Book Review: "Same, Life, New Story," by Jan Silvious

Exerpt: "We are who we are, and we come from where we come from. That's a fact. There is, however, that moment of awakening when you realize you have more power than you thought. You have the power to change how you react to life. You do not have to be controlled by where you come from or by what happened to you. When you realize that, you open doors for wanted change, or at the very least, needed change. You cannot choose what happens to you, but you can choose how you respond to it. It is all about attitude."

This ten week Bible study for women is all about changing our perspective. I enjoyed this book much more than I initially expected. Jan Silvious has a wonderful voice to her writing, and I found myself constantly looking at her author picture on the back cover, wishing that I could know her personally.

Throughout this book, Jan challenges lazy thinking. She reminds us that we don't have to succumb to a victim mentality, nor do we have to just accept what happens to us as our lot in life. One thing I learned is to ask myself questions. Jan writes that we should question our decisions and feelings, because women are emotional and we tend to make emotional decisions. "It finally occurred to me that, if you do not question what you think, you automatically assume it is right," Jan writes.

Filled with stories of women from the Bible, anecdotes from Jan's own life, and the life of women she knows, this book is a wonderful read. Just when you feel it is too easy, you get to the end of the chapters and the thought-provoking discussion questions, which definitely get you to dig deeper as you go through them. Although she has a single journaling prompt at the end of the questions, I would suggest writing out answers to all the Personal Reflection questions. This is how the study would truly take ten weeks, since the chapters are easily read in a day.

Overall, I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to examine the story they are writing with their life.



I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”