Why Men Don’t Listen and Women Can’t Read Maps

by Allan Pease and Barbara Pease

I want to give this book 7 out of 10 or 3.5 stars. I believe in God and I’m neutral to evolution (don’t care whether it happened or not). This book talked a lot about the sexes from an evolutionary and scientific perspective.

Some of the information seemed fairly straightforward and I felt like I’d heard it before. However, this book broadened my mind to how men view sex, love, marriage and intimacy. It also taught me plenty that I did not know about estrogen, testosterone, other hormones and how they affect why I am the way I am.

I loved taking the brain-wiring test with my boyfriend. Interestingly, more than 50% of both of our answers were B’s which was basically a “gender-neutral” category – so we are not your typical polarized male and female.

I thoroughly appreciated the chapter on homosexuality, transgender, lesbian and other sexualities. The scientific evidence that a person’s sexuality is formed in the womb, not by choice, needs to be considered by all religions and society as a whole. We can’t keep telling people that there is something “wrong” with their sexuality!

Overall this book is an entertaining, educational tool for embracing some of the distinctions between all genders/sexualities, so that we can build healthier relationships.

Somebody to Love by Kirstan Higgins

What I loved about this book was that the characters had to overcome fears that were deeply ingrained in traumatic childhood experiences. When we fall in love, we so often have to revisit past negative experiences and our reactions, and we can either re-invent ourselves and move on from that past, or we can often get stuck in habitually responding the same way (fear, rejection, running away etc). The characters in this story really matured and it was beautiful to hear it unfold.

I cried through the romantic epilogue and especially James’ promises to Nick.

Overall the writing was down-to-earth; the characters were well developed and their stories intriguing; and the romance developed very engagingly!