100 Ways to Love Your Husband by Lisa Jacobson | RE:View

Couples with great marriages know one simple truth: the best marriages are made up of many everyday decisions that say, "I love you" rather than those that say, "I love me." 

Brave is the New Beautiful by Lee Wolfe Blum | Re:View

Powerful and inspiring, Brave Is the New Beautiful will draw you in with true-life stories that showcase real women with real struggles and a real God who is there to heal, comfort, and empower. 

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Lee Wolfe Blum proposes a new and powerful definition of beauty in Brave is the new beautiful. Her focus on "finding the courage to be the real you" is a message all women need to hear no matter their life situation, age, status, or past.

What first intrigued me about this book, aside from the eye-catching title, was the fact that Lee used stories from women that she had known to create the majority of her content. As someone who loves reading biographies and real-life stories, I was really intrigued to see how Lee would incorporate the stories into a book that was devotional in nature.

@createexploreread

Each chapter is titled with a single word like Hoping, Belonging, and Trusting etc., and mingles Lee's personal history in counseling, her mental health work, and personal struggles along with stories from women she's come in contact with. Then, at the end of each chapter, there are "For Reflection" questions which make this a great tool for Bible studies and group sessions.

This book is powerful. Not all of the stories told are wrapped up with a happy little bow on top or told in a way to make you feel good about yourself. Instead, they depict real life and encourage you to ask God the hard questions without fear knowing that He will answer you. I was brought to tears many times during the course of reading this and found myself craving the next chapter to see what else Lee had to say. I think this was (at least in part) due to the fact that Lee is very open in this book, detailing her own struggles with a frank honesty that is refreshing and encouraging.

I think this quote sums up the focus of the book perfectly:

"Be vulnerable. Be real. Be raw and let your naked bravery shine bright. In doing so, you help others see hope. You help others have faith. That is brave. That is beautiful."
(Brave is the new Beautiful, page 215)

I highly recommend this book to all women! It would be perfect in a small group setting (or even a slightly larger group). With a focus on being raw and honest with one another, I think women could truly see lies exposed, walls broken down, and true, beautiful bravery as the result of reading and discussing this book along with prayer and Bible reading.

My rating: 4.5*
Purchase: Brave is the New Beautiful

Book Description
(from Amazon)

In a culture that bombards women with "thinspiration" messages and pressure to "do it all" while wearing the mask of perfection, women are left feeling alone and overwhelmed. How can they stop comparing themselves to others? How can they live out who they really are?

Lee Wolfe Blum offers stories from everyday women who have answered these questions with their lives—and found true beauty in the process. In Brave Is the New Beautiful, Blum weaves reflections from her own journey with inspirational stories from everyday women who chose to take off their masks and live authentically. Through call-to-action questions and ideas, she encourages readers to be brave enough to be who they really are and the beloved that God knows they are.

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I received this book for free but was under no obligation to post a review. I do so under my own motivation and the opinions I have expressed in this review are honest and entirely my own.

Tying the Knot by Rob Green | RE:View

A complete guide to premarital counseling with Christ at the center! 

Before anyone asks, no I'm not getting married. As silly as this will sound, I didn't realize this was a premarital counseling book. (Um yes, hello Emilie can you read?) I realize now it says that right on the cover but you guys know me and the fact I hardly ever read the back of books before I decide read them. And hey - I look at reading things like this as information for the future and extremely helpful to think through. I also find it helpful in my own personal walk with Christ and as a type of research for characters too. So, all around a bonus!

With that said, I really enjoyed this book. I feel like Rob did a great job of outlining each chapter and making it understandable for couples. He touched on super important topics like finances, conflict, church community, and many other things. The best part, in my opinion, is how Jesus-central it was! I felt like he did a great job keeping everything solidly rooted in scripture.

Rob also included really helpful questions at the end of each chapter that would help each person dig down deep. The examples he includes of he and his wife as well as couples he has counseled were also very helpful. He includes a section for mentors at the back too, so that's really great, especially if you're new to being a premarital counselor.

All around, if you are a counselor, looking to be a mentor for premarital counseling, or interested in premarital counseling for you and your significant other, this is definitely the book for  you. You can rest assured the advice will be sound, the conversation stimulating, and the guidance always toward the Lord and His plan for marriage.

