Customer Reviews

Awkward Grace

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is one of the best I've read in years. It is a story about some disturbing realities of survival in Africa; about good and loving people in Tennessee; about Christian acceptance in a world long on talk and short on do. If your heart was ever in need of warming, this is for you.

I loved this book. It's a heart-warming story with likeable characters who span two very different cultures. The author's verbal images are imaginative and vivid. Well done!

AWKWARD GRACE by our own Jeff McCord....is really a wonderful, thoughtful, funny, loving book...
It even has a bit of ROMANCE in it. (for the other romance readers in the group)
For those familiar with Mt. Carmel & Kingsport, one will feel right at home with the locale...Fairacres neighborhood, Pals sweet tea & all!
Most of the people in the book are folks you will want to know very well...and the ones you don't like are not in the book too much.
It is beautifully written. It is an incredibly good book for a debut novel.
It is a book of faith and faithfulness, in all its best manifestations.
It is a book of failures and the transformations from forgiveness...or the losses from being unable or unwilling to forgive.
It is a book about life and death and life-because-of-death and life-beyond-death.
Religious faith is an important part of the story....Faith motivates Ben (the main character) to do the right thing(s)....which often leads him to stand in up against "religious" authority.
But the faith is more than just a "faith in Jesus"...it is a faith in doing the right thing...Mevin's father trying to save his family from the Tutsi or Hutu (I cannot remember which) "freedom fighters". The sacrifices he makes. The lessons Mevin & Claude learn from those sacrifices. The lessons they will pass on to others...faithfulness in action.
It has excellent examples of "religion" used to justify actions, or the lack there of.
One of my favorite phases is about Pastor Lumpkin(s) as a man that makes his living from God, rather than living for God.
The 2 books it reminds me the most of: _Poisonwood Bible_ and _To Kill a Mockingbird_....yet it is not like either.
One way to think about reading this book: Your neighbor's child is in some school performance. You go because you know (& like) them & want to be neighborly. Once there, you actually enjoy the show...a lot.
AWKWARD GRACE has definitely earned a place on the Keepers Shelf at my house...More importantly, it has earned a place on the re-read shelf.
Before I make a trip to visit my mom, I'll need to purchase a 2nd copy to pass around to my NC relatives & friends.

I really enjoyed the book about ordinary people rising to meet extraordinary challenges in everyday life. The book is an easy read of people reaching out across cultures and how God can stretch us in ways we never imagined.

You cannot read this book and not be touched by it. It is written in a disarming, humorous style that draws you into the characters' lives. You'll learn a bit about two vastly different cultures...the turmoil of Burundi and the charm of rural Appalachia. You'll laugh and cry, and won't be sorry you picked it up. Highly recommended.