I Quit! Stop Pretending Everything is Fine and Change Your Life by Geri Scazzero with Peter Scazzero

As Geri Scazzero explains in her book, I Quit! Stop Pretending Everything is Fine and Change Your Life, quitting is vital to gaining a healthy spiritual and psychological state. Quitting is not simply admitting defeat, but rather "dying to the things that are not of God." Over the eight chapters of her book, Scazzero outlines the areas in her life in which she needed to finally quit: being afraid of what others think, lying to herself and others, dying to the wrong things, denying natural emotions, blaming herself and others, overfunctioning, faulty thinking, and living someone else's life.

Overall, I Quit! is a great guide that teaches readers to give up the things in life that are draining happiness and threatening relationships. Scazzero's advice is practical, and can easily be implemented into real life situations. Although the book is geared toward Christians, secular readers can easily benefit from it. Scazzero addresses God and religion, as well as the need for deep prayer. However, the majority of the book offers self-help advice and anecdotes from her personal life. At times, the numerous personal stories were a bit distracting. Many, however, contributed because they illustrated how Scazzero's quitting method improved her life significantly.

One of my favorite sections of the book examined the nine Enneagram personality types. These are the perfectionist, the giver, the achiever, the romantic, the observer, the dutiful, the adventurer, the asserter, and the peacemaker. While each of these personality types appear positive, they are actually unconstructive, and must be given up in order to live the life intended for us by God. Like all other problems addressed in her book, Scazzero provides a useful solution for each of these problematic personality types. I highly recommend this book to others.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Zondervan as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Naomi and Her Daughters by Walter Wangerin Jr

Walter Wangerin Jr creates a fictionalized retelling of the Book of Ruth in his novel, Naomi and her Daughters (2010). Having no daughters, Naomi raises an abused girl name Milcah. Sadly, Milcah is murdered on her wedding night. Naomi suffers more loss when her husband and two sons are killed during the war. Naomi’s only surviving family consists of her daughter-in-law, Ruth. The novel explores Ruth’s deep love for her mother-in-law.

Each chapter of Wangerin’s novel alternates between the past and present. Since the novel covers a vast period of time (over thirty years), this structure helps to move the novel along. The reader is thrust immediately into an action filled plot. Background information is given as the novel switches to the past. While this makes the plot more entertaining, it also makes the novel somewhat difficult to follow.

The book is very well-written. The battle scenes are vividly described. Wangerin gives a chilling description of what actually takes place on the battlefield and its aftermath. I felt as if I was with Naomi as she walked through the fields treating the injured and burying the dead. Wangerin use of violence is well-employed and justified.

Since Naomi and her Daughters is a fictionalized retelling of the Old Testament story, it does not follow exactly the same as the original. Some of the characters and details are altered. Still, Wangerin’s work does not stray too far from the Biblical text. Overall, I would recommend this book to others. The language and plot are beautifully constructed.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Zondervan as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."