199 reviews for:

Grace: President Obama and Ten Days in the Battle for America

Cody Keenan

4.55 AVERAGE

megangathof's review against another edition

4.0

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

sputman's review against another edition

5.0

emotional hopeful informative reflective fast-paced

thecaffeinatedbookworm's review against another edition

4.5

informative reflective medium-paced

lmf0906's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

codyboteler's review against another edition

4.25

challenging emotional funny inspiring fast-paced

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I guess it should not surprise me that Barack Obama’s speechwriter is a good writer. But this book was really quite good! Cody Keenan is reflective and honest, and at times earnest and funny. The book was insightful. As someone who calls himself a writer, I found Keenan’s reflections on writing all too relatable. His writing about Sandy Hook, Mother Emmanuel and his daughter Grace brought me close to tears on more than one page. 

sdelperdang's review against another edition

4.75

hopeful informative inspiring

bookish_brain1's review against another edition

4.0

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I used to think I would love to be a speechwriter, but after reading this book, I don't think my anxiety or my ego could even take it. Cody Keenan was Obama's chief speechwriter and he covers 10 days of events beginning on June 15 and culminating at the eulogy for Clementa Pinckney where Obama sang "Amazing Grace". Over these 10 days, ACA and marriage equality were on the SCOTUS docket and a young man full of hate walked into the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church and murdered nine people. It was an intense 10 days, and Keenan takes you on this journey with compassion, hope, and humor. The entire thesis of this book comes from Obama himself, "It was not a clash of armies, but a clash of wills; a contest to determine the meaning of America." There are so many quotable moments in this book. It was at the end of these 10 days that Obama took us all to "Black Church" where we learned what it means to be a part of Black Church, "our beating heart; the place where our dignity as a people is inviolate." Obama speaks my favorite line here, "by acknowledging the pain and loss of others, even as we respect the traditions and ways of life that make up this beloved country; by making the moral choice to change, we express God's grace."

suannelaqueur's review against another edition

4.0

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God, I miss him.

breelynstelle's review against another edition

4.5

hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

hudyrosenberg's review against another edition

5.0

challenging emotional informative inspiring fast-paced