Ten Fun Things to Do Before You Die

Karol Jackowski, a member of the Sisters of Christian Community, draws on her reserves of wry wisdom to produce recipes for happy living and offers some solid food for the mind.

The cover of Ten Fun Things to Do Before You Die says that its author is "nun other than" Karol Jackowski, which gives you a hint of the humor and humility that suffuses this sister's faith. (The cover's funky design, in the style of those old Monty Python animated interludes, is a tip-off too.) "Nothing exhilarates and sends the soul soaring more than having the best time ever--so much so that face muscles ache from such hearty laughter," she writes. "May you have millions of such laughs. Time rarely gets more divine than that." Each of the titular 10 things--from "Write Something at the End of Every Day" to "Think about Nuns" to "Live Like You Have Nothing Left to Lose"--is described in a short chapter, illustrated with very funny line drawings. Even people who can't stand self-help books may enjoy this one, because its voice is so delightfully free of sententiousness and so disarmingly candid. Ten Fun Things to Do Before You Die is a book that will challenge and comfort the reader, and serve as a reminder that we were created to enjoy the world--a message that will give many readers permission to do just that. --Michael Joseph Gross