Book Review: All Things Reconsidered by Knox McCoy

Happy Monday, My Lovelies! Today I have a fun book written by a local podcaster Knox McCoy entitled All Things Reconsidered. When TLC Book Tours approached me about reviewing this book, I wanted to participate because Knox lives here in Birmingham. I have been listening to Knox and Jamie's podcast, The Popcast with Knox & Jamie, and they make me belly laugh. I love it! This morning I listened to this episode "Pop Culture Things We Reconsidered." Again. It's hilarious. Jamie also wrote the foreword to the book, and she did a super job: it's brilliant.

Enough gushing about their podcast. Now it's time to gush about the book.

According to Goodreads:

If we ask just one question, does everything fall apart?

In All Things Reconsidered, popular podcaster Knox McCoy uses a unique blend of humor, pop culture references, and personal stories to show how a willingness to reconsider ideas can actually help us grow ourselves, our lives, and our beliefs.

In this laugh-out-loud defense of reconsideration, Knox dives into topics like:

Are participation trophies truly the worst?

Is it really worth it to be a ride-or-die sports fan?

Do we believe in God because of the promise of heaven—or the threat of hell?

Does prayer work? Is anyone even there?

This book is the catalyst we need to courageously ask the questions that will lead to a deeper understanding of ourselves—and God. It’s time to start reconsidering.

My Review:

This book is nonfiction, and it's categorized as Christian Living. Yet Knox tackles a plethora of topics (not just biblical) in his book. His intent isn't that his reader agree with all his observations: He challenges us to form our own conclusions and understand why we believe what we do.

The book is divided into three parts: Reconsider Self, Reconsider Life, and Reconsider Beliefs. From Reconsider Self, I could relate to Pronunciations oh, so well. In that chapter, Knox describes how he has consistently mispronounced words, and continues to do so. He includes a lengthy list of said words, how he pronounces them, and an explanation for his mispronunciations. The reason I can relate so well are three-fold: 1. I'm an only child and an avid reader. I mispronounced many words I understood in writing, but could not pronounce. 2. I lived in New Orleans. The mixture of French and Indian words tripped me up all the time. Knox had a few of these words like "beignet" and "lagniappe" on his list. (FYI He pronounces beignet "beige-net." 3. Our oldest daughter, also an avid reader and University professor, does the same thing, LOL! It's genetic!

Reconsider Life should be mandatory reading for millennials. My sweet Sister-In-Law talks about the nefariousness of Participation Trophies all the time. She is right, and so is Knox's counter, especially when one considers the typical high school sports hierarchy in the South. Inclusion happens only when the kids are little, if at all. I can truly see both sides of this one. Also in this section is Kid Names. If you want to get an eye twitch about how a name can totally screw-up your child (or grandchild), then this is the chapter for you. I laughed out loud throughout it. I can remember that a few well-meaning friends told me that if I named Shanley "Shanley Belle," that kids would tease her and call her Tinkerbell. It never happened. Knox's advice is to never tell friends your unborn child's name. Good advice. Also, he lists ten names that are examples of old-white-guy names that are "on the cusp of being shelved." How unfortunate, because my DH's name is on there. ;P

Reconsider Beliefs is my favorite chapter. I was stunned when I read the chapter The Good Place. A reference to one of my favorite comedies (one of the very few programs I have binge watched in recent years), I was stunned to read that Knox's thoughts on heaven were eerily similar to mine. Scary. I also appreciate The God Card. This chapter is about people who make poor decisions and pull the God card. One example Knox shared is the guy who gets a mortgage to build his man cave, and uses the God card to qualify his stupidity. When Christians do this, it drives me nuts.

In conclusion, I recommend both the podcast and the book. If you can get away at all this summer, the book is great because the chapters are fairly short, so it's an easy book to pick up, read a few chapters, and put it down until you can pick it up again. Plus, Knox is so witty. And thoughtful! Run to your favorite Indie Bookstore and get curbside pick-up for this fun book.

Disclosure: I received a copy of All Things Reconsidered from the publisher via TLC Book Tours in exchange for a fair and honest review.