She's Got Issues by Nicole Unice

I've got issues.  You've got issues.  We've all got issues.  And guess what?  It's normal!  What's not normal is to continue living with our issues once we come to the realization that we've got them.  In She's Got Issues by Nicole Unice, the author helps us to recognize our issues.  Whether is be an issue with comparing ourselves to others or being insecure, she gives great advice on what each issue looks like in a person's life, as well as how to begin steps on how to overcome them.  Her writing style is comfortable and non-judgmental, as if she's our best friend having a heart-to-heart chat with us.  No matter what our issues are, she gently informs us on how our issues are negatively affecting us and others around us and ultimately she guides back to the One who created us.  She shows the reader how to put our faith, trust, and insecurities in God and let go of all of our issues.

I really enjoyed reading this book.  It's full of great information and was very enlightening to me.  I have struggled with insecurity and comparison as two of my main issues for as long as I can remember.  By reading this book, Nicole has helped me understand how detrimental these issues are for me and how vital it is for me to over come them.  The first step was admitting to myself that I did indeed possess these issues and this was a ton easier to do after reading Nicole's accounts of her own issues.  The book has many stories based on Nicole's counseling sessions with numerous women who had issues too.  The need for authenticity among women is crucial nowadays.  If we aren't authentic then we will feel isolated; as if we are the only one who struggles with these issues.  If only we knew just how many women have the same struggles we do!  Once we overcome our own issues, we then can start to help others to overcome theirs!
This book would be great for any woman, young or old!  

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for this honest review.

What Your Husband Isn't Telling You by David Murrow

Ever wonder what on earth your husband is thinking sometimes?  Yeah, me too.  I couldn't wait to get my hands on a copy of What Your Husband Isn't Telling You:  A Guided Tour Of A Man's Body, Soul, and Spirit by David Murrow!  And I'm glad I did!  This book is full of (not-so) top secret information about men and what makes them tick physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  And it's true because it's coming straight from the author's mouth...who is also a man!  The information answered so many of my questions about my husband...mainly things that drove we crazy!  And if gave me some information about my husband that I wasn't really ready for.  For example, did you know that when your husband enters a room full of other couples, he checks out all the wives in the room to see who has the best one and dubs the husband of said woman a stud?  Me neither.  That really made me feel pressured to be the one that he decides is the hottest compared to all the rest!  I asked my husband if this were true of him and he said yes! And ladies, our personal appearance ranks pretty high on our hubby's expectations for us, so throw away those sweat pants!

The book was truly eye-opening for me and has given me a better understanding and appreciation for my husband, and for men in general.  So many of what I thought were my husband's quirks that irritated me actually originated from his deep-centered need to provide.  How can I get irritated with a husband who wants to provide for his family?  This book has given me an entirely new outlook on what my husband does and says.  God wired men in this way and we need to embrace their differences instead of using them as a source of tension.    

How We Love Our Kids by Milan & Kay Yerkovich

I just finished reading How We Love Our Kids by Milan & Kay Yerkovich and let me start off by saying that I really enjoyed this book!  It was a huge eye-opener for me.  I knew my husband and I had completely different parenting styles and this book confirmed it!  The book explains the 5 love styles of parenting, but it goes much further than that.  It also explains why we parent that way, which is mostly due to the style of parenting our own parents used to parents us. 

In this book, the authors encourage us not to look at our children's behaviors, but our own.  We need to identify our personal parenting style, then work to correct those areas that need correcting in ourselves, not our children.  They have seen in their own lives how, by changing their own behaviors and reacting to our children differently than we normally would, their children's behaviors also changed.  Many of our children's less-than-lovely behaviors directly stem from how we are parenting them.  As a parent it's so easy to just pass the blame onto our kids, but the problem really does start with us.

In addition to helping us recognize our parenting style, they authors also help us to realize the effects that our particular parenting style has on our children and who they will become.  They identify several different "styles" of children such as the Avoider, the Pleaser, the Vacillator,  the Controller/Victim Child and several more.  Once we identify the types of children we have, we then can use the tips in this book to help connect to our children by understanding them better.

I think this is a great book for parents of both young and old children, as well as those who have yet to have children.  The sooner we can recognize how we parent, the sooner we can begin cultivating a more meaningful relationship with them.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for this honest review.