Category: Adult Nonfiction Review

REVIEW: My Heart by Julie Manning

REVIEW: My Heart by Julie Manning

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Julie Manning tells her story of discovering a serious heart problem when she was delivering her second child. That discovery changed how she viewed her life and how she related to God.

The book includes journal entries, Julie’s prayers at various points in her journey as well as letters to her boys with her hopes and dreams for their lives and their relationships with Jesus. Through life’s hills and valleys, Julie shares how her thinking and her faith have changed and evolved. How trusting God with her life – literally – has helped her trust God in new ways in other parts of her journey.

 

Review

This is an inspiring story!! I was challenged from page one to the end by how the author thinks about God, where she finds her identity and peace in the midst of struggle, and how she prays for her boys.

This is a terrific book for those who love memoirs and spiritual growth stories. It’s inspiring like the Steven Curtis Chapman memoir was. But if you are looking for a book that will challenge you to grow and mature in your faith or in your prayer life or in your identity in Christ, this would be an amazing book for that as well.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: Between Heaven & the Real World by Steven Curtis Chapman

REVIEW: Between Heaven & the Real World by Steven Curtis Chapman

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

An autobiographical look at Christian music’s superstar, Steven Curtis Chapman. The book covers Chapman’s childhood, the start and growth of his music career, his marriage and family, and of course the tragic death of his daughter, Maria.

Review

This was outstanding! I started listening to Chapman’s music around the launch of his second album. It was fun to read about all the things that went on behind the scenes with his songs and tours as I attended many of those tours and own many of those songs.

This feels like a very honest book. Chapman is up front about hard moments in his upbringing and his marriage. He works at being transparent about his struggles – personally, professionally and spiritually.

Anyone reading this book who is familiar with the Chapman’s story knows that the book is moving toward the tragic death of their daughter, Maria, in 2008. And the story is as painful as you can imagine. But again, that honesty and transparency is on display. Steven shares the struggle to keep moving forward after their loss, their questions for God, and their pain.

This was an engrossing and moving read. If you loved his wife’s book, Choosing to See, I highly recommend this. This fills in some of Steven’s part of the journey, and it gives more current information about how the family is doing as they continue to miss Maria, and yet choose to keep trusting God day by day.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: Nothing to Prove by Jennie Allen

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Do you ever feel like a mouse, running on a wheel, constantly moving but actually going no where? Do you ever feel like your life is an empty bottle of salad dressing or empty gallon of milk when you have a week to go until pay day? You’re trying to shake or squeeze out every last bit of energy or time or effort because it is all you have and you don’t know where you can scrounge up any more?

Maybe, rather than striving to do it all or being the go-to person or taking care of everyone else, God would rather we just “abide.” Maybe while we are running and pushing and climbing, Jesus is waiting nearby with everything we need, already there.

Jennie Allen, founder of If: Ministries shares her heart and her experience in discovering that Jesus is enough – all we ever need. She encourages readers to shift their thinking, recognizing that some of the stress and striving is less about God and more about themselves. She wants readers to live free of the things that weigh people down.

Review

This book has been the perfect fit for me in this season of life! I was underlining and highlighting and writing in the margins from cover to cover. As soon as I finished, I wanted to start all over again. I wanted to pull out all the key parts, Bible verses and activities and then spend time with them, little by little to apply them to my life in a way that would make an impact.

The author uses great metaphors to make her points. She uses several passages from the gospel of John, but tells them from the perspective of someone IN the story, adding some stirring details to the Biblical narrative. Jennie offers exercises to help readers take action on what they read. She stresses the extravagant love and abundance of God. She highlights God’s “streams of enoughness” like streams of connection, rest, risk and hope.

I can’t recommend this highly enough. There is going to be a Bible study book to go with this called Proven that will release in April. I did an online Facebook discussion with the author over three weeks which was great. I’m sure you can go to her page and watch the videos again. But I think going through each chapter, week by week with a small group, would be an even better way to really dig into the material!

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: Self to Lose, Self to Find by Marilyn Vancil

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Like the book The Road Back to You that I reviewed here, this book is about the personality system, the Enneagram.

In this book, the author explores in detail the idea of an Authentic Self vs. an Adapted Self. The Authentic Self is the person God created you to be. The Adapted Self is who you have become over time as you have made choices and reacted to circumstances in ways designed to protect yourself.

The Enneagram then, shows you both sides of your type – the ways your type reflects who God made you to be as well as the ways it has been twisted in misguided ways.

The book includes this introductory material, descriptions of the nine types, descriptions of variations and nuances in the types, and a system to help readers recognize Adapted behaviors and reactions in order to get in touch with Authentic patterns instead.

