The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman

I just finished reading "The Five Love Languages" by Gary Chapman. I'll say that Edward and I have a good relationship, but I'd heard good things about this book and wanted to read it. It was a very easy read, and while I did like it, I'd classify it as a "duh" book. As in "duh, I should have known/thought of that".

The premise of the book is that everyone "speaks" a love language. Through Dr. Chapman's years of counseling couples, he's discovered that there are five love languages: acts of service, quality time, words of affirmation, physical touch (not just in a sexual manner), and receiving gifts. A chapter is devoted to discussion on each love language. A husband and wife may not speak the same love language, but learning the other persons language is important. A person usually expresses love in the manner they wish to receive it.

So, a wife that has a love language of acts of service with a husband who has a love language of words of affirmation may have a disconnect. The husband is showing love how he wants to receive it, but the wife has an empty "love tank". (We have a full love tank when we feel most loved.) The husband needs to learn to "speak" the wife's language to make her feel more loved. You can have a primary and secondary love language. I might be making it sound complex, but it's a really simple concept. It applies to almost all relationships: friends, parent-child, etc.

There was a quiz for wives and a quiz for husbands at the end that helped you discover your primary love language. I actually convinced Edward to take it. I was not shocked to learn ours. My primary language is Quality Time and secondary is Words of Affirmation. Edward's is Physical Touch with Quality Time secondary. We both scored really low on Receiving Gifts. Which explains why neither of us worry much about getting each other something during gift giving occasions. ;)

All-in-all it was a quick read. I'd really recommend it to most anyone.

208 pages