“What was your childhood like? You never talk about it.” Brad asked his grandmother to tell him about her life….how many of us wish we had someone to listen to us or that we had asked questions before loved ones died? With the astonishing beauty of the sixty-three national parks containing all the flowers and plants and wild creatures, readers will sit in the back seat and hear all the joys and tumult of this family’s life. The author and grandson Brad Ryan is a veterinarian who lives with the agony of his solitary life and the pain he carries from his childhood. Grandma Joy is not a woman who shares feelings and loves, but in her 90 years has experienced many of life’s tragedies. Reading this book forces readers to see all the resplendence and majesty of the parks while trodding up countless steps for viewing and sleeping and snoring on an air mattress in a tent. All will long remember the journeys of Brad and Grandma Joy and think about completing them with a 90-year-old relative. It is quite the adventure.
Grandma Joy and Me by Brad Ryan, (List Price: $29, Simon & Schuster, 9781668099261, June 2026)
Reviewed by Nancy, Bookmiser in Marietta, GA