New Book Hookup

So, one of the fantabulous new friends I made in Texas has the coolest hookup... a book publisher sends him books to review on his blog. He gets two copies of each book--one to read and one to give to a friend to read. How cool is that? And the best part? well, for me, at least, I got to read and write a review for one by one of my favorite authors!

Here you go!
[Be kind, this is my first attempt at this kind of writing (at least since school book reports)!]

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Love as a Way of Life
Gary Chapman

It's amazing how the simplest concepts can revolutionize the way you look at life. As an avid fan of Gary Chapman's The Five Love Languages I couldn't help but chomp at the bit to read his new book. The principles he unfolds have the potential be life-changing in understanding oneself. I am a firm believer in the idea that the better we know and truly understand ourselves, the more we are able to care for, care about, work with, be in relationship with, and love others. Just when I think I reached a new plateau in relating to others, I'm reintroduce to Chapman's eloquent, yet elementary, ideas that remind me of my narcissism in life choices.

Because he's a great story-teller who weaves the concepts he is trying to convey through stories, it's very easy to find myself going from chapter to chapter without stopping. Once I got into the meat of the book, I found that I could have spent a week in each chapter looking for ways to unpack that trait and still had more work to do. There was so much there to digest! These "simple" concepts of kindness, patience, forgiveness, courtesy, humility, generosity, and honesty hit home for me in evaluating my own life and putting me in check on judging others. As much as I can easily point out the failings of these traits in others, I realize how truly lacking they are in their truest form in the heart of my own life.

Yet again, Gary Chapman has given new insights to understand and accept and therefore love one another to the core of who we are—relational people. One of the greatest challenges in loving people is to understand them and accept them as who you understand them to be and to love them more the better you understand them. Chapman introduces the reality of tools that should be basic principles in our character arsenal. To love well is a life-long endeavor that goes hand in hand with being loved. This will become a new favorite gift book from me to folks who desire to love and be loved.

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Trevor's Thoughts (My Supplier)

I'm going to agree with Laura. This is a great book. Well structured. Easy to read. Memorable stories and quotes. One of the best parts of the book is the way he fleshes out the ideas into actually go-and-do practical application throughout each chapter. It's definitely a book you interact with, not just give a simple read through. In fact I'm throwing it back up on my To Read shelf, in an effort to carve out more time with it.

Honestly, this is well worth the read. Go buy a copy. I'd give you a free one, but I already distributed it.