More Reviews

I am totally loving not having a 9 to 5 job because I finally have the time to write more (working on a book that I'll probably self-publish, articles, chapters in other books) AND I have the time to read what I what to read. Two other books I recently read are "Yup, Nope, Maybe: A Woman's Guide to Getting More Out of the Language of Men" and "Does This Dress Make Me Look Fat? A Man's Guide to the Loaded Questions Women Ask" by Stephen James and David Thomas.

These books were printed to be companion guides to each other, although you certainly can read one without the other. I liked the small size of each book, it almost looked like a handy dandy notebook to carry with you when you were having a gender flare up.

In some regards, you would think that books like these are needed because the church as well as society in general still have gender battles revolving around roles, differences, relationships, SALARY.  With the new affluence and power of women in comparison to that of men, there has been and will continue to be much 'reversal of roles.'  Women are earning more advanced degrees than men and we have organizations that promote equality for women in church and society. Organizations such as Christians for Biblical Equality which promote what I also believe the Bible teaches that there is full equality of men and women in Creation and in Redemption (Gen 1:26-28, 2:23, 5:1-2; 1Cor 11:11-12; Gal 3:13, 28, 5:1).

With all this in mind, I opened up the books with an open mind to see what these guys had to contribute to the conversation. What follows is what I liked and didn't like about them:

Liked

1. size - easy to carry, put in purse, glove compartment, etc.
2. concept - with all the gender discussions think it was a good idea to have these books
3. titles - catchy
4. author tone - not preachy, not angry, but seemed authentically interested in reader
5. down-to-earth, kind of face-to-face feel to narrative
6. The list of tips at the end of each chapter

Disliked

1. Hard to follow and stay interested because of all the back and forth of "their" stories woven into the fabric of the book while they were often funny I wanted them to get to the point already

Being that Sunday is Mother's Day and that on the 18th of May I will celebrate 17 years of marriage with Hiram (19 years total together), I figured I share some of the nuggets the authors shared in the Man's Guide (which is the book I liked the best, maybe because I still couldn't decode the manspeak after reading their book for women on men)...men out there learn this asap if you haven't already!

• When a woman asks "Do I look fat?" she is really asking you Am I lovely? She is looking for confirmation of who she is because as the man in her life, your words are powerful.
• When a woman asks "Do you think that girl is pretty?" [which authors say would be asked of guys with wandering eyes or women who are insecure] they are really asking "Do you see me? Do you see the beauty in me? Am I worth another glance?

There are other loaded questions with the author intrepretations in the book "Does This Dress Make Me Look Fat?" as well as Code Dismantling in "Yup, Nope, Maybe". I think these are great giveaway books to people in the twenty-something range.