I recently received a copy of this book to review. I wasn't sure I was going to like it, I mean, SERIOUSLY? 5 minutes a day?
The book is split up into 4 sections,
5 minute strategies to keep the spark alive.
5 minute strategies for domestic bliss
5 minute strategies for great communication
and
5 minute strategies for marital hiccups.
It does indeed give suggestions for things that can be done in 5 minutes, suggestions of things to say and ideas to try. Many could be expanded to more than 5 minutes, but sometimes the 5 minute rule is a good thing, such as in the suggestion of broaching a difficult topic, the first time, to only talk about it for 5 minutes, then do something fun together and come back to that topic at a later time, so that your spouse understands that even though you might disagree you still love them and want to have fun with them.
I like a lot of the ideas in the book, and in fact quite a few of them can cross over into other relationships, like learning to accept compliments and not deflecting them, and so on. It does, however, assume a certain level of communication already exists within the marriage and I don't know how much difference it could make in a marriage where one partner is completely closed down and does not communicate on anything more than a basic level.
As a Christian I cannot agree with the authors suggestions that an affair can be good for marriage (in an example she gives), or towards the use of pornography. Having said that, those are very small, indeed momentary sections of the book, and I can put those aside and benefit from all the good suggestions that the book includes.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com
Happy weekend! Don't forget to come over and share a recipe at Savory Sunday!!
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