Review

I really enjoyed the tone of this book. It’s not as funny as I found parts of The Road Back to You to be. But it’s easy to understand.

The metaphor the author uses for the Adapted and Authentic selves is well-described. This information really clicked for me. I enjoyed the type descriptions, too – different enough from The Road Back to You to be an enhancement. I am glad I read both.

I liked the author’s OWN UP system of recognizing and releasing Adapted behavior. The Road Back to You work book has a system that serves a similar purpose, but I liked this one better. The author used a personal example and her journal entries of her process to explain it. Those descriptions were helpful to me imagining how to apply the system in my life.

This is a great second resource for me as I try to learn more about the Enneagram

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? by Beverly Daniel Tatum

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

A fascinating look at racial identity development. Looks at a multitude of races – Black, White, Asian, Native American, Hispanic and Biracial identity.  There’s also discussion of the racial identity of Black children adopted by White parents. Examines the need for same race peer groups and mentors as well as looking at race at each age and developmental stage. This is a thorough examination of racial identity formation.

 

Review

The title of this book first caught my attention several years ago. As an elementary school teacher, I noticed this phenomenon with our older students but not usually the younger ones, and I did wonder what that was about. I wish I had read this book at the time because it would have enlightened me and changed my attitude about my observations.

This was fascinating and challenging reading. I loved the psychological aspect of this discussion of race. I had set a goal to read a book about race this year. This one was a perfect fit for me with the psychological pieces and the educational angle.

I think this is a great resource for a lot of people – teachers, school administrators, parents, professionals who work with kids, and anyone interested in improved relationships between people of different races.

The developmental pieces – how kids process race as preschoolers versus adolescents – are fascinating. And the book challenges the idea that it’s best to not mention race to kids so they won’t notice it. They already notice it! Our silence doesn’t help them process their observations in a healthy, and accepting way.

This book challenged me. It challenged my assumptions. I read things and felt myself start to get defensive. I was reading things slowly enough, though, that I noticed it and could stop and check myself and look at what preconceived notions were being challenged. This is not a book to be read quickly if you are reading it to learn and to grow in your own racial identity and in your understanding of the racial identity development of others. It’s also a very dense book. I don’t know that you could read it quickly and get much out of it. This is a book to be studied rather that a quick cover-to-cover kind of read.

I highly recommend this. This would be a terrific resource for teachers to read and discuss together. It would also be a great summer read for teachers doing professional development. There’s an extensive resource list and notes in the back matter that offer more information and other resources to investigate.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: The Road Back to You by Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

An Introduction to the Enneagram. As a fan of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, I had heard about the Enneagram before. But its numbers instead of letters and star-like diagram made no sense to me. The MBTI was familiar and comfortable. I was content to stick with that.

Then The Road Back to You released last fall. I started to wonder if I was ready to tackle a new personality theory. A theory that would provide not only personal insights but a spiritual component as well.

This book introduces the general idea of the Enneagram, describing the 9 types in simple to understand terms.

Review

This is a fantastic book! The writing is conversational. There are some hilarious stories and examples. It’s a FUN, interesting read.

Originally, I was reading a copy from the library, but I got so drawn into the material, I knew I needed my own copy. It is full of underlining and highlighting now!

I feel like this book gave me enough information to start figuring out my “type.” But it also gives me insight into others. I loved the spiritual component. There’s also a strong emphasis on recognizing where my type can be detrimental and how to find grace and balance for myself.

I also bought the workbook. There are questions based on the three triads (8-9-1, 2-3-4, 5-6-7). The questions are geared toward helping you assess your type. There’s also information on a technique the authors recommend to help increase personal awareness and move to a more healthy expression of your type. There’s also an extensive list of recommendations for further reading. I’ll be digging into that list more this year, starting with Self to Lose Self to Find.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: You Carried Me by Melissa Ohden

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Melissa Ohden always knew she was adopted. But when she was a teenager she found out that she survived an abortion. This memoir is her story – about her adoptive family, about her reaction to the news of the abortion, and about her journey to integrate that piece of information into her identity, her calling and her faith.

I received a copy of this book from Plough Publishing and Handlebar in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions on this book are my own. You can read more about my review copy disclaimer here.

Abortion Survivor Memoir

Review

Wow, this is an amazing and touching story! I appreciated the author’s honesty and transparency as she shares her journey. My heart broke as I read about her struggles as a teen to reconcile the abortion information and as she shared that she felt like damaged goods.

I was surprised by the hateful, angry, suspicious responses her story has received in pro-choice circles over the years. My guess is that it is painful to think about what abortion really is when you look at an adult who wouldn’t exist if the procedure had gone as planned.

