I read Madeleine L’Engle’s classic, Newbery-award-winning book A Wrinkle in Time (Madeleine L’Engle’s Time Quintet) for the first time only because it was the assigned book for bookclub.

Unlike my husband, I wasn’t assigned to read it in school. Despite being a voracious reader growing up. Despite loving the fantasy genre, I never voluntarily read it as an adult.

I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it. I liked the character of Meg quite a bit. I liked her younger brother Charles Wallace well enough. I didn’t feel like I got to know Calvin that well, but he was an interesting character. However, nothing about the book got me super excited to find out more about the characters, and what happened to them in later books in the series.

I felt like there were too many occasions where instead of really explaining something, L’Engle instead had one of the “wiser” characters express frustration that the concepts just couldn’t really be explained in words. Jumbled bits of half-explanations were almost given, with the caveat that “There’s some things we just aren’t meant to understand.” It’s okay though, Charles Wallace has such a prodigious intellect that he understands and tells Meg that it’s allright. (yes, that’s sarcasm.)

Some of my frustrations with the book may just be because it was so groundbreaking, things I like and take for granted now were something rare and special, like having a girl be the main character and hero in a science fiction/fantasy novel. Maybe it only seemed so formulaic to me because it set the formula that many other books have followed?

L’Engle includes one of my most-loathed contrivances in children’s literature, the wise adult dismissing children with the equivalent of “you aren’t old enough/mature enough to understand, but meanwhile go off and save the world because you’re the only one(s) who can. You just won’t know what you’re facing.” But of course the wise adults have super-powers and can magically appear just when they’re most needed and/or provide some sort of prop with special qualities that can save the heroes.

There are so many times when I read books that are wildly praised and wonder what’s all the fuss, and this is definitely one of those times. The book was ok, but in no way is it even close to being one of my favorite books of all time, and I know of many people for whom that is the case.

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Getting the most out of your 168 hours takes discipline in a distracted world.

When you focus on what you do best, on what brings you the most satisfaction, there is plenty of space for everything.

In Laura Vanderkam‘s book 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think, her premise is basically the same as in her book All The Money in the World – that everything is about choices and priorities. When we say “yes” to one thing, it means we say “no” to something else. Whether that yes is to spending money on one thing versus another, or using time for one thing instead of another.

Vanderkam does an excellent job of emphasizing prioritizing what you do with your time, so that you are choosing to use your 168 hours every week in a way that gets you closer to your goals and priorities. The book is really less about time-management than prioritizing and discipline. That’s something that everyone can benefit from I believe.

I especially appreciated the section on developing a list of 100 Dreams, and seeing what you could do to make progress towards those dreams. I also thought her suggestion on developing a list of tasks you can do in 30 minutes or less, and a list of ones that you can do in 10 minutes or less was brilliant. I very rarely have any large blocks of time to accomplish things, but I can find 5 – 15 minutes semi-regularly throughout the day.

What else did I like?

I liked that it got me thinking about how I spend my time and how I could better spend it to align with my priorities and goals, instead of frittering it away on insignificant things.

I liked the reminder to think about my time over the course of a week instead of only one day at a time.

I liked the encouragement to re-frame my thinking to “it’s not a priority,” instead of “I don’t have time.”

I liked the examples she gave of people who are accomplishing a lot by really thinking about how they use their time.

I liked the concept of the 100 Dreams List, and the encouragement to take action towards items on that list.

I liked her focus on core competencies (although I would argue with her over her feelings about child care on that list).

I did have one big complaint about the book, and that was that I think she really trivialized the value of being a stay-at-home parent. She seems to relish repeating statistics that stay-at-home moms spend insignificant amounts of extra time on meaningful interactions with their children when compared to full-time working moms.

Her opinion is apparently that mothers should of course work full time (part-time work being no real work-life balance; it allows too little time for work and too much for life). “Quality time” with children for a few hours in the evening and longer hours on weekends provides ample opportunity to nurture those bonds, and daycare or a nanny can easily handle routine care tasks that aren’t a core competency.

