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Joe Nuthin’s Guide to Life–not a mean bone in his body
Joe Nuthin’s Guide to Life
by Helen Fisher
Joe Nuthin’s Guide to Life is the story of a neurodiverse young man whose mother’s goal is to support him into being a happy person able to live independently and hold down a job. He is a man of routines and anything that deviates from that routine or is out of place makes Joe very uncomfortable. Joe has a job at a grocery store called The Compass where his favorite activities are to stack items for display and to return mislaid items to where they belong. His mother is writing a book, a manual, for him in case he gets confused or forgets how to do something. He is quite literate, reading and retaining so many facts, but he can’t make the connections necessary for functioning easily in settings with other people. He has an understanding boss Hugo. Joe’s friend Chloe is a foul-mouthed co-worker who is not afraid to stand up to “Mean Charlie” who bullies Joe unmercifully.
The first part of Joe Nuthin’s Guide to Life is well-written, and I really cared about Joe and the other characters. There is a major event which happens in Joe’s life (spoiler if I included it) after which the book went downhill for me. The plot and the characters became more negative. Joe’s life goal is to prove his mom right that he “doesn’t have a mean bone in his body.” While that is a positive attribute, because Joe doesn’t understand anything that is not literal or is nuanced, he unintentionally causes a lot of physical pain in a relational situation. The reader has to cringe and inwardly say, “No, Joe! Stop!” several times.
Joe’s mother has beautiful handwriting. In this book the author quotes from the manual when Joe reads passages in it. This style and format (italics in place of cursive) are effective ways to demonstrate the difficulties faced by neurodivergent children and adults and how Joe’s mom clearly tries to address all of his present and future concerns. People who are neurodivergent are open to bullying, and their parents face huge challenges in preparing them for life as adults, especially after the parents have died.
Rating: 3/5
Category: Literary Fiction, Fiction, Women’s Fiction
Notes: 1. I am probably in the minority in not loving this book. I really liked the character of Joe, and I understood the author’s portrayal of him. I even both sympathized and empathized with Joe, but the negative events were too strong and outweighed the positives for me.
2. There was a lot of inappropriate language from Chloe who is actually one of my favorite characters because she is someone Joe can rely on and she has no agenda. Even Joe didn’t like her swearing; he made a box for her to put money in when she swore.
3. One of Joe’s favorite things to do with and without his mom was to watch episodes of the TV show “Friends.” It was part of his routine and relaxed him. I just don’t think that show has good role models and would have too many jokes and situations that Joe would not understand.
4. A minor detail: the author used a mask in a scene and the usage was OK in terms of the plot. Joe understandably doesn’t like masks because he can’t tell what expression the person has and match it up with the expressions he has learned from a chart. The mask in this case was worn by an insensitive bully and was the face of an American president. My problem with this scene is that the author slipped in a slur about the president. It was not funny and it did not further the plot in any way. It was clearly politically motivated and unnecessary, and I would not have appreciated it regardless of which president was depicted.
5. The book includes “Topics and Questions for Discussion” and a section of activities to “Enhance Your Book Club.” Both of these were well done.
Publication: May 28,2024—Gallery Books (Simon and Schuster)
Memorable Lines:
Making sure that her son had a secure job with a nice manager somewhere that was walking distance from home was one of the most important things on Janet’s list to help Joe-Nathan prepare for independent life.
Janet knew that assumptions were lazy; a simple way of filling in the blanks when there wasn’t enough information Assumptions were a way of connecting the dots to give you a picture that worked, but not necessarily the right picture. Not necessarily the truth.
He wished it was Monday morning so he could go to work and feel completely comfortable knowing how he fitted into the world.
Sit, Stay, Heal: What Dogs Can Teach Us About Living Well
Sit, Stay, Heal
by Dr. Renee Alsarraf
Dr. Alsarraf is a veterinary oncologist. Her training and profession put her in the odd position of knowing way more than most people about cancer in both animals and people. Even as she works with cancer patients and their pet parents every day, she is shocked when she is diagnosed with what she calls “the C word.”
Dr. Alsarraf’s story is quite properly told in the first person. She shares the struggles of some of her patients and compares them with her own battles. Because animals live in a present mindset, they don’t have a fear of the tomorrows of cancer. They have fewer side effects from treatments. For example, they don’t lose their fur. There are many similarities, however, in the unknown outcomes of treatments and the unpredictability of cancer.
I thought this might be a very dark book, but it isn’t. It is inspiring to watch Dr. Alsarraf and her team of assistants work diligently and with care and respect as they treat their patients. Dr. Alsarraf takes time to explain everything to the pet’s human parents and to answer their questions. She never hurries them or makes them feel guilty about their decisions assuring them that there are no right or wrong answers in treatment choice.
There is another situation in this dedicated vet’s life that doubles the emotional impact, but to share it would be a spoiler. I found tears streaming down my face and had to wait a day to finish the book. Sit, Stay, Heal is very well written. The Introduction sets up the reader to journey with the author through her personal battle and shares her philosophies about cancer, pets, and fighting back. Each of the ten chapters that follow focuses on the story of a pet patient, the pet’s family, and her interaction with them all the while enduring her own health struggles. Sit, Stay, Heal is a heart felt book with more smiles than tears for a dog owner.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Memoir, Nonfiction
Publication: October 18, 2022—Harper One
Memorable Lines:
All cats and dogs live in the moment, carefree. They do not waste the present, worried about what might happen in the future. Or how much longer they have to live.
