Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Stress Point: A Book Review

I just entered the second half of my twenties on Sunday.

Deep breath. I need a moment. Or maybe I need another cookie. Yeah. That usually helps.

Okay, so I'm not actually having a quarterlife crisis. To be honest, I'm enjoying my mid-twenties even more than my early twenties. Somehow I've gotten past the stress of those early years-- the pressures of college, expectations, perfectionism, relationships. The years have shaped and softened me like waves on a rock. I've gained a confidence in Christ more than my own abilities. I've learned to care less what others think. And I've begun to let go more. I've traveled to some cool places, met tons of neat people, and grown closer to the Lord (at least I hope so!).

The twenties are a great decade.

But author Sarah Francis Martin knows what she's talking about when she calls them a "decade of drama."

In her book, Stress Point: Thriving Through Your 20s in a Decade of Drama, Sarah covers many of the topics that can create stress (good or bad) as we adventure through this season-- money, friends, dating, family, independence, self-image. When I first saw this book, I was thrilled. I'm a closet fan of the so-called genre of self-help books and this one seemed perfect! Written for Christian twentysomething women...why, that would be me! But because I'm giving my honest thoughts here, I do have to say the book didn't quite meet my expectations.

What I did like: Great topics. Beautiful messages. Lots of journaling/digging deeper room to write.

What I didn't like as much: I felt that somehow the way it was written was at times generic, abstract or typical, rather than fresh and unique. It was encouraging and beautiful, but I can't say it really pushed me to think in a new way or grow in the areas above.

Perhaps it just wasn't the right book at the right time.

Final thought: I did really appreciate the perspective of the author and the way she continually pointed twentysomething women to Christ-- to keep Him first despite the sometimes turbulent drama of the 20s.

[Thank you to Booksneeze for providing this book for me at no cost. My review contains my honest and original thoughts.]

4 comments:

  1. Happy belated birthday! It's always annoying when a book just doesn't meet your expectations, who knows you might have found a niche for a possible book to write yourself?? :)

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    1. Thanks for the b-day wishes, Claire! And hmmm...writing a book is on my bucket list...so maybe someday! ;)

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  2. This was interesting to read, as someone who's just started the first half of my twenties! You write with a lot of insight in a way that's fun to read :) And if it makes you feel any better, even Jesus went through his twenties. Sure, he died shortly afterwards, but it wasn't because he was worn out from all the drama.

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    1. Well, thank you, Miss Abigail! And good point about Jesus--how interesting to think about Him in his twenties and how comforting to know He's gone before us. :)

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