How to Fix a Broken Record: Thoughts on Vinyl Records, Awkward Relationships, and Learning to Be Myself

Your soul holds a massive record collection: melodies, rhythms, and bass lines. Memories that ask you to dance and memories that haunt you in a minor key. Lies that become soundtracks to your days while truths play too softly to be heard.

Spoken word poet Amena Brown’s broken records played messages about how she wasn’t worthy to be loved. How to Fix a Broken Record chronicles her journey of healing as she’s allowed the music of God’s love to replace the scratchy taunts of her past. From bad dates to marriage lessons at Waffle House, from learning to love her hair to learning to love an unexpected season of life, from discovering the power of saying no and the freedom to say yes, Amena offers keep-it-real stories your soul can relate to.

The hurtful words of others and the failures of your past often determine what record you play the most in your mind. Those painful repetitions can become loud at the most inopportune time, keeping you from speaking up, pursuing your dreams, and growing closer to God.

Recognize the negative messages that play on repeat every day in your mind. Learn how to replace them with the truth that you are a beloved child of God. And discover how to laugh along the way as you find new joy in the beautiful music of your life.



More Information

  • Publisher: Zondervan

  • Original Release Date: November 7, 2017

  • Formats: Paperback, eBook, Audiobook

  • Paperback ISBN: 9780310349334




Soundtrack


Praise For How To Fix A Broken Record

“Through being a fan of Amena Brown I’ve learned that whenever she offers soliloquies on how to make our journey of life better, it’s always worth my listen/read. How to Fix a Broken Record sure delivers!”
—Speech, founder of hip-hop group Arrested Development

“This entertaining and inspiring book is loaded with stories that lead you to the one true source that helps fix and heal the broken records in your life.”
—DJ Icy IceWorld Famous Beat Junkies and Power 106 Los Angeles

“Amena Brown has a way with words. Whether spoken or written in a book, she speaks to the soul with a knowing. She knows the humor in our humanity, but she also knows our hurts. And she always points us to a Healer. Howto Fix a Broken Record is no exception. With characteristic wit and wisdom, Amena invites us into the highs and lows of her own story to help us reflect on our own. Most of all, she reminds us that the soundtrack of our lives can always include a redemption song. Grace has a groove to it, and this book will get you dancing once again. For Joy.”
—Jo Saxton, speaker, author, cohost of Lead Stories Podcast, and board chair for 3Dmovements

“Stories—the sweat and blood and joy of life—are what bring us to the table with each other. Amena Brown lives this reality and invites us to remember our own stories, our own songs, in this beautiful life-soundtrack of a book. Read it, and through the raw and honest stories of Amena Brown’s life, you’ll begin to sing the songs of God over your own life, over your own story, over your own journey.”
—Kaitlin B. Curtice, Native American author, speaker, worship leader, and author of Glory Happening

“Reading How to Fix a Broken Record is a great deal like sitting down with one of your most treasured friends; the friend who speaks plain truths into your life and shares vulnerably from her own….The beauty of this book is that Amena shares her struggles in authentic and meaningful ways. She refuses to sugar coat disappointment, and her book is honest and refreshing because of it.”
—Jennifer, Goodreads review

“Amena Brown is the voice I've longed to hear in the faith community for so long. With grace and humor, her artful words rhythmically float across the page in this spiritual memoir…How To Fix A Broken Record resounds with depth but doesn't get lost in the weeds of over-spiritualization. It's the perfect refresh read for your soul.”
—Cherie, Goodreads review