Reviews

Small Victories: Spotting Improbable Moments of Grace by Anne Lamott

wanderingmole's review against another edition

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4.0

*3.5 stars, listened to the audio

laellede's review

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4.0

It's Anne Lamott, what's not to like?! Good vacation read.

freckleduck's review

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2.0

To be honest I think this book was fine just not for me. I didn’t connect with the author as I previously have and it was read by the author which I didn’t enjoy. It just wasn’t for me.

sparklethenpop's review against another edition

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4.0

This was a nice collection of essays. It had her usual insights and humor. The essays about the anxiety of the GW Bush years were timely too to remind me that we've gotten through anxious times before.

susan_ok's review

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5.0

Anne Lamott is my spirit animal. I love her so much. Her work is spiritually uplifting and makes personal change seem possible.

jenniferstringer's review

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4.0

I always enjoy Anne Lamott's voice, even I don't always fully get her spiritual vision. There is enough snark to keep the eternal truths from sounding saccharin, while at the same time she's not afraid to confront the pithy, more modern truisms "spiritual not religious" and "forgiveness begins with forgiving yourself" as true but also great excuses to let yourself off the hook for any real accountability. I haven't struggled with hate to the same degree as she has (but apathy can sneak in there - which is a near cousin, I think) and I don't have all the parental baggage - but finding the willingness to forgive is something I can relate to and she offers heaps of great counsel in that regard. Words of wisdom like "hate is holding onto a burning hot coal, forgiveness is letting it go" or "forgiving is like opening a prison door for someone and discovering you were the prisoner" may be true and all, but don't enable the ability to forgive. That takes grace. The willingness to say enough already. That's a paradigm shift that defies logic and takes you into another realm.

It's true that if you've read Lamott before, you will recognize ideas from other books; the distinction being that she points out the moments of grace and how that makes all the difference.

nikkislix's review against another edition

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5.0

Oh. So that’s why everyone loves Anne Lamott. [gets all of her other books]

nora_sm's review

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emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

hatrireads's review

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4.0

I'd already read many of the essays in this book elsewhere, but I loved re-reading them. I own all of Anne's books and go back to her wise, quirky, honest words about life often.

schray32's review

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4.0

I always feel like an Anne Lamott book is the sermon that you need to hear. I love her!