Tag: non-fiction

After skipping the book review last week, I wanted to make sure one went up this week. Uncompromising was one of my Christmas presents this year. The book first came to my attention through The Rebelution. I didn’t really know what to expect, but I definitely wanted to check it out!

In many ways, Uncompromising was very similar to all the other books written for Christian young women. It covered topics like dating/courtship, beauty, modesty, self-esteem, etc. When I flipped through the book before actually beginning to read, I noticed that trend and was a little disappointed. While those topics are certainly important, I’ve read about all of them before. A lot.

Thankfully, Uncompromising was more than the normal treatment of common girl issues. In fact, the whole book was worth reading for Chapter Three and the “Interjection” at the end of Chapter Three. I’ll being going back to glean encouragement and to spend extra time contemplating that section of the book. The author’s take on “the Cause”, self-esteem, and making God the biggest, most all-encompassing element of your life were thought provoking and challenging.

If you’re a reader who will throw up your hands in boredom or despair because of a heavy focus (and yet another perspective) on issues like modesty and self-esteem, Uncompromising is probably not for you. However, if you, like me, are always curious to look at those topics from a new angle and can appreciate the new content amid the old, you’ll really enjoy this book.

Despite the varying opinions on the Duggars, even among my own friends and acquaintances, their family has been a reliable source of entertainment and encouragement to me. When I got Growing Up Duggar for Christmas, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew from other reviews that it wasn’t an autobiographical account of growing up in the reality TV “mega-family.” It turns out, the book is a lot more practical. I was impressed, encouraged, and challenged by the perspectives and suggestions the oldest four Duggar girls shared for the various relationships in a Christian girl’s life. They covered relationship with ourselves, our parents, our siblings, guys, the culture, our country, and the world. Their advice is grounded in Scripture, backed up personal experience, and presented in a clear manner.

That said, other reviewers mentioned buying it for tween/young teen girls and assuming it would be perfectly safe for younger readers because “the Duggars wrote it.” These buyers were surprised to find the girls spoke about some more mature topics like late-term abortion and the dangers of the internet. The book is aimed towards an older teen audience anyway, and I found the subjects to be handled tastefully, but if a younger person wants to read it, I’d suggest having a parent skim through it first.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone curious about the Duggar family or/or anyone who is looking for encouragement and is willing to be challenged. This book is written to girls, but other readers (especially parents) could enjoy and benefit from Growing Up Duggar as well. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.