Sunday, October 6, 2019

The DIY Guide to Building A Family that Lasts by Gary Chapman and Shannon Warden




Dr. Chapman is a well familiar name when it comes to topics of love and relationship. So it really wasn't a surprise to see him and co-author Shannon Warden diving into the topic of family life and the 12 areas they felt were most represented by families looking for positive change in their homes.

The book itself follows a very reader friendly format. Comprised of 12 chapters (plus intro and epilogue) each chapter is broken down into an introduction, a planning section, diy, all-in section, review/sweat equity, reveal/conclusion, and questions for reflection. The break down makes each section easy to follow in its repetition and easy for reference once the book has been finished. Stylistically, I felt the authors found a good balance in their working styles, the material certainly reads as a unified front rather than two voices combating the issue on different fronts.

The material itself was interesting. In all honesty, there wasn't any new information within the text. Chapman and Warden have written a self-help guide filled with basic, common sense information so that a family needing help can access and implement the information without creating more issues. This book isn't meant to be a crisis recovery but rather a helping hand for families wanting home life to be more joyful and fulfilling in the everyday and they stay within that bracket well. I do feel as a result some chapters (namely the one on forgiveness) end up a little over simplified, I'm assuming they were operating under the idea that more complex families or those in crisis would be seeking a professional to help them nuance things into their own context.

Overall, it's a great little intro that's easy to read and gives some solid advice to the everyday family who wants to be more impactful in their day to day.


 4 out of 5 stars


I received this book from Moody Publishing in exchange for my honest opinion, the views expressed are my own.

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