Yes, I’m a stay-at-home mom, and yes, I was disappointed in her implication that so much of what I do is meaningless and should be outsourced so that I could focus on my Career (please note the capital-C Career). She explicitly states in the final chapter that the key message of the book is that there is time for anything that matters. I guess I do agree with this premise, I just disagree with her on some of what matters. However, this complaint does not take away from the value I did find in the book.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

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Most men will not invest themselves in anything that does not offer a shot at greatness.

Why Men Hate Going to Church, by David Murrow is a thought-provoking look at why Christian churches have a growing gender gap. Written to call the church back to men, Murrow examines how the church is designed to appeal to it’s largest women through it’s decor, rituals, language, music, and ministries.

I found the background information fascinating – how the church became so feminized throughout history, and the temporary effects of “Muscular Christianity” and the YMCA’s original influence.

Some of his claims about how men think seemed surprising to me, but as I read them to my husband he agreed with every one, and he wanted to continue discussing the rest of the book.

The last section of the book discusses things churches can do to be more appealing to men, with lots of practical advice given to help churches build a place where men want to come and worship. Murrow gives examples of churches that have successfully implemented efforts to attract men, which also led to increasing numbers of women and children attending as well!

I really am thankful for reading the book, for the ideas it’s giving us as we search for a church to call home. We’re both on the hunt for a “man-friendly” church, and hope we find one soon.

Disclosure: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. This post contains affiliate links.

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What people do with their money is a choice, and those choices reflect our priorities….Money spent on one thing is money not spent on something else, and those choices have consequences for our happiness and the happiness of those we vow to love.

I expected to like the book All the Money in the World: What the Happiest People Know About Getting and Spending.

What I wasn’t so sure about is how useful I’d find it. I consider myself fairly financially smart. I’m careful about my spending. Growing up, my dad preached opportunity cost regularly, and opportunity cost, that money (or time) spent on one thing cannot be spent on something else is something I regularly consider when we make our financial choices (especially the big ones.) Author Laura Vanderkam believes that the people who are the “happiest about money operate under three premises of wealth,” and all three are premises I think I follow.

Even so, I was very glad I read the book and found it thoughtful and inspiring. I often err on the side of saving too much; stockpiling my money and debating with myself over what I want most. The book helped me to think about what will make me (and also my family) happiest both day-to-day, and long-term.

Vanderkam is a terrific writer and great at explaining how money is just a tool – a means to an end. And that end can be whatever makes us happiest. She bucks conventional money advice that so often suggests trimming grocery budgets and instead emphasizes sweating the big stuff – housing and transportation costs – where you’ll see more of an impact.

Despite having just moved last year, into a much bigger house with a bigger yard and lawn, I still enjoyed the section on thinking about how much you really want more lawn to mow, and more square footage to clean. It made me glad that we had been thoughtful as we house shopped, and really considered what we wanted and needed in our next home. For our family right now and in the foreseeable future, this house fits our needs and makes us happy.

The book made me very reflective of lots of the choices I’ve made in the past. Despite my dad’s encouragement to choose a different career (or that might have been because of it), I chose very poorly when it came to a career path that would reward me financially. (Seriously. Do not ever go into the library or museum field for the money. Because it’s not there.) Many of her suggestions about increasing income instead of working on frugality measures that make you unhappy felt like they would be a lot easier to apply if I’d made some different choices years ago.

My children aren’t at an age yet where allowances are an issue, but I appreciated her discussion of what the research shows regarding kids and money. It’s definitely something I’ve been thinking a lot about, because I want our children to be smart with money and appreciate it.

I think this book would be a great choice for a discussion, and as I read each chapter I was thinking of how tempting it is to use the topics covered as a springboard for a blog series.

I highly recommend this book, and am eager to read her first book, 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think. The underlying philosophy in both books is apparently the same, that we have a choice in how we spend both our time and our money, and we have to consider opportunity cost. I’m excited to see if the first book gives me any ideas on how to maximize my time in my current season of life.

(And, as a former history major, I also loved the historical details she provides on how spending on some items became so common. I never knew the history behind diamond engagement rings and was fascinated by the story!)

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I received a preview copy of the book from the author, but the opinions I have expressed are my own.

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