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Almost Already: Insecurities, Failures, and Other Fun Things Nobody Likes to Talk About
There are two things everyone has in we all love Tom Hanks, and we all have insecurities.
No one likes to admit it, but it’s hard to be confident in a world that seems eager to point out our failures. We’re impatient. We’re jealous. Some of us sit in our cars and cry while listening to Adele a little too often. If we all have insecurities, why is it still so embarrassing to admit them? We’re insecure about being insecure.
Almost Already discusses our real life issues in an open and honest way. There’s no hiding behind cliché catchphrases and cheap life hacks. Through all of our shortcomings and frustrations, we can become who we were meant to be by knowing who we already are.
Chapter Titles
We Started from the Bottom and We’re Still This is the First Chapter of the Book
Paying My Dues and Doing My Time
Great Order Hoarders and Hopeless Warriors
Patience is a Virtue and a Huge Pain in the Butt
Come Fail The Measure of Success
The Thief of Don’t Look at Me Looking at You
Hey Or Virtual Insanity or Some Other 90s Song
Mr. Blue The Search for Happiness
The Hopes and Fears of All the Getting Past the Past
Faithfully I Will Back Down (Sorry, Tom Petty)
Regress to Starting from the Finish Line
No one likes to admit it, but it’s hard to be confident in a world that seems eager to point out our failures. We’re impatient. We’re jealous. Some of us sit in our cars and cry while listening to Adele a little too often. If we all have insecurities, why is it still so embarrassing to admit them? We’re insecure about being insecure.
Almost Already discusses our real life issues in an open and honest way. There’s no hiding behind cliché catchphrases and cheap life hacks. Through all of our shortcomings and frustrations, we can become who we were meant to be by knowing who we already are.
Chapter Titles
We Started from the Bottom and We’re Still This is the First Chapter of the Book
Paying My Dues and Doing My Time
Great Order Hoarders and Hopeless Warriors
Patience is a Virtue and a Huge Pain in the Butt
Come Fail The Measure of Success
The Thief of Don’t Look at Me Looking at You
Hey Or Virtual Insanity or Some Other 90s Song
Mr. Blue The Search for Happiness
The Hopes and Fears of All the Getting Past the Past
Faithfully I Will Back Down (Sorry, Tom Petty)
Regress to Starting from the Finish Line
- GenresSelf HelpNonfiction
204 pages, Paperback
Published June 4, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
August 5, 2020
Extra credit for Mr. Brenson’s LDS youth camp class. I am in group A.
I liked the chapters we read. I learned a lot about the church. Yes, I would recommend this for other young Mormons.
I liked the chapters we read. I learned a lot about the church. Yes, I would recommend this for other young Mormons.
August 6, 2020
For Brenson‘s Studying Mormonism group credit. Group C. My review: I did not like this book. There were too many themes, and I wish the author would have focused on one thing. Most of the topics about the Mormon church I already knew, so I didn’t get a lot out of it. I would recommend this to Mormons who are just starting out in their journey of faith.
August 5, 2020
I am reviewing this for credit for my LDS youth camp class. We skipped around on the chapters since we are only at camp for a week. I liked some of the chapters, but some of them were boring. I would still suggest this for other young mormons.
September 17, 2018
Hilarious and encouraging! I honestly loved this book. The author shared so many personal stories and anecdotes that I was literally LOLing. The book was also an encouraging reminder that despite what we may think, no one has it all together, and it’s okay to be broken in a broken world.
I also learned a lot of interesting facts about Larry King. Did he endorse this book or something?
I also learned a lot of interesting facts about Larry King. Did he endorse this book or something?
August 1, 2018
Insecurities and failures are immune to no man. While those may indeed be fun things that no one wants to talk about, it is exactly what we need to be talking about. We're all on this Christian journey wanting to make the most of it for ourselves, our families, and for the glory of our Savior - and yet we all sometimes get mired in discouragement, run into closed doors, or flat-out make stupid mistakes because we're human.
