I found Anything by Jennie Allen to be both inspired and frustrating.  Inspired because the Workbook in the back of the book is fantastic, with thought-provoking questions and an interesting layout. She has a nice teaching style. Frustrating, because in the main part of the book, the author repeatedly sets up big scenes and then doesn’t tell us what happened. One minute she’s in a counselor’s office with her husband, worried about some aspect of their marriage. But we never have even the vaguest sense what, or why, or how they resolved things. I don’t want to pry, but it made me wonder “Why is this scene here if she’s not going to tell the story?” This happened again as she described their adoption process – one minute they’re deciding, the next she’s watching her new son play soccer in Rwanda. It felt like the book was missing pages.  That said, there were some gems here. I especially appreciated her words about Katie Davis, the young woman who moved to Uganda to adopt orphans.  This book really came alive when the author was describing Katie.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.