[October 2013]
Seven, Jen Hatmaker
host: Megan
number of voters: 6
percentage of voters who
finished the book: 100
highest rating: 8.72
lowest rating: 7
average rating: 7.7 (I don’t
make this stuff up people!)
menu: (no food items were
purchased in the preparation of tonight’s snacks) cheese sticks, cuties,
truffles, chicken wontons
*****
Day
1: Must. Start. Reading... Seriously. There are only 30 days until book group.
And did I mention? I LOVE MY BOOK GROUP! They are such an amazing bunch of
women. I look forward to meeting with them every month. It’s most fun when I’ve
read the book though, so off I go to get my hands on a copy of Seven by Jen Hatmaker.
Day
4: Did I mention I am the procrastinator of the group? Still haven’t gotten a
copy of Seven, but I did find this tidbit
on the author’s website: “7 is the
true story of how Jen (along with her husband and her children to varying
degrees) took seven months, identified seven areas of excess, and made seven
simple choices to fight back against the modern-day diseases of greed,
materialism, and overindulgence.” Sounds interesting! And a little gimmicky.
But mostly interesting. And totally not the kind of book we usually read. This
should be fun!
Day
7: Text message to Emily from Angie: “Can I borrow your copy of Seven?”
Emily’s
response: “Yes!”
Day
14: So I finally connected with Emily and started reading this month’s book. And
can I just say, this girl is FUNNY, people! I mean, when she writes, it’s
totally like you are right there with her hanging out like you are one of her
besties. Or maybe like you are some creepy stalker reading her blog and
pretending like you are one of her besties. Anyways, the first month is all
about food and giving up food and only eating seven foods for a whole month,
and I am not joking when I say Jen LOVES herself some food. For the whole
chapter you can practically FEEL the starvation and withdrawal. When Jen says
she would sacrifice a small child for a plate of tableside prepared guacamole
from her favorite restaurant, you kinda believe her.
Day 17: I’m in the middle of the
chapter on clothes. You guys, Jen is wearing only 7 articles of clothing for a
whole month. (Okay, so she cheats a little and get extra underwear and an extra
pair of shoes. You can discuss the fairness of this on your own time, but I am
totally in my besties’ camp on this one.)
Day 24:
OhmanIcan’tbelieveit’saweektilbookgroupandIhaven’tgottenpastthesecondmonth!
Day 26: Chapter three: Jen is
giving away 7 possessions every day for a month. Could I do that? (Side note:
She just gave away her brand new boots. I will not be giving away my brand new
boots. I love you, Jen, but back away from my boots. Hmmm... I may have some
growing to do in this area.)
Day 27: I’m on a roll! Three
days until book group and I am half way through chapter four. This one is all
about giving up media... No TV no gaming no facebook no radio no candy crush
saga. This is starting to hit a little too close to home. This right here just
laid me bare: “When I say I don’t have time, I’m a gigantic liar. I have time.
I just spend it elsewhere.” Story. of. my. life.
Day 30: Full confession: I
did not finish the book. The good news: I still get to go hang out with my book
group girls, who love me even when I don’t finish a book, when I spend too much
time online, when I’m too materialistic. When I throw out food or sometimes put
my recycling in the garbage. When I overspend or overstress. When I
procrastinate.
Conclusion: Jen’s book was
funny and moving and thought-provoking...and did I mention funny? On a deeper
level, I think Angela said it best: “It exposes the gap between what I say I
believe and how I act on my beliefs.” And as Jen’s bestie I think I can finish
with this: There is always room for growth, and always room for more grace.
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