Friday, May 19, 2017

Nonfiction mini-reviews Keeping Place and The Parents' Guide to Boys

The Israelites wandered through the wilderness before finally getting home. In the 21st century, we look for our homes too as many of us change addresses every few years. Jen Pollock Michel proposes that we search for home precisely because we can't find it on this earth; while we can do the work of homemaking here, we won't truly be at home until we are reunited with God.

The first half of the book is about why home is so important to us and the second focuses on the work of home--the things we do to make a comfortable and inviting place in our houses, within our families, and in our church communities. I loved that Michel clarified that this book was not just about women and women's work; rather, this is work for all people. It's about who we are and where we belong. Michel combines research, Scripture, and her own experiences of moving and looking for community to write a book that will resonate with every reader who is longing for a place to feel at home.

Keeping Place
By Jen Pollock Michel
IVP Books May 2017
237 pages
Read via Netgalley


Abigail Norfleet James is the mother of a son and a teacher at a school for boys. She often wondered if boys learn in unique ways and so she set out to do some research and record her own experiences about boys in school. In this book, James parses the ways that boys and girls learn differently and then takes parents from infancy through high school with tips for ensuring that your son gets the most out of his education.

This book is described as advice for helping your son through school but a majority of the book tells parents to stay out of it, especially as your son gets older (which is good advice). But this leaves readers with a book on the longer side that is full of general parenting info that you probably already know. So, if you are just starting out on this crazy journey of reading through parenting books, this guide will probably have some wisdom for you. Otherwise, I might use that limited reading time before the kids need another drink of water or want to come sleep in your bed to read something else.


The Parents' Guide to Boys:
Help Your Son Get the Most Out of School and Life
By Abigail Norfleet James
Live Oak Book Company April 2012
338 pages
Read via Netgalley

1 comment:

  1. That's good book which is easy to understand the parents about the guidelines of their child. I truly happy about the novel of Abigail and james but now I can get best essay help uk which is easier to find out unique task. Keep it up!

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