For Men Only?

There is a certain curiosity that seems to be inherent in each person. Even though we are all human, we want to know why the opposite sex does what they do, especially since what they do seems so, well, opposite, to us. Shaunti Feldhahn released a book for women called For Women Only that tackled one side of this question. I read it as a very young woman and found that there wasn't a lot for me to connect to. I wasn't married or in a relationship and I didn't have a need to understand men on the level she was writing about them. When she and her husband came out with For Men Only a little later, I picked it up for a different reason. I wanted to know what they were saying about me. I figured that at some point I might meet someone who had read this book and I wanted to make sure that it was based in a certain amount of fact. When this book came up as a choice for review, I jumped at it. Reading it all those years ago changed a lot of the ways that I understood myself. Something simple like knowing that guys can think about one thing at a time, and knowing that will never be possible for me were so insightful. That said, this book is filled, necessarily with generalizations. My second time through it caused me to think more about the things that weren't quite accurate for me. This was a sharp contrast from my first time reading the book. I wanted to give it out to men like candy. Having read it twice, I now think that both of these responses are valid. This book did help me understand myself better and be able to more clearly describe some of the ways that I tick, this is a valuable tool in communication with anyone. It also reminded me that each gender has many permutations. It would be simple to say: this is how a guy thinks...or vice versa. I don't think that this is what the Feldhahns are trying to accomplish here. As a woman, I see this as a great conversation starter and I look forward to going back to it again as life continues to change.

If you appreciated my review, I'd appreciate your rating using this link! You can also read chapter 1 here!

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.