Book Review: The 5 Love Languages

I have heard a lot of talk about this book around blogland and otherwise and have been talking about wanting it to read it for awhile now. The hubby picked up on it, and when I got home from my trip to Michigan, my brand new copy was waiting for me.

This book is outside of my usual genres being more of the "self-help" variety, but I really enjoyed it. The idea presented in the book is that each person speaks one of 5 love languages. Each language has many dialects, but more or less people can be put into one of the 5 languages.

It's no secret that each of us has different ways of saying and hearing "I love You." For example, my father is not a very verbally expressive person. His way of saying "I love you," is to ask, "How's the car? Did you fix the washing machine? Have you had any more problems with the air conditioner?" My mom is much more verbal and touchy feely.

Growing up around Momma meant you often got hugs and kisses whether you were in the mood for them or not.

Chapman's book goes into detail about each love language and it's dialects and gives examples from real life couples he has counseled throughout his career. The book also includes ideas of how to learn to speak your spouse's love language as well as a quiz to determine what your own love language is; if you can't figure it out as you read the book. Mine, after reading the book through, is definitely "Acts of Service." Some of the times that I feel the most loved are when, at the end of a long day with the kids and the house, and even after Tim has spent the whole day at work, he comes home and does the dishes before going to bed. THAT simple act of service says "I love you," to me far more loudly than roses or candy or jewelry ever could.

I really enjoyed reading this book and have pretty much decided that everyone I know is getting a copy of this book for Christmas this year. Not because I think everyone I know has marriage problems, far from it. Just because I feel everyone, even those not currently in relationships could benefit from reading it. He has one out now for children and another specifically geared towards teenagers, both of which I'm going to have to get a copy of.