[REVIEW] Once Upon A Farm

I’m back to review Once Upon A Farm by Rory Feek. I finished his debut book, This Life I Live, last month and I feel like I can’t properly review this second one without talking about his first book as well.

For starters, I do believe that Once Upon A Farm can absolutely stand on its own. Although, it doesn’t flow in chronological order. It’s more like a collection of stories in loose order.

His first book mainly focuses on Rory’s upbringing and the stories that led him to Joey. It also covers the parts of his life that affected their relationship and how they grew and changed over the course of their marriage. In addition, it covers in detail her struggle and ultimate loss of life because of cervical cancer. It’s worth a read too!

Once Upon a Farm

The first book shares how he bought the farm they ultimately worked and lived on together but his second book goes into more detail about how much the farm means to them and how it, too, has changed over the years and continues to do so. Rory is 53 years old but I continue to be amazed at just how much life he has lived in that time. He seems to have an endless supply of amazing stories and life lessons to be shared. It’s hard to fathom how much they accomplished together in such a seemingly short period of time. They had their own TV show, music career, farm, restaurant, recording studio, concerts, onsite church, schoolhouse, and more!

Admittedly, I didn’t know much about this couple before I saw Facebook explode with support for them while Joey was battling cancer. After reading Rory’s latest book, Once Upon a Farm, it sent me on an internet hunt to learn more about them and the rest of their family. The way he describes Joey is so beautiful that it almost makes her seem fictitious. Surely, no one is that genuine and loving and kindhearted. He describes their love for each other so deeply that it’s kind of hard to believe. Surely, this is overstated and overrated. Alas, after watching a couple of episodes of The Joey+Rory Show, I think they are the real deal.

His books have a way of incorporating their faith in a natural and inspiring way. His approach to life and family is pretty simple and attractive. Overall, this book was easy and enjoyable to read. Each chapter can read like it’s own short story but there is always a takeaway lesson to be discovered.

So while, yes, I’m a little late to this fan club, I can’t wait to see what Rory Feek does next. In the meantime, I’m going to rent the documentary style movie he made To Joey, With Love.