Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.18 AVERAGE
4.18 AVERAGE
I thought this was such a sweet recount of a mothers journey with her daughter.
This book is gorgeous. I love Lisa's storytelling and reflection - I certainly found myself in her story.
I enjoyed reading Lisa Gungor's reflections as she deconstructs her faith and asks tough questions in the face of the life she is living and experiencing. She asks a lot of challenging questions about why God does as He does, why the world does as it does. Many of these questions simultaneously make good points about some of the ways we as humans treat each other. More people could stand to wrestle with these questions, and more could stand to admit that they do. As someone who works in the field of inclusion, I especially enjoyed her chapter on the 'measurements' we take of people and society.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Beautifully written memoir, with profound moments and hard ones and weird ones that you accept because you see the author so clearly. That's just one of the truths I felt throughout the book--what we can overcome if we just see each other. I related to the faith and to the doubt, but I'm not sure that mattered. The story of the author's journey is told so well, it's impossible not to understand it.
Expect to weep your way through this book. In the past year i have been emotionally clogged but this book brought me to tears every two pages. Lisa invites you into a honest journey that will guide you in asking questions about beauty, God, humanity, and will. A phenomenal read.
I knew my emotions were going to be in trouble pretty much right away.
This book starts with almost a nested set of framing narratives - one a letter of sorts written to Lisa Gungor's mom, an attempt to bridge the increasing gulf between their worldviews, and one a hospital story about the birth of Lisa's second daughter, which the reader is dropped into in medias res but gets more details about as the book unfolds. As both a fairly new dad and a leader in a progressive church (with all the hostility and blowback that entails, from family and strangers alike), both of these themes hit me right where I live.
This book is well written on both a micro and macro level. The non-sequential arrangement of the narrative and the way stories will be begun in one place but finished in another beautifully underlines the book's themes, how life is not a series of discrete events or a straight line occasionally interrupted by surprises but a messy, complicated blend that is all connected and all valid. The prose itself is also beautiful, which I shouldn't have been surprised by - Lisa is a first time author but a very accomplished songwriter and lyricist so it makes sense some of those skills would transfer. Her writing voice is conversational and unpretentious but there are sentences scattered abundantly throughout that are deeply poetic and would cause me to stop in my tracks while I read them again.
It's hard to characterize what has been created here because the book includes such a range of human experience. I've been an almost fanatical fan of Gungor (the band) for years but it wouldn't matter if you weren't - besides three or four glimpses into how events from her life came to inspire songs, it doesn't really talk about the band that much. The genre category printed above the book's ISBN code says Religion, and certainly Lisa's deconstruction from her fundamentalist upbringing into a more holistic and loving faith is a major current in the narrative, but this isn't a Rob Bell or Peter Enns book that's going to systematically tackle those ideas. I think the story of her daughter(s) is the beating heart of the thing, and definitely all of the chapters that made me cry were the ones I connected with as a parent.
What ties all of it together is a palpable grace and love - even in the chapters that are full of anger or despair or crushing fear. This is a really beautiful book that made me feel a lot of feelings.
This book starts with almost a nested set of framing narratives - one a letter of sorts written to Lisa Gungor's mom, an attempt to bridge the increasing gulf between their worldviews, and one a hospital story about the birth of Lisa's second daughter, which the reader is dropped into in medias res but gets more details about as the book unfolds. As both a fairly new dad and a leader in a progressive church (with all the hostility and blowback that entails, from family and strangers alike), both of these themes hit me right where I live.
This book is well written on both a micro and macro level. The non-sequential arrangement of the narrative and the way stories will be begun in one place but finished in another beautifully underlines the book's themes, how life is not a series of discrete events or a straight line occasionally interrupted by surprises but a messy, complicated blend that is all connected and all valid. The prose itself is also beautiful, which I shouldn't have been surprised by - Lisa is a first time author but a very accomplished songwriter and lyricist so it makes sense some of those skills would transfer. Her writing voice is conversational and unpretentious but there are sentences scattered abundantly throughout that are deeply poetic and would cause me to stop in my tracks while I read them again.
