This morning I woke up on my couch – where I’d moved in the middle of the night after getting annoyed at the rain dripping on me from the little skylight over my bed. The adventures of camper living continue and I’m thankful for a warm and dry place to sleep.
Last night I set my alarm for 6:00 so I could make sure I’d get in blogging time before leaving for work at 8:30. My routine has been a bit off recently and yesterday was the first time in several weeks where I felt like I was back in the swing of things.
Do any of you thrive on routine? And if so, do you have recommendations of how to thrive even when there isn’t routine? Because I seriously need help sometimes. 😉
And now, a review:
THE STATS:
Find the book on: Amazon and Goodreads
Pages: 192
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
Release Date: January 7, 2020
Title: The Art of Friendship
Nonfiction
ABOUT THE BOOK
In this age of limitless digital connections, we are somehow lonelier than ever. This isn’t just bad news–it’s dangerous news. Loneliness puts us at greater health risk than smoking or obesity, but we would sooner label ourselves overweight than admit we are lonely. It is a secret that is killing us.
Contrary to all our efforts, the answer is not found in more connections, but deeper ones that mirror God himself as the originator of friendship and the original Friend. The Art of Friendship walks with you into a greater understanding of how God has equipped you to be a friend and to have meaningful friendships. With step-by-step guidance, you will begin to strategize how to fulfill your divine calling as a friend. And through God’s Word, as you come to understand the depth and width and breadth of God as Friend, you will discover that the spiritual discipline of friendship is both life-changing and life-giving.
WHY I CHOOSE THIS BOOK
Friendship – I’m learning more about it. The ins, the outs, and what place it has in my life.
WHAT I THOUGHT ABOUT THIS BOOK
The first half of the book was solid for me – I would have happily given it four stars and was looking forward to continuing to read. Then the second half of the book ended up not really hitting the right chords for me and I had a harder time getting through it.
Three Pros:
-The author writes in a real, amusing, identifiable way. She has hard-hitting truths, funny anecdotes, practical advice, and biblical examples. She seems like she’s lived an interesting life, and I felt like I got to know her through the pages of her book.
-The first half of the book talks about what friendship is, the importance of friendship (including looking at what the Bible has to say about it), how to be a friend, and things we can work on in our own lives. I flew through this part and appreciated it a lot.
-The overall message of the book was an uplifting look at friendship and how we can build deep and enduring friendships in an age when “friends” are sometimes considered to be a number on social media. She also talks a lot about what it means to love in the way that the Bible tells us to, and that was encouraging.
Three Cons:
-The second half of the book is when I stopped nodding my head and agreeing with most of what I was reading. She talked about friendship like a menu where you choose your various friends like you’d choose a meal in a restaurant. Her example probably has merit and holds up when you dig deeper, but it just felt really weird to me and I didn’t like the idea behind it.
– Most of the time I felt like she had a balanced view on friendship, but sometimes in the second half of the book it seemed like she was saying “Be a good friend so people will be a good friend to you”. And while there isn’t anything wrong with wanting people to be a good friend to you, I felt like the attitude behind why we should be a good friend felt off.
-She talks about “Covenant Friendship” like what David and Jonathan had. And, while I agree with some of what she said, she went to an extreme that I don’t agree with.
CONCLUSION
I appreciate the first half of the book, but I don’t agree with everything in the second half. I wouldn’t discourage people from reading it, but it’s not a book that I’m giving a huge recommendation. Still, it’s a neat look at friendships.
RATING
I’m giving The Art of Friendship 3 out of 5 stars. I’m so thankful for the generosity of Bethany House Publishers for sending me a copy of this book so I could review it and share it with y’all.
Noveltea 