Blog Challenge: Day Twenty Eight - Book Recommendations

So as most of you could have guessed, my blog challenge has only been a small part of a larger endeavor for me to overcome some negative things in my life and yet again become a better person. Part of that task requires that I seek counsel (through prayer, scripture study, and sessions with my bishop), find ways to put more trust in myself and my spouse (communication), and backing it all up with a greater knowledge and a deeper understanding (reading and researching). I have read two books that I want to recommend to all of my readers that have really helped me grow and gain a better understanding of overcoming and/or embracing our individual weaknesses to become better people.

First:

Lost in Translation: How Men and Women Can Understand Each Other
by Dr. Steve Stephens



Okay, I bought this at the dollar store, thinking it would be a joke in the end. The man has good insight and a lot of common sense along with his title of marital psychologist and counselor. He discusses differences between husbands and wives through gender and personality differences, and how we can understand (and ultimately love) one another more. His views are 80% common sense mixed with 20% religious obligation and spiritual understanding. It's good to have a psychological understanding of our spouses, and I learned a lot about myself in the process.


Second:

Standing For Something: 10 Neglected Virtues that Will Heal Our Hearts and Homes
by Gordon B. Hinckley



First, I have not finished the book yet. I still have one more chapter to go. But it has had a profound impact on me, so I am recommending it before I finish it. He touches on all aspects of our character that can be refined and give us joy through life. Love, honesty, morality, civility, learning, forgiveness/mercy, thrift/industry, gratitude, optimism, and faith are the virtues he discusses, and then he goes deeper by discussing how marriage and family are the guardians of virtue. It is a deep look at what blessings we can achieve through our good and virtuous traits, and what we stand to lose if we allow ourselves to be swallowed up by the vices of the temporal world. I will walk away from this book feeling a deeper obligation to seek these things, and having a greater appreciation for the blessings I have in my life.


Thanks to all of you for reading and commenting on my blog challenge. I have enjoyed doing this!