Grace For Amateurs by Lily Burana

I was so excited to read this book. It honestly checked a lot of my  interests: mental health, people in fringe communities, faith. . . this should have been a no-brainer must read for me. That said, Grace for Amateurs holds  the  place as the only book in 2017 I did not finish despite my best efforts and I do not see that changing in the near future.

Let me say, I love memoirs. I love the strength people show in allowing us to come alongside and peek into their stories. I also  enjoy books that make me think and grow by presenting information to be processed and tested. Grace for Amateurs, though a memoir by genre, felt more like an agenda wrapped in a story. Rather than entering into a dialogue of sorts with the author, as I plowed  through the pages I felt sure I'd be reprimanded for having a question or ideal  that is more in line with my more cautious fact gathering over the author's seemingly passionate left leaning ideology.

Now admittedly this may change in the second half of the book but I had hit the point where I dreaded picking up this book.

 I am, most likely, not the author's target audience. Again, while this  is a personal memoir the material came across as attempting to be informative but  without the non-bias or at least bias aware tone I prefer in my reading. Because of this lack of tone awareness the material felt confrontational at times,  angry at others. The material is definitely more focused on Burana's emotional skepticism in the sections I read than on her experiences,  which helped support her  position  without  needing to acknowledge her personal biases

I know others have enjoyed Burana's work and this was my first introduction to her  writing, that said I doubt I'll be back again.

2 out of 5 stars

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers <http://booklookbloggers.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.