Jonathan Tony invites readers into an honest discussion with vulnerability, humor, and Biblical wisdom. There's a lot of great stuff here, guys. I kept highlighting passage after passage because it was either relatably funny or sharply insightful, and I've found myself talking about this book with many different people over the past couple weeks. I couldn't believe how applicable it felt to right where we all live - the daily choices to keep on going even when it seems like all we're doing is spinning our wheels.
I liked that there were plenty of pop cultural references sprinkled throughout the book, bringing needed levity into such a soul-deep topic. Here's an example from Chapter 2 that really made me chuckle: "I started thinking the movie 27 Dresses was written about my life. I'd never seen it, but I assumed she died alone in a bunk bed and still owed about $15,000 in student loans." Each chapter starts off with a quote from a movie or TV show to set the tone, and this lighter content flows seamlessly with the weightier ongoing discussion.
I appreciated that the author used a lot of Biblical examples and brought these stories home in new ways. Some were familiar, like Hannah or Naaman. Others, like Amaziah, are not in the regular Sunday School rotation. Here's a great observation about Joseph: "We all want to be [Genesis] Chapter 41 Joseph. We want to be standing on top victorious, but we wouldn't have had the Joseph of Chapter 41 without the Joseph of Chapters 37-40" (Chapter 9). God shows up in varied and unexpected ways all throughout the lives of these Bible characters, just as He does in our lives. His ways are so far beyond ours.
This is a book I would recommend to everyone who has ever had questions or hit a snag in life. In other words, I'd recommend it to everyone! We're all trying and failing, being hard on ourselves, and occasionally growing frustrated. But we're not alone and we are not helpless. As Jonathan says in Chapter 5, "If we can learn to accept the reality of God's grace in our weaknesses, we can then learn to give ourselves grace, too." May there be much grace to fill our days as we keep trusting the Lord one step at a time!
I received my copy of this book from the author. All opinions in this review are my own.
This review originated at http://reviewsbyerin.dreamwidth.org
Jonathan Tony invites readers into an honest discussion with vulnerability, humor, and Biblical wisdom. There's a lot of great stuff here, guys. I kept highlighting passage after passage because it was either relatably funny or sharply insightful, and I've found myself talking about this book with many different people over the past couple weeks. I couldn't believe how applicable it felt to right where we all live - the daily choices to keep on going even when it seems like all we're doing is spinning our wheels.
I liked that there were plenty of pop cultural references sprinkled throughout the book, bringing needed levity into such a soul-deep topic. Here's an example from Chapter 2 that really made me chuckle: "I started thinking the movie 27 Dresses was written about my life. I'd never seen it, but I assumed she died alone in a bunk bed and still owed about $15,000 in student loans." Each chapter starts off with a quote from a movie or TV show to set the tone, and this lighter content flows seamlessly with the weightier ongoing discussion.
I appreciated that the author used a lot of Biblical examples and brought these stories home in new ways. Some were familiar, like Hannah or Naaman. Others, like Amaziah, are not in the regular Sunday School rotation. Here's a great observation about Joseph: "We all want to be [Genesis] Chapter 41 Joseph. We want to be standing on top victorious, but we wouldn't have had the Joseph of Chapter 41 without the Joseph of Chapters 37-40" (Chapter 9). God shows up in varied and unexpected ways all throughout the lives of these Bible characters, just as He does in our lives. His ways are so far beyond ours.
This is a book I would recommend to everyone who has ever had questions or hit a snag in life. In other words, I'd recommend it to everyone! We're all trying and failing, being hard on ourselves, and occasionally growing frustrated. But we're not alone and we are not helpless. As Jonathan says in Chapter 5, "If we can learn to accept the reality of God's grace in our weaknesses, we can then learn to give ourselves grace, too." May there be much grace to fill our days as we keep trusting the Lord one step at a time!
I received my copy of this book from the author. All opinions in this review are my own.
This review originated at http://reviewsbyerin.dreamwidth.org
July 27, 2018
The highest praise I can give of this book is that it didn’t feel like a Christian self help book. I never read Christian books because i always feel like I’m just leaving with a list of acronyms and steps to fail at. This book felt exactly how it is described, a conversation about deep topics that the author did an outstanding job making light hearted. It felt like if we were having a beer and discussing things on our mind. Again, I can give no higher praise than that. Well done.
