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Welcome to my weekly book update post where I share what books I read this past week + my honest thoughts and star ratings of them.
A Word on My Star Ratings
The star ratings I give the books I read are based on a 5-star rating system. I rarely will ever give a book a 1-star rating (maybe never?), because my philosophy is that if a book is only worthy of one star, I’m more than likely going to quit reading it. 🙂 In the same vein, you’ll also notice that I’ll rarely give a 5-star rating as I reserve those for only my very, very favorite books.
Want to see all of the books I’ve read so far this year? Check out my Good Reads page.
Last week, I finished one book and here’s my review…
This book has been on my radar and one I’ve heard about for a number of years. While I’ve been a fan of Sally Clarkson’s books and have read almost all of them, for some reason, I had never read this one by her husband.
I think this quote from the book, sums up the heart of its message: “We often aim our disciplinary efforts at the wrong target. We set our sights on stopping and changing a child’s wrong behavior and we miss the real target of shaping and influencing the heart, which is the source of the wrong behavior.”
A big portion of this book centers on the topic of physical discipline and whether it is Biblical or not. I appreciated the way that the author brought in a lot of different verses and cultural context to explain his position. Whether you agree with his conclusions or not, it will make you think and examine the way that you approach discipline in your parenting.
Overall, I felt there were a lot of worthwhile sections in the book. However, while the book promises to not be prescriptive, I felt that the section on media and entertainment was pretty black and white and bordering on prescriptive.
While I definitely think we should be careful and prayerful about what influences we allow in our home and in our kids’ lives, I don’t think we can make hard and fast rules about what all families should do when it comes to media. I believe it really depends upon the family, the child, the situation, and the form of media. I also feel that if we set up hard and fast rules for what is right and wrong in this area, we can become very critical and judgmental of other families who don’t adhere to our personal convictions.
Note: The book I read was an older edition. Some of these things could have been changed in the newer additions.
Verdict: 3 stars
What have you read recently? I’d love to hear! Tell us in the comments!
