Welcome to Litsy!

This was a light pick for me. I found myself wishing that McCannon had just written a straightforward memoir because this book trying to be two things at once meant neither aspect was totally satisfying. The interviews with other exevangelicals felt less in depth than I would have liked and the book never seemed to delve into Information I didn‘t already know. It was still interesting and thoughtful and j am glad I listened to it.

Blue and green on this book making it somewhat multicolored.

#CoverLove
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
@Eggs

“Dr. M told me her time in those evangelical classrooms included many similar moments: 'I wondered, if Christianity doesn't produce better moral beings, what good is it?'“

A soft pick. Very interesting topic, a bit pedestrian in the execution. Not boring, just... left me wanting writing worthy of the power of the subject.

I did particularly like this quote, as mortality has been on my mind a lot lately.

This was an insightful look to what happens when people leave the White Evangelical faith. The author describes her own experiences and interviews other ExVangelicals.

I really liked this. It provided a lot of information in a balanced way (good ratio of life experiences and stats)

The information about the church‘s support of Trump was 🤬

Listened to the audiobook, illuminating and disturbing.

Several memoirs published recently deal with this same theme: people (often millennials) leaving evangelical communities after realizing the harmful impact the church has had on diverse groups and the strict nature of the teachings. Additionally, the way evangelicals have embraced Trump has been a shakeup for many. The author herself has left the evangelical community which has caused some strain on her familial connection, as is often the case.

The writing could have been better but it is important that the damage caused by evangelicalism is being exposed.

This was fantastic! McCammon is an exvangelical herself and shares stories from her childhood and young adult experiences as well as her deconstruction journey. She also talks to many other GenX and Millennial folks about their journey of leaving the evangelical church. She paints a very comprehensive picture of this phenomenon and how it‘s reshaping America. A true must listen! 5⭐️

I‘ve read three journalist-who-grew-up-Evangelical nonfiction titles in the past six months, but this is the first by a woman (yay, finally!). I enjoyed it and think the subtitle “Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church” fits well, because this book considers all of those things in relatively few pages and therefore doesn‘t have space to dig super deeply into any (and this may just stand out to me more because I do ⬇️

Here‘s my review for a book I just DNF‘d. I‘m going to count this book for #bookspinbingo as a DNF.

Release date: 3/19/24

#netgalleyarc #netgalley #hailthebail

I started this book because it‘s one of my Netgalley ARCs that I have to read. This is supposed to be a memoir by the author about her experience with the evangelical church and why she left. So far, there are some parts that read like a memoir but then other parts read like an NPR news article which makes sense that it reads like that because she‘s an NPR journalist but I was expecting more of a memoir. I‘m disappointed.

I was approved for the audiobook of The Exvangelicals from Macmillan Audio. I got the audiobook from the Macmillan Audio Influencer Program through my Google Books app and I got it on Netgalley after I requested it. I was already approved for the ebook from St. Martin‘s Press. This book is coming out in March. It‘s a memoir. I‘ll read it faster if I have an audiobook for it. I also like to listen to nonfiction instead of reading it on my own.

While McCammon, an NPR correspondent and former evangelical, weaves her own story in, she takes a journalistic approach here, making it ideal for more recent exvangelicals or Christians wanting to understand the exvangelicals leaving their churches. Having deconstructed a decade ago and now on #exvangelical TikTok, not much was news to me, but I appreciate how this book validates and reports on this movement, its roots, trials, and grievances.

I have another book to review on Netgalley from St. Martin‘s Press. It‘s coming out March 2024 but I‘m going to wait before I review it. I have plenty of time to review it. I forgot that I requested this book.