Book Review - Redefining Beautiful by Jenna Lucado.

Jenna Lucado, daughter to the famous Max Lucado author of over 75 titles sought to teach young ladies how to define beauty not on a worldly, surface level but as God defines it.  I chose the book knowing I would be seeing Max Lucado speak this month and curious to see if his talents were also present in his daughters writing.  The book was styled in a format that I found less than ideal.  The style, to me, didn't match the format.  There are workbook areas, meant to be filled in my the reader.  I found this distracting in many ways and I found that I wanted to skim ahead.  The audience Jenna was reaching out to seemed to me to be much younger than my own 24 years of age.  If I were to recommend this book I would choose an audience of 12-14 year old girls.  Older than that I feel the reading level keeps it from hitting home.

Personally, I was a bit disappointed with this read.  I felt there was a lack of depth. The juvenile approach left much to be desired for a young adult reader.  Great topic and concept for the book.  I would have liked to see her gear it for young adult women, like herself.  Also, leaving out the 'write your thoughts here' would have made for a more cohesive read.

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Love,

B

What is beautiful?

My 3rd book arrived while I was gone this weekend from Thomas Nelson publishing for my reviewing pleasure.  I wasn't sure which of the options I was most interested in and finally selected 'Redefining Beautiful' by Jenna Lucado (daughter of Max Lucado who will be speaking at my works banquet this year).  I figure I will probably meet her Father and possibly even her at the Family First banquet next month so why not show her some support?

I'm not far in but I wanted to share this tidbit from the start of the book, in hopes that it will speak to you as it did me...enjoy.

Some days I like him.  Most days I hate him.  But I do have to admit, he's honest.  He'll always tell me if I have food in my teeth or a booger in my nose. He isn't afraid to let me know if a certain shirt is too tight or if a color doesn't complement my skin.  I appreciate the honesty, but he is deceiving all the same.  Deceiving because anytime he tells me, 'Just get this cute shirt and feel better about yourself' or 'Just lose five pounds and be forever happy,' it doesn't work.  I'm never good enough for him.

I try not to hang out with him too much, or else I can easily fall into his trap of discouragement - 'Jenna, I see that cellulite back there.  Your skin is looking pretty oily these days.  Those teeth need some whitening!' I try to block out his lies that tell me I'm not good enough, that I'm not beautiful, but it's hard.

I'm sure you've met him.  He tends to pop up in all sorts of places: bathrooms, cars, department stores, gyms.  And I'm sure you've felt some of these same insecurities when standing in front of him.

His name?

Mirror.

If this intro catches you the way it did me, speaking into my high school years more than present day but holding true even now...than perhaps you should take this journey to redefining beauty with me. It has become increasingly more difficult to face ourselves.  It is no longer ok to be cute or average or even just pretty - we must now be stunning, striking, or breathtaking.  The standards are always rising and how we see ourselves is often defined by sources other than us.

I'm two chapters in and already curious as to what truths this book may hold.

Stay tuned.

Love,

B