The 5 Love Languages by Dr. Gary Chapman

Non-Fiction. 209 Pages. 5 Stars

Synopsis: 

Simple ideas, lasting love

Falling in love is easy. Staying in love—that’s the challenge! How can you keep your relationship fresh and growing amid the demands, conflicts, and just plain boredom of everyday life?

In the #1 New York Times bestseller The 5 Love Languages, you’ll discover the secret that has transformed millions of relationships worldwide. Whether your relationship is flourishing or failing, Dr. Gary Chapman’s proven approach to showing and receiving love will help you experience deeper and richer levels of intimacy with your partner—starting today.

The 5 Love Languages is as practical as it is insightful. Updated to reflect the complexities of relationships today, this new edition reveals intrinsic truths and applies relevant, actionable wisdom in ways that work.

Includes the Couple’s Personal Profile assessment so you can discover your love language and that of your loved one.

My Review: 

I’ve heard a lot about this book for a few years now. I’ve finally managed to get around to reading it, and I must say I quite enjoyed the read. I found this a very neat, short read. The book is written clearly and isn’t bogged down by fancy terminology. I love clarity and appreciate simplicity in non-fiction books, especially those that run in the psychology realm. 

I’m not particularly smart and sometimes I’ve just got to have the concepts explained at their roots without all of the technical language and in-depth theories. Dr. Chapman does a wonderful job here focusing on loving people rather than finding some technically sound solution to resolve conflict and ban it from relationships altogether. I love his heart for this message and the writing shows how much this man cares for others. It felt like I was reading something from a very kind, old friend who just wanted the best for the world around him. 

The book is full of both practical advice and telling stories. I loved the offered steps to take and suggestions for each love language. I teach a foreign language for a living and happen to love linguistics. I know the struggle it can be to learn a new language, to both understand and speak in a language that is not native to you. Languages are difficult! And Dr. Chapman provides tips for new learners in each of the five languages he’s presented to help the process move a little more smoothly. Furthermore, he explains his concepts very clearly and uses stories from couples who struggled with loving one another in a specific language to demonstrate his points.

I’m not the target audience for this book–again, not married–but I still found it tremendously intriguing. I love studying relationships and look forward to checking into some of his other volumes that perhaps may be more specifically geared toward me personally. I enjoyed the concept and loved the intro, and especially the outro, chapters. Love isn’t easy. And it’s not just a feeling. Love is a choice, and it speaks to your character and integrity. Learning to love others the best you can is certainly a worthwhile task.

More: 

The 5 Love Languages of Children

The 5 Love Languages of Teenagers

The 5 Love Languages for Singles

The 5 Love Languages Military Edition

The 5 Love Languages: Men’s Edition

I have not read or rated any of the above on Goodreads, but do plan to eventually. I do not believe that these need to be read in order; however, I think they might make the most sense if you did start with the original book.