Have you ever bought a book because you KNEW you needed to read it... and then it just sat there? Yeah, I'm speaking from my own experience there. I am horrible about purchasing a book and plan on reading it and then I let "life" get in the way (that will change- I'm making a goal to read one chapter of a book before I go to bed every night). A few weeks ago I was on Facebook one morning before work and saw that Pete Wilson (a pastor in Nashville, TN) had posted a status about a new book that was out. It was written by a lady in his church and was not his typical shout out because it was written by a single woman- Mandy Hale. In fact, the title of the book is: The Single Woman- Life, Love, and a Dash of Sass. I found out that our local Christian bookstore carried the book so I bebopped myself over there that weekend and picked one up (the last one on the shelf I might add). I read the forward that night and was totally intrigued. She started out by talking about her journey to writing the book, starting The Single Woman twitter page and a FB page. She mentions how society tends to pigeonhole single women and want to "meddle" in their lives (whether it's intentional or not) and how as a single woman we need to "plan to celebrate my life for the party that it is, even if Prince Charming never does RSVP." (that part made me laugh)
The book is divided into 8 parts and I originally planned on reviewing the whole book tonight. However, in full disclosure- I am attempting to win a giveaway girls weekend at a Yoga Retreat in West Virginia. The post needed to be up and I knew I wasn't going to finish the whole book on time. So, what I decided to do instead was to write an overall review and then break each section down with the highlights on different days. They won't be days all in a row because there's just so much I can get done and have a life too :) LOL Plus, there's some GOOD stuff in here and I want to give it the attention it deserves.
Now- on with my thoughts... First, this book does not start overtly Christian-there are references to God and his creation of us, as well as His plan for our lives. However, the further you go in the book- the more meaty it gets and really touched my heart. It is still a light read but lots to think on and pray about. I have tons of parts underlined and marked with papers to go back and quote/reread/journal about. The best thing- I can totally use this book in my health coaching. Part of what I want to do is provide resources for people (especially women) to help them have a healthy life. As I mentioned in my post on Letting Go of my singleness- the spiritual/emotional aspect are integral parts of that. This book will provide me the resource to pass on to any single women that I end up coaching. I have been there, the author has been there, and words of wisdom and reflection are always a good thing. No, it may not be nutrition based but it definitely deals with the emotional side of life. IIN uses a term called "crowding in"- basically it means that you crowd in the good as you remove/let go of the "bad". It can be used in all settings- Mandy deals with that in one of the sections on relationships/friendships.
So, even though I am not finished with it- I can't wait to complete this book and write more detailed reviews on each section. Would I recommend this book? YES I would-to single woman and even to married woman who are friends with singles. If you are a single woman or know one- consider this book as a gift- I have a couple of people already in mind to pass this book along to!
My goal- is to live my life with a dash of sass :) LOL and I look forward to sharing more about this book with you.
I have linked The Single Woman's twitter and FB page up above but here is more about Mandy including her blog and other info: The Single Woman
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