The Yada Yada Prayer Group

The run down: Jodi, a middle aged white woman joins an acquaintance from her church, a middle aged black woman, for a women's church conference. They get matched up with several other women (a couple of white ladies, a Japanese woman, a Chinese woman, a Latina and the rest black women) as part of a prayer group. It evolves into an actual thing and Jodi questions how she worships and when she does it.

The good: I like how Jodi questioned her faith and how she expresses it.

The bad: pretty much the rest of the book. The biggest problem I had with this book, besides Jodi being soooo annoying (the beer vs wine thing), were Neta Jackson's stereotypical descriptions of the other women. The women were not original. And I found it pretty show more offensive that she tried to write the dialects of the women. "Oh, Guuuurrrrlll!" "Oh no you didn't" "head waggling". Okay, the head waggling was less of dialect than a gesture. I just, wow, I could not get passed that. I actually checked to see if Neta Jackson was black or white (you know, black black - that's how Jackson described one of the women in the group, not African black but black black).

I just have this feeling that Jackson has little to no experience with people other than other white women. And what experience she does have isn't genuine to her. She sees the facade or the Hollywood stereotype of women of color.

I can't finish this book. I just struggle too much with Jodi and her relationships with her family and her church people. Too annoying. show less

I can't even rate this - it would be like rating a coloring book (although I do have some favorites of those and there is such a thing as a good one and everyone knows a bad one when they see one ) .


Reads too much like it was purposely written for a nascent Christian chick-lit market and released before it had been revised enough.

Many female Christian readers drawn to this might enjoy Fannie Flagg - I think her books respect the reader more, especially in the way they employ humor and the way she develops the reader's relationship w her characters.

Yada Yada feels like a book that the author needed to write to get her sea legs .

I was somewhat reluctant to read this based on the reviews, but it has sat on my bookshelf a couple of years now and I decided to give it a shot. I am honestly very glad I read it and am in the middle of the 2nd book in the series and still enjoying it.
As a wife of a pastor and a part of many different church functions and a wide range of people and personalities, I have been able to relate to many of the characters and the situations they face.
Overall...If you are looking for a quick read with a good storyline but not too emotionally draining, this is a good choice.

A diverse group of women come together to form an e-mail prayer group, jokingly referred to as the Yada Yada Prayer Group. But the women soon learn that they need to meet in person and, as they learn more about each of the members of the group, visit each other’s homes, and attend each other’s church services, they become more and more involved in each other’s lives.

In this first book in the series, the often-judgmental Jodi Baxter takes center stage as a crisis in her life forces her to examine her attitudes.

With its strong characters and interesting premise, readers will find much to appreciate in this book.

Very readable Christian "hen" lit, that makes you think about your own relationship with God.

This book took me completely by surprise. I'm a Christian, but haven't read too many Christian books. I picked this one up at my local library and fell in LOVE! The main character in this story reminds me of myself as a Christian, especially her thoughts in the sermons and even during praying. I love that the whole group of women who pray in the story have different backgrounds and bring something different to the group. Great read! Read to read the other in the series.

Although I thought from first look that this might be a good read for teens, it is actually a better book for an older crowd.Topics such as motherhood and mature Christian relationships are discussed. This is a funny and excellent read for 20 and 30 something mothers and Christian women. The humor can be a little cliche at times, but women of the Christian faith will understand the humor.