We Can Do Hard Things; Answers to Life’s 20 Questions

We Can Do Hard Things podcasters Glennon Doyle (Love Warrior), her wife Abby (Forward), and her sister Amanda present an insightful if haphazard “personal survival guide.” As each of the authors floundered in the wake of a crisis—Glennon and Amanda had been diagnosed with anorexia and breast cancer, respectively, while Abby was mourning her brother’s death—they searched for answers to some of life’s most fundamental questions. Interspersing other writers’ and thinkers’ wisdom with their own, they tackle such questions as “why am I like this” (societal pressures, desires to please parents, and intergenerational trauma can shape people in limiting ways); how to know if one has “lost themselves” (signs include burying feelings and viewing life as a giant to-do list); and how to “return to” oneself by allowing for a wide spectrum of emotions—including freely crying and laughing—or making time for “mini-feeling sessions.” There’s plenty of wisdom to be found from podcast guests like Ketanji Brown Jackson, Roxane Gay, and Gloria Steinem, but the patchwork structure leads to repetition of concepts and takeaways. Still, the authors’ fans will get what they came for. (May)