Anne Lamott is truly one of my heroes.

Her essays are not only inspiring but also deeply thoughtful, always managing to touch the core of my being.

I am extremely glad that she has the determination and discipline to keep her butt firmly in her writing chair, continuously churning out these wonderful pieces of work.

One particular incident that will stay with me for a very long time is her Sunday School lesson to the preschoolers about letting go of a fistful of markers.

This simple yet profound act of teaching the children about the importance of releasing and surrendering is a powerful metaphor for life.

It makes me realize that sometimes we need to let go of the things we hold tightly in order to make room for new possibilities and growth.

Anne Lamott's ability to convey such meaningful messages through her writing and her actions is truly remarkable and serves as a great source of inspiration for me.

I look forward to reading more of her work and learning from her wisdom in the future.

Just reading the other reviews of this book took me on an emotional roller coaster. Since I agreed with much of the praise as well as the criticism, you can imagine what reading the book did.

Anne Lamott is one of the most gifted writers I've known. She has a unique voice and an unusual blend of vivid intensity, self-deprecating humor, and raw honesty about her own neuroses and judgmental attitudes, swirled around with a "born again" faith and intense willingness to fight for most underdogs. I can't help but admit to a grudging admiration of this honesty - about herself and about others - at the same time that it often made me wince or cringe. She's complicated, and if we're honest with ourselves, so are we.

This book is a compilation of reflections on life, love, and faith. What Anne Lamott does best is allow you to view the world from her eyes and perspective and see ordinary things in different ways. Her power of observation is acute, and she brings you right into an experience or emotion with remarkable intensity. I confess that when I found myself the most offended by something she said, I had to admit that she often tore the scab off to expose raw flaws in myself that hide under the more socially acceptable exterior. We judge people like Anne Lamott at our peril, because we are all a mess, deep down, and her message of God's unconditional love is so, so important. God loves us, so we must learn to love ourselves. And then, of course, if we'll just get out of the way and let it happen, God's love pours through us to others. "Being human can be so dispiriting," she says. "It is a real stretch for me a lot of the time."

Here are some things that I highlighted from this book: "These are the words I want on my gravestone: that I was a helper, and that I danced." "A man at church once told me never to give the devil a ride. Because if he likes the ride, pretty soon he'll want to drive. It felt as if someone determined and famished had taken the wheel." "My pastor, Veronica, says that believing isn't the hard part; waiting on God is." "Sometimes I think that Jesus watches my neurotic struggles, and shakes his head, and grips his forehead and starts tossing back mojitos." "Joy is the best makeup. Joy, and good lighting. If you ask me, a little lipstick is a close runner-up." "Behold! It is an exhortation, not a whiny demand..." "...And I realized once again that we're punished not for our hatred, for not forgiving people, but by it." "...the great Helping Prayer, which goes: 'Helphelphelphelp. Helphelphelphelp." "But I have to believe that Jesus prefers honesty to anything else...I was saying, 'Here's who I am,' and that is where most improvement has to begin." "I realized just then that sin and grace are not opposites, but partners, like the genes in DNA, or the stages of childbirth."

So I finished this book with a lot of conflicting emotions and opinions, but I think Anne Lamott would understand my responsive prayer spoken by Dickens's character Tiny Tim from A Christmas Carol, "God bless us, every one!"

Now, THIS is precisely the sort of book that I would pen if I were ever to embark on the journey of becoming a writer. It is a treasure trove filled with both large and small truths, along with honest and profound interpretations of life.

Anne has a unique style of meandering through her passages at times, but she usually manages to find her way back to the point. One is willing to be patient for her message because she often interjects humor, which makes the reading experience all the more enjoyable.

She is such a cool author. I would absolutely love to have a conversation and share a lunch with her. She has an uncanny ability to tap into the everyday ordinary and yet possess an eye for the profound.

Anyway, I absolutely loved the book. It has left me so enthused that I find myself with a burning desire to start writing again. Currently, I am either holding a pen in my hand or have my fingers ready on the keypad.

