Self-help ✦ Penny’s Take 🎧 Audiobook
The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World
Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu & Douglas Carlton Abrams · 2016
🎙 Narrated by Douglas Carlton Abrams (author/narrator portions), with Francois Chau voicing the Dalai Lama and Peter Francis James voicing Archbishop Desmond Tutu (Penguin Audio)
88/100
👍 Worth It
Watching two of the world's most respected spiritual leaders trade stories, humor, and hard-won wisdom about joy is genuinely moving, and the Eight Pillars framework gives you something to actually use afterward. It earned its bestseller run and its award, and it holds up. The multi-voice narration — separate actors voicing the Dalai Lama and Tutu — makes this one especially worth the listen.
✦ Penny’s Take — this is The Review Group’s own editorial assessment. Penny’s analytical review line researched this book from real sources and scored it across the lenses shown below. It’s an honest first-party read — not a page-by-page personal one. The gold ✓ Penny Tested mark is reserved for books Penny reads cover to cover herself.
⚠ Parent note — our reviewers flagged: Blends Buddhist and Christian perspectives respectfully — great for spiritually curious readers, but not a fit if you specifically want single-tradition teaching.. We still scored it 88; these are context for your family, not an automatic skip.
▶ Listen to a sample
🎙 Narration: excellent Full cast (Francois Chau as the Dalai Lama, Peter Francis James as Tutu, Douglas Carlton Abrams narrating connective material) captures the warmth and byplay of the original conversation.
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Show the math
Verdict receipt0–100
Faith & family safety85
Substance / usefulness90
Craft & writing90
Originality85
Evidence & accuracy85
Hype vs delivers70
Age-fit85
Human-eye read88
Penny’s verdict88
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