The Long-Lost Book Reviews

Have I mentioned yet that I am a procrastinator? No? Well, I'll get to that sometime.

In the meantime, here are the quick-reviews that I meant to publish, oh, two years ago or so, for some books that I got for my birthday way-back-when. Unfortunately, these books were read so long ago that I can hardly remember some of them.... guess I should read them again! But since that will take another few years of procrastination to accomplish, here's my best for now:

* "Answering the 8 Cries of the Spirited Child (Strong Children Need Confident Parents)" by David and Claudia Arp

This book is beyond awesome - highly recommended for all parents of "hard" children. If you have one, you know what I mean! Can't recommend this book highly enough.

* "We Should Do THIS More Often: A Parents' Guide to Romance, Passion, and Other Pre-child Activities You Vaguely Recall" by Lorilee Craker

From what I remember, this book was hilarious. What it actually said... that, I don't remember so well. Something along the lines of "keep up your marital intimacy after you have kids." I should probably re-read it. I'm sure it was great. Have I mentioned that parenting has apparently caused my brain to collapse into mostly mush?

* "Family Driven Faith: Doing What It Takes to Raise Sons and Daughters Who Walk with God" by Voddie Baucham Jr.

We heard this fellow speak at the homeschool convention two years ago, and he totally rocked our world. When I read his book, my world was rocked again. If you haven't read this book yet, read it! I can't wait to read his other books.

* "You've Got to Be Kidding: Real-Life Parenting Advice from a Mom and Dad of Nineteen" by Pat and Ruth Williams

I'm sure this book is great. Really. But it wasn't for me. Firstly, I was disappointed in the "family of nineteen"bit. Being that I am in the midst of raising littles, I was looking for a book on how to survive the early years, with multiple kidlets in diapers, dealing with tantrums and terrible twos, etc. - but found that all but one or two of the kids in this family were adopted as older children. So they didn't even deal with the terrible twos! That was a bit of a let-down. Secondly, I'm sure the advice is good, but it comes across as trite, conventional, and preachy. Annoyingly so. Again, I'm sure it's great - just not for me.

* "The Home Team: Spiritual Practices for a Winning Family" by Nate Adams

Another book that I'm sure is great... but I could not get past the first chapter (or even through it) without falling asleep from sheer boredom. I think it was the sports theme - sports can put me to sleep faster than about anything. So definitely give it a try if you're interested - as for me, I finally gave up after five or so tries and donated it to the library.

* "Common Sense Parenting: The Essentials of Building a Christian Family" by Kent and Barbara Hughes

Absolutely awesome. So very, very, very good! Buy this book! (And I should go read it again so I can remember what's so awesome about it!!!) Seriously, a great book.