Book Review AND Giveaway: “101 Secrets For Your Twenties” by Paul Angone

Not yet 20 in the summer of 2004, I wallowed in self-pity on the walk from my car to my house after work. Inside, I dropped my purse at the door, audibly sighed, and asked my “roommate” a question:

“Is this what adulthood is really about?”

Up at 6. To work by 8 to sit at a gray desk in front of a gray computer doing a lot of what means nothing to me. Out at 5. Home for dinner and back to back episodes of any show entertaining enough to deter me from dwelling on the truth: I will do this again tomorrow, and I will hate it just as much.

“Yep,” my mom replied, half-kidding. “Pretty much.”

Mad at the world (or at high school, at least) for releasing me into adulthood with no good prep (or so I thought), I cried a little. This is probably because of what I didn’t yet know:

Only I could change the life-sucking cycle in which I felt so stuck.

This is precisely what blogger and author Paul Angone proves in his new book 101 Secrets For Your Twenties, which I a) wish he’d written 10 years ago (but I forgive you!) and b) thoroughly enjoyed. 101 Secrets is easy to read, and fast and funny. It is also sometimes convicting. The secrets he shares challenge young adults to jump life’s hurdles instead of pouting about them and to accept that growing pains are part of young adulthood (if we are willing to grow up). Here are a handful of my favorites:

#4: Your twenties are about having the courage to write a frightful first draft.

“We have to be willing to allow ourselves to write some terrible first drafts. You can’t have a good story without a good struggle.”

#10: You grow INTO growing up. 

You might be an adult if “your body begins to ache from vigorous lack of movement,” “Facebook goes from being a hobby, to an obsession, to a chore you dread,” or “You don’t spend the week organizing your plans for Saturday night. No, organizing is your plans for Saturday night.”

#24: Love is blind. Enlist some seeing eye dogs.

“You’re being warned there’s a serious accident ahead, so why in the name of a 7-Car-Pile-Up are you still driving directly toward it? Enlisting trusted guides to help direct your relationship can save your life.”

#56: Watch out. “Official Adults” might stereotype you for being twentysomething.

“If you feel like you’re being stereotyped because of your age, your best ally is quiet confidence – a humble consistency that shows up and gets the job done. You don’t argue with them about your skill set, you just show them every single day how awesome your skills are.”

#76: No one knows what they’re doing.

“Are you freaked out that you have no idea what you’re doing? Perfect! So is everyone else.” 

Now that I’ve given away some of Paul’s secrets, I’ll give away a couple copies of his book. Wanna win one? In a comment on this post, share a secret of your own – something you’ve learned so far in your 20s (or something you learned in your 20s if you’re already out). Include an email address or Twitter username I could use to tell ya if you won.  Entries will count only through 11:59 p.m. EDT Aug. 4. All entries will literally be put into a hat, out of which I will draw two random winners on Aug. 5.

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Visit Paul’s site, AllGroanUp.com. Click here to learn more about the book, and here to read 21 Secrets for Your 20s, a blog post by Paul that went viral and inspired the book.

Five reasons to read “Loves Me Not: Heartbreak and Healing God’s Way”

For we who have dumped (yep), been dumped (yep), and have had to navigate life as and after a relationship ends, there are few conclusions about it truer than this one:
…it kinda sucks.
This is why I am VERY excited to announce the recent release of an e-book by my friend and fellow blogger Renee Fisher. In Loves Me Not: Heartbreak and Healing God’s Way, Fisher shares her own breakup story and sifts through other experience and Scripture to shine a fresh light on picking yourself back up after heartbreak knocks you down. Read it in one sitting, and here’s why I think you ought to read it, too:

1. Because it says there is more to dating and breaking up than your heart.

“When it comes to our relationships, I think we’re missing something. Jesus summarizes our highest commandment as: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” … If the heart is only one quarter of the greatest commandment in the Bible, why are we emphasizing the heart like it’s the only factor in love?” p. 5


2. Because it says how good our relationships are with each other depends in part on how good our relationships are with God.

“When our concern for God becomes clouded or replaced entirely by pursuing, pleasing, and protecting our earthly relationships, we’re in danger. If we’re not paying attention, can easily miss what God is trying to show us about our relationships. Desire for (or fear of) finding a spouse isn’t as important as our relationship with Him. He’s ready to show us how much we can accomplish for Him, regardless of our relationship status.” p. 7


3. Because it says friends (and more-than friends) should build us up, not tear us down.

“Your friend should make you want to act like a better person. Everybody has bad days, but your friend or romantic interest should leave you more encouraged than drained.” p. 13

4. Because it says there is a purpose behind the time it takes to grieve the loss of a significant relationship.

“I’d also like to say that everything got better instantly. Or that I had some radical transformation. I didn’t. It was a step-by-step, day-by-day process to learn how to love myself, accept myself, and forgive myself for my many flaws. God knew I needed the journey.” -p. 18

5. Because it says being content with your life is not a prerequisite for meeting a guy or girl you could marry.

“That’s when I met Marc. … Please trust me when I say I wasn’t content. I am the kind of person who is never satisfied with my relationship with God. I just hate that stupid cliche that so many married and/or older adults tell young people.” -p. 58

For more information about Loves Me Not, click here.



About the author: Renee Fisher, the Devotional Diva®, is the spirited speaker and author of Faithbook of Jesus, Not Another Dating Book, Forgiving Others, Forgiving Me, and Loves Me Not. A graduate of Biola University, Renee’s mission in life is to “spur others forward” (Hebrews 10:24) using the lessons learned from her own trials to encourage others in their walk with God. She and her husband, Marc, live in California with their dog, Star. Learn more about Renee at www.devotionaldiva.com.

It is better to feel pain than to run from it.

The end of grad school, as it turns out, is the polar opposite of conducive to reading for leisure (and to sleeping, and to eating food fit for human beings, for the record).

It is with joy, then, and multiple bowls of movie theater butter popcorn that I read Letters to a Young Therapist, assigned (but enjoyable) reading for my internship class.

The book, by psychologist Mary Pipher, is a collection of letters to Laura, a young therapist Pipher supervised. While it imparts the author’s wisdom to the young therapists who read it, one need neither be young nor a therapist to get something good from my favorite parts of the book.

Here are my favorite excerpts:

On silence: 

“Therapy isn’t radio. We don’t need to constantly fill the air with sounds. Sometimes, when it’s quiet, surprising things happen.” -p. 42

On pain:

“Most of the craziness in the world–violence, addictions, and frenetic activity–comes from running from pain.” -p. 54

“The only thing worse than feeling pain is not feeling pain. Healthy people face their pain. When they are sad, they cry. When they are angry, they acknowledge they are angry.” -p. 54

“The capacity to tolerate pain and sorrow is an under-appreciated virtue.” -p. 71

On happiness: 

“Happiness bears almost no relationship to good fortune. … As my Uncle Otis put it, ‘Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.'” -p. 58

“Satisfying lives are about much more than the absence of tragedy. They are about appreciating what we have.” -p. 60

On dating: 

“…dating in America in the twenty-first century unhinges us all.” -p. 87

“Teenagers receive more lessons on driving a car than on dating and making relationships work.” -p. 89

On family:

“Family rituals strengthen families. One of my favorites is the high-low report at dinner, in which everyone at the table tells about the best and worst thing that happened that day.” -p. 117

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Click here to learn more about Mary Pipher’s book.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. So, if you click the links and purchase the products I recommend, I earn a little commission at no extra cost to you. And when you do, I am sincerely grateful.