It's hard to characterize what has been created here because the book includes such a range of human experience. I've been an almost fanatical fan of Gungor (the band) for years but it wouldn't matter if you weren't - besides three or four glimpses into how events from her life came to inspire songs, it doesn't really talk about the band that much. The genre category printed above the book's ISBN code says Religion, and certainly Lisa's deconstruction from her fundamentalist upbringing into a more holistic and loving faith is a major current in the narrative, but this isn't a Rob Bell or Peter Enns book that's going to systematically tackle those ideas. I think the story of her daughter(s) is the beating heart of the thing, and definitely all of the chapters that made me cry were the ones I connected with as a parent.
What ties all of it together is a palpable grace and love - even in the chapters that are full of anger or despair or crushing fear. This is a really beautiful book that made me feel a lot of feelings.
I first learned of Lisa and Michael Gungor through a hit song of theirs (it was Beautiful Things sung during a Lenten service). The song gripped me, so I bought it and became a passholder to their One Wild Life project; I don't want to brag, but while I downloaded the first installment, I only realized now that I never followed up on the other downloads, only because they were bogged down in the mess that can be my inbox of unread messages. Lucky for me that I subscribe to music services that will let me still listen to the entirety of the album since the links have since expired.
I was a peripheral fan of Gungor, following news of upcoming projects (albeit my success of that was hit or miss, as seen above). I remember coming across Lisa's blog post about her daughter Lucie's birth, as well as noticing the uproar created when some statements by Michael went viral and were viewed outside of their full context.
When I learned Lisa Gungor had written a book, I was excited to get my hands on it. It begins with the birth of their second daughter Lucie and her diagnosis with Down Syndrome. Then there are flashbacks to Lisa's childhood, her college years, tensions with her home church and family, her deepening relationship with Michael.
The words can feel poetic, which I trace back to Lisa's songwriting roots. I'm not ashamed to admit I highlighted an indecent amount of this book. It is poignant, honest, and vulnerable, and we witness Lisa transparently share what happened when what she relied on fell away (their church, home, healthy family, career, faith).
I, personally, found myself close to tears because Lisa so genuinely captures grief and uncertainty that I was immediately transported to how raw the feelings were after we welcomed our first daughter Katherine quite prematurely, then had to say goodbye six short days later. Then there are the emotions surrounding my complicated relationship with my mother. Lisa's words were a balm and a reminder of lessons I have learned.
Many will be able to resonate and connect with wrestling over acceptance, belief, and individual significance and meaning in the world.
I was provided a digital advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I was a peripheral fan of Gungor, following news of upcoming projects (albeit my success of that was hit or miss, as seen above). I remember coming across Lisa's blog post about her daughter Lucie's birth, as well as noticing the uproar created when some statements by Michael went viral and were viewed outside of their full context.
When I learned Lisa Gungor had written a book, I was excited to get my hands on it. It begins with the birth of their second daughter Lucie and her diagnosis with Down Syndrome. Then there are flashbacks to Lisa's childhood, her college years, tensions with her home church and family, her deepening relationship with Michael.
The words can feel poetic, which I trace back to Lisa's songwriting roots. I'm not ashamed to admit I highlighted an indecent amount of this book. It is poignant, honest, and vulnerable, and we witness Lisa transparently share what happened when what she relied on fell away (their church, home, healthy family, career, faith).
I, personally, found myself close to tears because Lisa so genuinely captures grief and uncertainty that I was immediately transported to how raw the feelings were after we welcomed our first daughter Katherine quite prematurely, then had to say goodbye six short days later. Then there are the emotions surrounding my complicated relationship with my mother. Lisa's words were a balm and a reminder of lessons I have learned.
Many will be able to resonate and connect with wrestling over acceptance, belief, and individual significance and meaning in the world.
I was provided a digital advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I’m a fan of Gungor the band, but I wasn’t sure what I was getting with Lisa’s book, I was just excited to dive in. This is one of the most beautiful and honest accounts of complicated faith I’ve ever read.