For Women Only (Revised Edition) | Book Review

Do you want to understand your man more?  Who am I kidding, of course you do.  The newly revised edition of For Women Only by Shaunti Feldhanh helps with that.

Feldhanh surveyed many, many, men to help women understand them better.  These men have opened their minds and allowed her to see into the deepest depths of their minds where they hide they most sacred secrets. 

Their biggest secret is…..RESPECT. They all want to be respected and they perceive being loved by being respected. 

I know it sounds easy and most of us think we are already respecting our men but, there are some huge mistakes, we as women, make on a pretty regular basis.  We can bombard them with things when they walk through the door.  We can push them to have a conversation even while they are walking away and need time to think.  We can get emotional and blow up and all the while we are doing these things all we are doing is showing them that we don’t respect them.  Men have a lot to deal with (even when we think they don’t) and we can make their lives fairly hard when we don’t understand that. 

Feldhanh has revised an already wonderful book on how to love the men in our lives and create the relationships that we have always wanted.  This book is even good if you are raising a son.  You can raise him showing him the respect he will need to find when searching for a wife later in life. 

***I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review.***

Is It Me Or My Hormones | Book Review

This review is not about spirituality, which is what I usually write about but, I feel that to live a wonderful life you need to have a healthy mind AND body.

I have always wondered if I was crazy or if what I was feeling was different than everyone else.  Thinking that maybe there is something wrong with me.  Thanks to the new book Is It Me or My Hormones by Marcelle Pick I know now that everything I have been feeling is completely normal and there are even reasons for it.  Plus, I’m not alone. 

I believe that there are certain underlying reasons for how our body is acting and how we are reacting to what is going on and now I have the explanation that I needed.  Marcelle Pick explains in her new book how if one of our hormones is out of balance it can affect everything going on inside since all of the chemical reactions that are going on are a balanced symphony that relies on each other for the correct response.

All of the hormones in our body, I never realized there were so many, work together to make us who we are.  The part that interested me the most is that, according to Pick, the hormones that we think are most important are actually some of the lesser hormones.  But, when even one gets disrupted, it can cause a shift in all the others that can make you feel “different.”

Pick includes a 28 day diet plan to help you get all of your hormones in balance which will lead to a better, more balanced, life.  Along with the diet plan she has included some amazing recipes like Cucumber and Watermelon Salad, Protein Powered Oatmeal, Protein Pancakes, and Steamed White Fish, just to name a few.  I can’t wait to make my way through the mouth-watering recipes.

This is a book that I will treasure for a long time.  It’s a manual for living life as a woman. EVERY woman should have a copy.  They wouldn’t feel like they are along anymore when they feel like they are losing their minds and have no explanation for it. 

We, as women, are not crazy and Marcelle Pick tells us why.  Go get the book.

***I received a complimentary copy of this book from Hay House for the purpose of this review.***

The Artist's Daughter | Book Review

The Artist’s Daughter by Alexandra Kuykendall is a story of heart break, determination and world traveling. 

The beginning of the book starts with meeting 8 yr old Alexandra.  She is an American in Spain, riding in the taxi, with her mom, on her way to meet her father for the first time.  As this day unfolds you can feel all the emotions that she went through as a little girl just running of the pages and touching your heart. You can feel the nervousness, disappointment, and finally, rejection that such a small girl has to experience in just a matter of hours.   Her father is older and uncaring which is such a hard thing for her to understand.

You feel for the little girl that she once was but, you are quickly moved to different dates, throughout the book,  in her life where the issues that father provoked by being unloving and having very little contact, have made it hard for her to deal with men because of her relationship with her non-existent dad.   She is finding out that a lot of her issues with men stem from any lack of male figure in her life.  Although she did finally get a step dad, who was great to her but, the damage her biological father has done was already affecting her outlook on relationships.

Kuykendall has lived a great life so far.  She graduated from college, helped teenagers who lived in homes, found a husband, and has built a family but, not without having to address some of the issues that she had been burying for a long time.  It’s not an easy life when you are being raised by a single mom (for the most part) and have a father who tells you that he only had a relationship with your mother because she wanted a kid.  That would hurt someone deeply and I think that she has made a great life for herself and family. 

I will say though, that I had a hard time with this book.  You skip though her life so much that it’s not a fluid as I would have liked.  But, there are some wonderful questions at that end of the book to help you reflect on your life and to see if anything she has put into this book might be able to help you.  It’s a touching memoir that might be of great help to someone dealing with the same circumstances as herself. 

Available may 2013 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

***I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review.***

Bread & Wine | Book Review

I have always wanted to have a dinner club with my close friends.  Great food, wonderful conversations and fellowship always sounded like an amazing night. Im sure you feel that same.  Even if it was just once a month.  Thanks to the new book from Shauna Niequist, Bread & Wine, I got a little taste of what a dinner club would be like.

Niequist has complied a collection of stories from her life that have obviously touched her heart in some way or another.  It starts off with a story about her mom’s blueberry crisp and the memories attached to that, then you will read a story about her fight with infertility (which she overcame…eventually), there is a story about friendship and honoring that friendship through the loss of a loved one, etc.  The stories in this book will touch your heart and show you how, through all the tough times, grace will still reign. 

One of the best parts about this book, for me, were the included recipes.  I love to cook.  Most of the stories has been matched up with a recipe that she includes at the end of the chapter.  You can have a whole weeks worth of dinners thanks to Niequist.  I cant wait to run to my kitchen and make some of the recipes.  They include things like her mom’s blueberry crisp, healthy lentil soup, maple balsamic pork tenderloin (which I think I will be making first), and even a bread recipe.  These are just to name a few. 

I think this is a great book for anyone who loves spending time in the kitchen with their family and friends and who loves to entertain.  But, this is also for someone who loves to give glory to God and show it through all the love you put into what you make to nourish the ones around you that mean the most to you.

This book embodies everything that Christ was talking about when he was teaching us about bread and wine.  Niequist couldn't have picked a better name.


***I received a complimentary copy of this book from Zondervan for the purpose of this review.***