A favorite quote from the book (and there are many wonderful ones) is: "That's me, trying to make any progress at all with family, in work, relationships, self-image: scootch, scootch, stall; scootch, stall, catastrophic reversal; bog, bog, scootch. I wish grace and healing were more abracadabra kinds of things; also, that delicate silver bells would ring to announce grace's arrival. But no, it's clog and slog and scootch, on the floor, in silence, in the dark. I suppose that if you were snatched out of the mess, you'd miss the lesson; the lesson is the slog." This quote truly encapsulates the essence of the author's writing and the profound insights she offers.

Anne Lamott's non-fiction is, if nothing else, brutally and at times hysterically honest.

This book consists of a series of personal essays centered around the topic of grace. She explores how she discovers grace in the world, often in the most unexpected moments, especially when she is behaving in a less-than-graceful manner. This is where the brutal honesty shines through, making it easy for readers to relate to many of her accounts as we all have our own less-than-stellar, even bitchy moments.

A major theme in this book is that it is precisely during those particular, less-than-personally-stellar and sometimes downright awful moments that something "grace-full" occurs. Hopefully, at such times, we can overcome our own self-centeredness long enough to notice.

The downside of all these personal moments is that the book sometimes suffers from "TMI" and a rather navel-gazing self-absorption. However, if you can look beyond that, Ms. Lamott has a great deal to say that is worthy about faith, God, love, church communities, and personal relationships. Her insights are presented in a self-absorbed, California hippie kind of way.

I actually read this book in unabridged audio form, narrated by the author herself. This was a great choice for this particular book as she was able to convey the exact voice inflections and nuances that she intended when she wrote the essays. While she may not be a professional narrator by any means, it works extremely well for this book, adding an extra layer of authenticity and charm.

Well, this particular work has received quite a number of good reviews. However, to be honest, I have to say that I find it rather confusing and disorganized.

Each chapter seems to be its own independent short story, lacking a strong sense of cohesion. It makes it difficult for the reader to follow a continuous thread or narrative.

I didn't manage to finish reading it completely. Instead, I simply scanned the end to see if it managed to wrap up all the loose ends.

Unfortunately, from what I could gather, the ending didn't really provide a satisfying conclusion. It left me with a sense of dissatisfaction and a feeling that the overall work could have been much better if it had been more tightly structured and better organized.

Perhaps others may have a different perspective, but for me, this work fell short of my expectations despite its positive reviews.

Oh, the way Anne Lamotte writes truly makes her readers feel like absolute blithering idiots.

We, her most ardent admirers, find ourselves sitting at the very foot of the master. As she pens her thoughts in her characteristic lyrical style, which is also marked by a straight-to-the-vein honesty, she delves deep into the various aspects of life.

Nothing in life is spared from her scrutiny: abortion, assisted suicide, the arduous task of reconciling one's childhood and relationship with now deceased parents, the challenges of mothering, and yes, even the Bush administration.

I can clearly see why some reviewers, perhaps expecting Anne to be espousing the religious right's views, would end up feeling disappointed.

But this is precisely the reason why "Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith" spoke to me so directly.

After spending a particularly difficult year in a religiously right school, my very first experience in a private school, Anne seemed to have known just the right words to soothe and assuage all of my complex feelings.

Certainly, I lack the colossal word muscles that she so effortlessly wields. But hopefully, this simple expression will suffice: thank you, Anne. Your work is beautiful, perfect, and exactly the book I needed at this exact moment in my life.

I probably made a wrong choice when I picked this book for my first Lamott read. I truly desired to like it, especially considering that I have numerous friends who are in love with her writing and wisdom and highly recommend it. I almost gave up after reading the essay about working with disabled children due to some of the ableist tropes and language she employs (and continues to use throughout the book).

I did like the section on Samwheel and parenting, and there were a few scattered nuggets of wisdom interwoven here and there. However, this collection fails to come together as a cohesive whole. If it weren't for the title, I wouldn't have left with the impression that the theme had anything to do with grace or faith. I concur with other reviewers that Lamott should not narrate her own work. I do admire the honesty in her writing, and perhaps I will give another Lamott book a try at some point. But for me, this one was a disappointment.

