book review

The Girl’s Guide to Conquering Life

Such a fun book for me and my girls!

I was very excited about reading this book as I have teen and pre-teen girls in my home and the ideas presented in the book seemed to be directly connected to what I am attempting to help them learn as they prepare to be adults. The topics of the book covered such a wide area of life stuff that it almost seems to be comprehensive.

IMG_3183Honestly, not every area of life is covered, but this book was very thorough.  My one thought as I read was “I wish I had a book like this when I was a teen!”

Even as a parenting adult who is consistently learning how to interact with my kids, this was helpful. Written in a way that it was easy to read, enjoyable, and helpful. This might be one of my new favorite gifts for the teen girls I know. And now, I am eager to check out the other books by these authors.

The Girl’s Guide to Conquering Life by Erica and Jonathan Catherman provide such a fun resource for teen girls in this book which covers things from knowing how to introduce your friends to others to doing laundry to throwing a football! The easy to read chapters are divided into various sections of life: social interactions, money management, work and ethics, health and beauty, sports, tools and fix-it, and several more.

Thank you Cathermans for such a great resource!

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book review

Overwhelmed? A place to start

TamingToDoListAre you forever overwhelmed by all you need to do? If your days end in frustration from tasks left unfinished instead of satisfaction from what you accomplished, Glynnis Whitwer’s book, Taming the To Do List, is a great resource for you. Glynnis presents the idea that procrastination might be the culprit in the seeming theft of our time. She relates her story of struggle with procrastination and how it came so clearly to her attention. She pairs her story with practical steps to overcome the procrastination habit and move in what we are to do.

“In Taming the To-Do List, Glynnis Whitwer exposes a seismic shift in society: from one in which most of us were proactive to one in which we carry the burden of having to respond – to every email, text, tweet, and message we receive. This creates a cycle were everyone else sets the priorities for our days rather than us directing our own lives. The results? We procrastinate, putting off the important stuff for later while we tend to the “urgent” stuff right now.” (these comments are taken directly from the book jacket)

Glynnis’s writing is relatable, while still teaching challenging truths. Her book is an excellent kick in the pants for those of us who are overwhelmed at times by our to do’s and commitments, yet fill our time with things which are truly procrastination rather than what we are supposed to do. Her writing is easy to read, and you will relate with and laugh along with her experiences and be challenged to stop the seeming never ending cycle of overwhelm and procrastination.

Having read Taming the To-Do List in overview mode, I am looking forward to reading it again and working through the practical steps Glynnis recommends. I have already been motivated in a couple areas of life to lay aside procrastination and move in what I know I am to do. If you are feeling overwhelmed or find your self procrastinating, taking some time to read through the ideas of this book is a great place to start stopping the procrastination and taming your to do list.

Proverbs31 Ministries is doing an online Bible study this month, using Glynnis’s book as a basis. I am eager to participate with them in the action steps and see how they approach using this book as a jumping off point for Bible Study. Please consider joining me here.

Please join me on Twitter or Google+ and let me know what you are enjoying reading. I am always looking for recommendations! and if you are interested you can check out my current reading list on GoodReads.

book review

A Bit of Different Reading Fare

original photo from Amazon.com
original photo from Amazon.com

Desperate Measures by Sandra Orchard has been a detour from my normal reading. I recently discovered a large gap in my reading repertoire. I love reading, but have found fictional reading to be challenging for me to commit my time to over the last few years. Somehow I feel as if reading fiction stories is a waste of time. Now before you get all huffy on me, I know they are not, but some line of thinking for me relating to fictional stories has been warped to believe that there better ways for me to spend my time. Well, as I seek to be a better writer, I am encouraged to read a variety of material, so this month I chose to read a fiction book to review.

Desperate Measures was enjoyable and easy to read. I appreciated and liked (more than I expected to) the diversion from my normal reading fare. I love me a good mystery and this definitely lived up to my expectations. The story was confusing at times as I tried to sort who was who and try to piece together the larger story, This confusion was very hard for this big picture gal to tolerate, but it did not deter me from enjoying the story. If anything the mystery was even greater because I was not seeing the full story.

This book tells the continuing story of Kate Adams as she searches for her father and how the secretive plants she has discovered link to why he disappeared. The mystery, suspense, and reminders of truth were combined well, and I appreciated the author’s work at making a mystery “adult” book that I would not be nervous about my teenager reading.

I would recommend this if you are looking for a several day (or hour) diversion. Though, starting with the first two books of this Port Aster Series might make more sense.

 

Join me on Twitter or Google+ and let me know what you are currently enjoying reading. I am always looking for recommendations! and if you are interested you can check out my current reading list on GoodReads.
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