Rating: 5*
Purchase: Tying the Knot

Book Description
(from Amazon)

Advised by both tellers of fairy tales and harbingers of doom, many engaged couples simply don’t know what to expect from marriage, so they focus their anxious energies on the wedding day. Rob Green, a pastor, counselor, and veteran of many premarital counseling sessions, shares that the joy, fun, companionship, and love couples hope for before marriage are not only possible, they are actually God’s plan for marriage. But none of these wonderful things happen automatically when you tie the knot. A strong and satisfying marriage must be intentionally built on Jesus.

Tying the Knot offers soon-to-be-married couples a practical vision of Christ-centered marriage that is realistic, hopeful, and actionable. This nine-session study guides couples through issues like conflict, expectations, communication, finances, and intimacy, showing how each can be successfully resolved with Christ at the center of the marriage.

Knowing the stresses and needs of a couple in their season of engagement, Green has helpfully designed the study to require a manageable (and healthy) 60 minutes of at-home work per session, with questions and exercises to build communication and intimacy at the end of each chapter. Tying the Knot also includes an appendix for mentors, making it easy for a married couple, lay leader, or counselor to lead an engaged couple through the book.

Field-tested and recommended by multiple counselors in a thriving counseling practice, Tying the Knot has already guided many couples into a stronger and more joyful union. Let this nine-week premarriage study reorient your life and marriage around Christ, so you both will experience all the blessings of marriage as God designed it.

• Presents a day-to-day vision of Christ-centered marriage that is realistic, hopeful, and practical • Demonstrates clearly—in just nine chapters or sessions—how issues like conflict, expectations, communication, finances, and intimacy can only be successfully and satisfyingly approached with Christ at the center of a marriage • Field tested and recommended by multiple counselors in a thriving counseling practice • Highly practical and accessible for couples, requires about 60 minutes of weekly at-home work • Includes chapter-by-chapter exercises and questions for couples to do separately and together to build communication and intimacy • Includes an appendix for mentors to guide couples through the book

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I received a free copy of this book for review purposes, but was under no obligation to read the book or post a review. I do so under my own motivation and the opinions I have expressed in this review are honest and entirely my own.

Dating Like Airplanes by Caleb Breakey | RE:View

You've always heard it's good to fall in love. In his book Dating like Airplanes, Caleb Breakey challenges this thought and instead asks couples (and those who may someday be in a relationship) to consider flying instead.

Initially, I was intrigued by the books tagline: "Why just fall in love when you can fly?" I think I thought it sounded like a good idea, but I was curious to see just how Breakey would handle the explanation of that. What does it mean to fly into (and through) love?

Breakey breaks up his book into three sections: Falling in Love, What Your Other Needs Most, and Flying. As I dug into the book I found it to be heavily focused on keeping Christ at the center of the relationship - no matter what stage the relationship was in. I really appreciated this focus because too often I've seen authors try and fix problems without getting to the heart of the matter. The key ingredient in any solid relationship is having Christ as the foundation upon which everything is built.

Breakey takes his readers through many different scenarios, always keeping things practical and applicable. He also is open and honest about the troubles you could face in any relationship. At the end of some of the chapters in Part 2 he also has included sections called, "Ask Those Who Fly". These were a highlight because you were able to hear from many different couples on the topics discussed in the chapters and how they succeeded (or sometimes failed) in the things the chapter discussed.

Overall, I found the book to be helpful and entertaining. I would recommend it to anyone who is currently in a relationship or who plans to be in one some day. This would be a great book to go over in a small group of high school or college students because of how well Breakey handles to topic of love in todays culture.

You may not want to fall in love, but you'll definitely fall for this book ;)

Purchase Dating Like Airplanes {here}
P.S. As of this post the Kindle edition is only $4.61 - a great deal!

Book description: 
*Description taken from Breakey's website

It's no secret: falling in love can be hard. Falling in love can leave you hurt, confused, and emotionally paralyzed. But what if you could fly instead of fall?

Join author Caleb Breakey as he charts a new way of dating that's intentional, determined, and ascends to the kind of romance you so desire but seriously doubt possible. It doesn't matter whether you've broken every relationship bone in your body or if you're emotionally whole. In Dating Like Airplanes, all that matters is your willingness to take flight and encounter the greatest romance of all.

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I received a free copy of this book for review purposes, but was under no obligation to read the book or post a review. I do so under my own motivation and the opinions I have expressed in this review are honest and entirely my own.