This is a memoir with grace and forgiveness at its core. And that is beautiful. Ms. Ohden’s story had a fair number of surprises still to come, but her faith encourages – and helps – her to keep offering empathy and understanding to the people who are part of her story.

My favorite parts of the book were when she talked about being a voice – a voice for unborn babies, a voice offering forgiveness for grieving parents who had abortions, a voice for those who are pressured to abort their children.

This is an emotional read. If you have experienced an abortion or miscarriage (which Ms. Ohden does), some passages may be difficult for you to read. Be sure to take care of yourself as you read.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

A system to help you tackle clutter in your life. In simplest terms, you go through every item in your home and discard or donate anything that doesn’t give you joy. If you are keeping something out of guilt or a sense of obligation, stop.

Once you have purged your belongings, you put away the things you keep so every item has a home. The idea is to make your storage system super easy on the “putting away” side of usage so you don’t leave things in random places. Those random places lead to clutter.

tidying-up

Review

I love this idea of keeping only what brings you joy. I have many things I have kept because

  • I paid money for it and don’t feel I’ve used it enough
  • Someone gave it to me
  • I liked it at one time but now I don’t anymore, and I feel guilty
  • It reminds me of something or someone.

I was energized by the book’s possibilities – the thought of open space and less stuff in my house. I couldn’t wait to give it a try!

I didn’t care for the sort of “spiritual” bits about thanking your possessions for their work. But I do agree that I could be a lot more grateful for my home and my possessions, which is another theme in the book. For me, I took the parts that I thought would be helpful, and set aside the parts that weren’t a good fit for me.

I have applied her system to my clothes already. Before I started, I had clothes in half a closet, several dresser drawers and three large tubs in our laundry room.  I had to break into the tubs any time the weather started to change. For the “tidying up” system, I pulled all of the clothes out by type. If I didn’t love something, I set it aside. I reassessed how I stored my clothes so I could see what I had and make things accessible. When I was done, I had more room in each of my drawers, and all of my clothes fit in the closet and drawers in the bedroom. Our local homeless shelter happily took the three tubs of cast offs!

I used the system on my books, too, which was a big deal. I kept more than she recommends in the book, but books are my life! I weeded by reading the description on each one. If the description didn’t make me want to sit down and read instead of doing something else, I didn’t keep the book. Yes, it was hard to part with things that I spent good money on at one point in time. Ms. Kondo would say that the purchase served its purpose – it made me happy when I made it. But hanging onto it now was not serving me well, and it was okay to let it go.

I haven’t finished applying the system to the whole house, but I love what I have done so far. I feel free because there is less clutter. I walk into the rooms that are done, or look at my closet, and I just feel happy. If you are looking for some inspiration before you start a major decluttering project of your own, I recommend reading this.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

 

REVIEW: Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Do you ever find yourself craving simple living? Do you push yourself to do more, do it better, or do it ALL? Shauna Niequist shares her life experience of trying to do it all. It left her physically sick, spiritually dry, and wondering if this was really the best life God had to offer. If you’ve ever been in such a place, Present Over Perfect might help you find another way to live.

Present Over Perfect

Review

I read this right after I quit my job, so I couldn’t identify as readily to the busy life vs. simple living messages of the book. Those might speak to me better in another season. But I did identify with the pieces where she talked about her identity. When your identity and value are tied up in a job you just left/lost or in a pattern of living that says, “I can do it all!,” you can be left wondering who you really are.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

Read this book if:

  • you feel worn thin from doing all the things you think you’re supposed to be doing
  • you need encouragement to find your best self
  • you need help saying no to good things you are not called to do
  • you are wondering where God is and what He thinks of your struggle to live a busy, perfect life.

 

REVIEW: Star Trek: 50 Artists, 50 Years by Titan Books

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Star Trek Art!! Fifty artists created a piece that reflected something from Star Trek. This book is part of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the first episode airing on television. Each page includes a 10.5×14.5 inch image of the artwork. There is also an interview with the artist. Interview questions include the artist’s connection to Star Trek and their inspiration and process for creating their piece

Star Trek Art

Review

This book is eye candy for Star Trek lovers! I wouldn’t call myself an art lover in general. I know what I like but I can’t always say why I like it. But I am a Star Trek lover, and I am fascinated by this book. The pieces are mostly from The Original Series (TOS) or The Next Generation (TNG). There are some glimpses of the artist’s other ideas besides the piece they ultimately submitted. After the art itself, my favorite parts are the artists’ stories about their connection to Star Trek. Some are reluctant fans, some watched it because a family member did, and some are huge fans in their own rights.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

If you aren’t sure about purchasing the whole book, you can get a calendar (roughly the same size as the book) with 12 of the pieces included. They are 11×14 and could easily be framed. Star Trek Poster Calendar for 2017.