I also highly recommend the audiobook version of this book, it is so good. The author reads it and it really makes the book come alive. He made it incredibly entertaining and enjoyable.
I also highly recommend the audiobook version of this book, it is so good. The author reads it and it really makes the book come alive. He made it incredibly entertaining and enjoyable.
June 16, 2019
Sorry... couldn't finish it. It starts out funny and relatable, but too much scripture quoting for me.
September 17, 2018
A seriously funny and funnily serious book
Jonathan Tony shares real-life examples and Scriptural principles to help Christians with feelings of inadequacy with just the right touch of levity. Though I’m not sure my husband would agree it is just a touch, as he had to sit by and listen to me chortle, snort, and snarkle throughout.
I was impressed with the way the author wove his examples so masterfully. Once an example was introduced, it was snuck into other examples later on so that they would pop out and startle you like a jack-in-the-box. “Oh my! Is he mentioning the shame-dilier again? That is perfect here!”
You know how some people start in on the self-depreciating thing and it just rankles? You know what I mean, right? Though author Jonathan Tony pokes fun at himself, it isn’t like that. He is honest about his perceived shortcomings, not to make himself appear humble, but to encourage and exhort. And make you laugh.
The things that are shared here are very insightful and helpful. As I was reading, I was thinking of people I know who would be blessed by reading this book and making out a mental list of who I should buy a copy for. I can see myself picking this up again and again when I am discouraged or beating up on myself for not being “enough” so I can remember that I don’t have to be because Jesus always is.
The Scriptures used were very appropriate, in context, and taken from all over the Old and New Testaments. I was surprised he used Ahaziah as an example. Not only because it’s not often you hear someone mention him but also because my husband and I were just reading about him last week. So cool! If you aren’t familiar with much of the Bible, be prepared to learn about some of the people who aren’t quite as prominent as Paul. Or David. Or Jesus.
Mixed in with the author’s insights were obscure references to pop culture (yeah, I was glad I was reading on my Kindle so I could highlight names and phrases to see who they were), not-as-obscure references to pop culture, goofy quotes from movies and TV shows and even a reference to Dumbo that brought a tear to my eye.
In addition to the above, the author also debunked some popular Christian myths such as:
“and now I am happy all the day”
I’m too blessed to be stressed
Joy means you are always smiling
Chris Tomlin wrote all the hymns
Jonathan Tony, thank you for sharing this book with the world. I believe God is going to use it to touch many lives.
“Just you wait, little tree. Just you wait!”
This review was originally posted on Among the Reads
I was given a free copy of this item. This gift did not influence my opinion or review.
October 6, 2018
This was a such a great book. Jonathan shows how God is with us in every moment - in the highs, lows, and in-betweens. It’s raw and honest and conveys God’s heart and passion for us despite our failures and insecurities. I would highly recommend this to any Christian that struggles with insecurity, finding purpose, and being uncomfortable in their own skin. God loves us in every step of our lives, especially when we don’t believe it. He never gives up on us, even when we’re tempted to give up on ourselves.
August 6, 2020
For Brenson’s study. Group B. This book was ok. I liked the Mormon themes. I did not like some of the chapters because they didn’t make sense. I don’t think I would recommend it to other young Mormons. I think there are better books to learn more about the LDS teachings.
August 14, 2020
Someone from church gave me this book when they were done with it. Now I know why. This book was a mess. Got through two chapters and gave up. I wouldn’t want it on my bookshelf either. Donating to goodwill.
October 23, 2018
This book is honest, funny, and encouraging. The author delves into the parts of ourselves we don't like people to see and addresses them in a way that speaks life.
December 13, 2019
A funny and encouraging look at modern Christian life filled with great humor and thoughtful insights.
January 29, 2020
Valuable insights but a little difficult to read because of reliance on philosophical terms. But well worth the read, just take time to process what is presented.
November 13, 2022
Amazing
This book was amazing. It’s interesting, real and it taught me a lot about my value in Christ. I also really liked the humor.
This book was amazing. It’s interesting, real and it taught me a lot about my value in Christ. I also really liked the humor.
March 12, 2019
enjoyable and encouraging
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews