The Five Love Languages - Gary Chapman

Title: The Five Love Languages Author: Gary Chapman Genre: Christian non-fiction Rating: 10/10 # pages: 148 Date read: May, 2008

Summary: Unhappiness in marriage often has a simple root cause: we speak different love languages, believes Dr. Gary Chapman. While working as a marriage counselor for more than 30 years, he identified five love languages: Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service, and Physical Touch. In a friendly, often humorous style, he unpacks each one. Some husbands or wives may crave focused attention; another needs regular praise. Gifts are highly important to one spouse, while another sees fixing a leaky faucet, ironing a shirt, or cooking a meal as filling their "love tank." Some partners might find physical touch makes them feel valued: holding hands, giving back rubs, and sexual contact. Chapman illustrates each love language with real-life examples from his counseling practice.

Review: I read The Five Love Languages before I got married, and really liked it. Now that I've been married 5 years I decided to read it again, and appreciated it a LOT more. Being in love, you never think you'll feel in need of getting your 'love bucket' filled more than it already is, but once marriage becomes more 'routine', it's more obvious how important it is to speak each other's love language.

I find the concept of this book fascinating - that it's possible to express love for another person in so many different ways, that some of the ways aren't even recognizable for what they are to the other person. I think I've got my own and my husband's love language pretty much sorted out, and I don't think any of us find our 'love container' lacking, but it's a good thing to be aware of.

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