This was a nice discussion on unity and how our experiences and environment shape our perceptions. I did not agree one hundred percent with everything the author had to say, but it was still informative and had a balanced message, as well as a positive perspective.

"We're all from someplace, and that someplace shapes us before we are aware of it." This and other powerful moments means that "Not From Around Here" is a book that is different than many personal memoirs. While I am not sure the author meant for it to be a memoir, due to the lack of other people's experiences and opinions, it seemed as though that's what it was.

You do learn a lot about how our quest for unity and diversity are things that are difficult, no matter where you live--but it does matter where you're from, according to O'Brien. Having lived in different places throughout his life, the author gives the reader his experiences from living in community in those multiple areas--from TN to IL to Manhattan, there are some very unique stories included in the book.

Interesting read. Thanks to #NetGalley I was an early reader. All opinions are my own and I was not required to leave a review.

O'Brien wrote this book to help people who claim to find their identity in Christ relate to one another, even if they are radically divided in their political, moral, racial, or other viewpoints.

He does this by telling his own story which is the majority of the book. He gives some facts and figures but concentrates on his own story hoping it will help readers understand rural and urban areas. He grew up in Bentonville, Arkansas (a dry county). He studied and worked in suburban Wheaton, Illinois (where Christians served beer and wine at every gathering). He is now in Manhatten. While I appreciate learning the best way to catch crawfish and the right way to board a Manhatten bus, I would have preferred stories from a variety of people, not just O'Brien.

O'Brien ultimately has good suggestions, even if it does take him a while to get to them. We should learn from each other, having intentional conversations leading toward seeing life from another person's point of view, he says. We need to remember the sinful nature of man and recognize our own bent to perceive people the way we want to. As Christians we are to be quick to repent for our wrong perceptions.

Dwelling in unity is a nice idea, O'Brien says, but is really hard work. (156) It is only through God's grace and our sacrifice, discomfort and humility it will happen. He suggests the spiritual practice of The Daily Examen as a good place to start and then prayer.

This is a good book for readers who like teaching in the context of story, O'Brien's story. I would have liked a variety of stories rather than an emphasis on his own. I did appreciate his admonition to readers in the end. If the Christian church in America wants to bear witness to the kingdom of God, we have to figure out how to have our identity in Christ be the foundation for our lives. All other identities, whether political or geographical or ethnic, must be secondary.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

July 01, 2019
Not From Around Here-What Unites Us and What Divides Us and What To Do To Move Forward

I received this free Kindle Book for the purpose of review from Net Galley.

When you grow up in a small town and live there from childhood to college you can develop a bit of myopia. Brandon loved his small town and had many fond memories of life in Bentonville, Arkansas. In addition to his own small town he spent his summers with each set of grandparents in Louisiana. There he had fun and learned skills, built his faith and formed strong ties with his grandparents and their small corners of the world.

Brandon had his faith shaped greatly by the small town environment and truly loved all parts of the life there. In young adulthood, he married and moved into the suburbs and experienced differences. t

His next big move came when he, his wife, and two children moved from the suburbs into Washington Heights neighborhood and later into Manhattan.

Brandon gave me pause to think as he shared "no place like small town home" and that is the best to realizing that each place he lived had its own culture, faith and situations. He looks at the divide in our nation and challenges each of us to look at one another with an attitude of "they are God's creation" and the need to understand the bigger picture rather than making certain we hold to "how life should be".

Quite a thoughtful and challenging book for young adults and beyond.

This was a thought provoking book. He gave good information and stories of himself and others in urban, suburban, and rural areas. He brought out our tendencies to judge people by where they are from instead of getting to know them and realizing that where we are from doesn't define us.
I received this book free from the publisher for the purpose of an honest review.

Having pretty much evenly divided my life among the three major geographical distinctions (urban, suburban, and rural), I can say that the author is fairly spot on with most of his commentary. He does spend an inordinate amount of time focusing on the rural, which I thought was unusual at first until it occurred to me that it's because no one really speaks up for the rural areas...not like they do for the urban areas. I would have liked to have seen more focus on some of the truly divisive issues. He does touch very briefly on them, but does not go nearly enough into depth to start the conversation. For me, this missing element was the biggest disappointment of the book. If you're not intimately familiar with all three areas, however, this book will give you some insight into the operations and lifestyles of the people there.