Book It Monday: The Birth Order Book by Dr. Kevin Leman

For most of my life I have read books. I attended a very small Christian "church" school for my first five years of school and we prayed every day. This is where I first learned about colporters--we prayed for them everyday, too, along with the missionaries and others important in spreading the Word of God and the Gospel--Jesus. 

I never hear that  word today referring to what we called the "book and Bible missionaries," but that was what I wanted to be when I grew up! Nothing could be better in my little first grade mind than being a Bible/book missionary. I read every book I could get my hands on and I loved the Bible, so this is what I asked God to let me be when I grew up. 

Do you think He answered my childish prayers? 

The Girl Who Wanted to Share Jesus through Books

So when I was thinking and praying about what my blog should focus on, of course, I needed to include books. I still read without stopping and my interests go from Christian fiction to Christian romances to speculative fiction to Christian historical fiction to Bible studies and inspirational/spiritual books to biographies and history. I also was a teacher at one point in my life, so I still have interest in learning and the kinds of Christian psychology books that go along with that. And of course, I read from the Bible everyday, seeing how God speaks to me through this precious Word. 

An extremely small part of my Keepers Shelves

This week I ran across a book that I had apparently missed. It is called The Birth Order Book by Dr. Kevin Leman.
Paperback: 352 pages

• Publisher: Revell; 2 Rev Upd edition (October 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0800734068
• ISBN-13: 978-0800734060

Revised and Updated 2009 version! Have you ever wondered why one of your children loves school and the other one is the class clown, or why your sister is so organized but you can’t find anything? Dr. Leman will answer these questions and offer readers a fascinating look at how birth order affects personality, marriage and relationships, parenting style, career, and children. Whether at home or on the job, birth order powerfully influences the way people interact with others.

 I haven't had a chance to get very far in it but I am expecting to really like this book and I want to talk about it with--everyone!  I think it is already explaining much in how I react to people and how some people treat me. I see how it seems to affect my four sons and their relationships with not only their parents and each other, but also friendships and girlfriends. 

But I see another use for this book. When writing fiction, not only do you need to figure out the personalities of your characters, but also give them goals, motivations and CONFLICTS. This book explains this in great detail. I can see it being a good book to sit down with when you go to plotting out your story. For that alone, you might want to check this out if you're a writer. 

If you've read this book, I'd love to hear what you think about it. And if you haven't read it, does it sound like something you would like to read? 

I'm hoping that this book will guide me into understanding not only my own childhood, but also give me insight into relationships with my family and boys and those with whom I work. However, as I'm reading along, it has me thinking about what birth order my characters have! (And how to work things out in my real life, too.)

What's your place in the birth order in your family? 

Mine is complicated, but that's explained in this book, as well. I think I will return to this topic someday soon. Let me know if you get the book, or if you've already read it.