I just became aware that there was a new Anne Lamott book that I hadn't read yet. It was old enough to be out in paperback. So, I picked it up at the beach and read it in an afternoon/evening, finishing at midnight.

I truly love Anne Lamott. I suppose I'm willing to be more forgiving of this book, just as you overlook the faults of a family member because they're usually a lot of fun to be with. Anne Lamott is usually someone who keeps me in stitches, but this time I think I only managed a few quiet chuckles.

She is quieter in this book, yes. And more than that, she re-tells things she's told before, but in a re-inventing kind of way. It's like she's looking at events through the lens of maturity and re-interpreting them. I found that interesting and worth a direct comparison of the two different versions.

So, I enjoyed this book, but don't read it as your first Anne Lamott book. Go for one of her classics that'll keep you laughing and coming back for more. This way, you can fully appreciate her unique writing style and humor before delving into this particular work.

In her new essay collection, Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith, Anne Lamott continues her spiritual journey chronicles. She's still the same old Anne Lamott, with humor and endearing crabbiness leavening her pieties. She writes about her experiences like falling from a ski lift and being helped by the ski patrol. Her faith helps her through life's little bumps and big blows. There is some repetitiveness in subject matter, but it suits her topic. Her "laundry" includes regretting an unkind e-mail, teaching Sunday school, and more. The book also has more serious topics like assisting a terminally ill friend with suicide. It's less political than her previous book. One of the highlights is the essay about her teenage son Sam. She struggles with his moodiness and laziness. She slaps his face and then regrets it. She confides in her priest friend and prays for forgiveness. Grace doesn't feel like her last word on faith. Her fans will forgive her if she tells the same stories again. The book is 272 pages and costs $24.95. It gets a grade of B.

The terrible teens is not just about Lamott's son Sam. She comments on her friends' teenage children too. They are mouthy, don't care about school, and drive recklessly. Lamott has written six novels, but her nonfiction work is most revered. We recommend Operating Instructions and Bird by Bird for those looking for more from the author.

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I'd probably give it a 3.5. I really liked it. There were indeed some truly lovely bits scattered throughout the text. It had its charm and moments that caught my attention. However, it just wasn't as razor sharp as other writing I've read of hers. Her other works seemed to have a certain edge, a precision in the language and a depth in the ideas that this piece perhaps lacked. It was still a good read, but it didn't quite reach the same level of excellence as some of her previous writings. I found myself enjoying it while also being aware that it could have been even better if it had that extra sharpness that I've come to expect from her.

“We are here with only love for you, Annie.” This simple yet profound statement sets the tone for the beautiful and raw writing of Anne Lamott.

Ugh, Anne Lamott writes with such brutal honesty and transparency that it never feels like a gimmick. She is truly aware of the entirety of who she is, including the good, the bad, the really ugly and shameful, and the REAL. Her writing inspires me to be more true to myself, to admit when I don't have it all together, and to have more open conversations with my friends about life.

Multiple essays in her work really got to me. There were times when I had to stop, pause, and come back to it later because it touched me so deeply and made me think and feel. She manages to consistently wow me with her words. I'll read anything she puts out, sis!!!!

I have a great affection for the way Anne Lamott writes.

She has this remarkable ability to be engaged in writing about a matter that is of utmost seriousness, such as the urgent need for a more extensive ecological revolution.

And then, out of the blue, she will insert a sentence like, "Bananas are great, as they are the only known cure for existential dread."

It's this combination of the profound and the seemingly absurd that makes her writing so captivating.

It keeps the reader on their toes, constantly surprised and entertained.

Her work is a unique blend of thought-provoking ideas and light-hearted humor, making it a joy to read and explore.

Whether she is delving into the depths of serious issues or making a witty observation, Anne Lamott always manages to hold our attention and make us think.