her broad readership.
Related reading: “Good Enough: 40ish Devotionals for a Life of Imperfection” reviewed by Amy Pagliarella
Yet this is what Bowler does best: she applies her unflinching church historian’s eye to academic and Christian voices, weaves in the vulnerability and humor of a best friend and draws rich conclusions that uplift without offering cheap fixes. She unabashedly loves Jesus but writes that he will not singlehandedly solve our “ache” — which is a conclusion that is oddly hopeful.
(Bowler) applies her unflinching church historian’s eye to academic and Christian voices, weaves in the vulnerability and humor of a best friend and draws rich conclusions that uplift without offering cheap fixes.
Sometimes, the only way out is through, and Bowler’s candor empowers her readers to find their own paths. “I believe in joy,” she earnestly declares. It is “…one of the most powerful ways we experience the deepest and most healing forms of gratitude, delights, and hope…joy is a glimmer of love and forgiveness and wholeness that lifts us out of reality for a moment and gives us back to ourselves, anew.” As she makes the case for joy, readers might find themselves determined to claim their own joy, not despite life’s messiness, but because of it.
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