Book Review: Feminine Appeal by Carolyn Mahaney

If you've read Prayer of Hannah before, it should be no surprise that my book review is on another book by a Mahaney. Carolyn Mahaney is wife to CJ Mahaney of Sovereign Grace Ministries. She and her daughters are the authors of the Shopping for Time book that we used for a book club type format. They also write for a great blog, Girl Talk. (How many times have I mentioned it now? Is it obvious yet that I like them!?)

The subtitle of Feminine Appeal is the "seven virtues of a wife and mother." She does just that and outlines, giving one per chapter, seven different virtues. They are:

The delight of loving my husband
The blessings of loving my children
The safety of self-control
The pleasure of purity
The honor of working at home
The rewards of kindness
The beauty of submission

These seven virtues are based on a series she did on Titus 2. (Sound familiar? You can revisit POH posts on Titus 2, here.) I love her humble perspective on these verses of scripture. Her writing is so easy to read and couldn't be more eloquent. One of my favorite parts of the whole book is the last chapter titled, Margaret's Story. It is written about her own mother and is a sweet picture of a woman who was faithful to her calling as wife and Mom for many years. I tear up just thinking about it!

I actually read this book right around the time I became a stay-at-home-Mom. For whatever reason, I felt the desire to get more serious in my roles as wife and Mom. (I think I secretly felt guilty for all the ways I neglected both during my working days. But that's an entirely different post altogether!) This book was such an encouragement to me in biblically defining these two of the most important titles I hold.

I know that was not a super in-depth "book review" but it was honestly almost a year ago that I read the book. However, I wouldn't hesitate for a minute to recommend any of the books by CJ or Carolyn Mahaney. Here are some other titles from the Mahaney's that I'd recommend. (Note that I have not read all of these, but are all in queue waiting to be read!)

Humility
Living the Cross Centered Life
Shopping for Time
Girl Talk

Please share any book recommendations you have! We love to hear them!