Before the C word, I’d always thought that life was so under my control, and yet the disease has helped me realize that I was never in control of the really big things, or even the medium things.
It’s never easy to say goodbye to a loved one. Through good days and bad, our pets provide such unconditional love, support, and companionship. They’re with us for fun times, and also are there to snuggle with when the outside world seems too harsh.
Seeing Beautiful Again–encouragement
Seeing Beautiful Again
by Lysa TerKeurst
Are you going through a hard time, something that is devastating and you have no control over? Do you wonder if you’ll ever “see beautiful” again? Lysa TerKeurst experienced three of those, two physical and one relational, in a short period of time. She has written several books that describe her journey. In Seeing Beautiful Again, she has drawn from her experiences and writings to compose a devotional book to guide readers through fifty days of their struggle. The goal is to give hope and demonstrate that by clinging to God’s promises, readers can stay the course and trust God.
Seeing Beautiful Again is divided into sections and each section begins with a letter to the reader from author Lysa TerKeurst. Each devotional begins with Scripture and ends with a prayer. In between Lysa shares her thoughts on the topic. These passages sometimes include parts of her personal story and always draw the reader to God’s truth which can be applied to a personal situation.
TerKeurst’s other books like Forgiving What You Can’t Forget examine in depth our response to hurts. This devotional is a daily dose of encouragement to fight the good fight and to remember God’s love and His promises in the middle of the trauma.
I would like to extend my thanks to Edelweiss and to HarperCollins Christian Publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 4/5
Category: Religion, Christian Life, Women’s Issues
Notes: Devotional
Publication: March 30, 2021—Harper Collins Christian Publishers
Memorable Lines:
Their victory never hinged on their ability or any of their well-thought-out plans. It was solely dependent on their unwavering obedience offered to a loving and mighty God.
My job is to be obedient to God. God’s job is everything else.
Father God, thank You for reminding me I can trust You in the waiting. I know I can entrust every season of my life into Your hands. Thank You for being present in every moment, strengthening me in the places that I feel inadequate to keep going. When I feel uncertain about what’s ahead, remind me of who You are. I know it will get me through. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Thread on Arrival–helping the helpless
Thread on Arrival
by Lea Wait
I’m so happy to have read Thread on Arrival, the latest in the Mainely Needlepoint Series, by Lea Wait. Angie Curtis, with some private investigator training in Arizona, has returned to Maine to run the Mainely Needlepoint group formerly run by her grandmother who raised her. She finds herself involved in several simultaneous investigations in this mystery, but they all spring from a runaway boy, Leo, who is in a panic because the homeless man who has taken him under his wing has been brutally murdered. To prove Leo did not murder his friend, Angie must find the real killer and suspects abound. I did guess the murderer before the end of the book, but I still have trouble understanding how anyone could be so cruel. If you like watching how investigative clues are put together, you’ll enjoy this book.
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Kensington Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: #8 in the Mainely Needlepoint Series
Publication: April 30, 2019—Kensington Books
Memorable Lines:
As long as men and women made a living from the waters, mourning and remembering would continue, and names would continue to be carved on the monument.
Being a teenager was never easy. But it was much harder when you weren’t like everyone else in your town or school.
The Ministry of Ordinary Places: Waking Up to God’s Goodness Around You
The Ministry of Ordinary Places: Waking Up to God’s Goodness Around You
by Shannan Martin
Where is a Christian’s mission field? You know, the ordinary person who has not been called to go to another country? Shannan Martin in The Ministry of Ordinary Places says it is wherever God has placed you. She doesn’t advocate passing out pamphlets, cornering people, or pushing invitations to come to church. Instead, we are to love people, listen to them, invite them into our homes, be available to them and to the opportunities to help them as God presents them to us.
As a rural introvert, Martin has had to change a lot in opening her heart, time, and home to her neighbors in a multicultural setting. She had to “choose the comfort of the past or the struggle of moving forward.” She learned that hospitality is not perfection in entertainment; it is extending invitations willy nilly, throwing together some tacos, and letting God take it from there. She has learned to receive kindness from others, understanding the cost of that kindness from someone who is down and out.
Martin’s story is engaging, and her writing style is excellent from the humorous “Go with God, good middle school bus driver. You are a rose among loud, hormonal, Hot-Cheetos-for-breakfast-eating, lanyard-flipping thorns” to sharp edged descriptions such as “She has known the desolate landscape of struggle. Hunger and wanting blow through her life like gale-force winds through a thin cotton jacket.” There is magic for the reader in words like these.
Martin does not believe in pushing Jesus down anyone’s throat; she makes her own heart accessible and invites others into her life where they not only see, but feel, the impact of Jesus on individual lives.
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Thomas Nelson for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Christian
Publication: October 9, 2018—Thomas Nelson
Memorable Lines:
Only as we engage in the hidden practice of listening do we learn about the struggles of others, gaining empathy where we one cast judgement.
It’s so easy to tip into judgment when we view the world through an us-them dichotomy. Sitting face-to-face, the problems loom larger and we have to contend with the sticky fact that there is simply always more to the story.
…we are all longing to be part of something bigger than ourselves. Sometimes we get so hung up on doing something great, we forget the best thing is often the smallest.
education pathways 