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4th out of 6 books
—
3 voters
7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess
by
Jen Hatmaker
American life can be excessive, to say the least. That’s what Jen Hatmaker had to admit after taking in hurricane victims who commented on the extravagance of her family’s upper middle class home. She once considered herself unmotivated by the lure of prosperity, but upon being called “rich” by an undeniably poor child, evidence to the contrary mounted, and a social experi...more
Paperback, 228 pages
Published
January 1st 2012
by B&H Books
(first published December 19th 2011)
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I can understand others giving this book a high rating, but for me personally I struggled through it. I think most of this was due to the style and tone of the writer which I just didn't like on a simple personality basis, which may be my fault as much as the author's agreeably. I also thought some of the arguments and data peppered through out the prose were trite, presented one-sided, and not subjected to the proper judiciousness of the journalism she was bordering on. Finally, some of the sev...more
This book came highly recommended but I failed to see what was so great about it. Eager to hear of this amazing experiment and life changing book, I waited patiently by the door, waiting for the Amazon santa clause to deliver my gift. Once it came, I ripped it open and voraciously read chapter one. The excitement fizzled and I was left with nothing. So I read chapter two...and three...waiting for something.
Basically, the book is about learning to live with less. The author takes seven months, e...more
Basically, the book is about learning to live with less. The author takes seven months, e...more
Almost 5 stars, but too religious. Of course, that is her POINT, but still.
I just LOVE reading other people's experiences with downsizing and minimalism. I absolutely devoured this book in less than 24 hours, even reading by flashlight while our power was out.
Minimalism is almost a religion for me. It makes life so much better. It is such a relief to get rid of possessions. The author learned those lessons and many more as she worked through 7 months of doing without in seven different categor...more
I just LOVE reading other people's experiences with downsizing and minimalism. I absolutely devoured this book in less than 24 hours, even reading by flashlight while our power was out.
Minimalism is almost a religion for me. It makes life so much better. It is such a relief to get rid of possessions. The author learned those lessons and many more as she worked through 7 months of doing without in seven different categor...more
Last night I finished reading 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess. Every once in awhile I read a book that really affects me. This is one of those books.
The author, Jen Hatmaker, takes 7 months to focus on 7 different areas of excess in her life.
You see, Jen Hatmaker is rich.
She's rich, just like you are.
Just like I am.
Yup, I just called myself rich.
I just called you rich too.
If you are reading this review, you are rich. If you make $35,000 a year, you are in the top 4% of the wealthi...more
The author, Jen Hatmaker, takes 7 months to focus on 7 different areas of excess in her life.
You see, Jen Hatmaker is rich.
She's rich, just like you are.
Just like I am.
Yup, I just called myself rich.
I just called you rich too.
If you are reading this review, you are rich. If you make $35,000 a year, you are in the top 4% of the wealthi...more
3 likes · like · see review
I'm torn about this book. On the one hand, I don't think I like Jen Hatmaker all that much. It may be that folksy on this level just doesn't do it for me, but when you start talking about chips & salsa as a food you'd be willing to "commit actual murder for," that's just too much needless hyperbole for a book that's supposed to about living a more Godly life.
On the other hand, reading this made me quite uncomfortable in what I assume is a good way. Beyond the novelty of wearing only a certa...more
On the other hand, reading this made me quite uncomfortable in what I assume is a good way. Beyond the novelty of wearing only a certa...more
This book has been waiting on my "to read" shelf for months while I finished other things. It's another "extreme living experiment." (How many of these can one person read? I think I'm going for some kind of record.) Anyway, Hatmaker takes her family on a 7-month journey of reduction in the areas of Food, Clothes, Possessions, Media, Waste, Spending, and Stress. For example, she eats only 7 foods in the Food month, wears only 7 articles of clothing in the Clothes month, gives away 7 things per d...more
Just finished the book "7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess" by Jen Hatmaker. The book came highly recommended by friends who are familiar with my tastes and the season of life in which I find myself, and it did not disappoint. Hatmaker recounts her "journey of less" as she pares down areas of her life where she believes she has substituted the American Dream for God's kingdom.
Reminiscent of David Platt's, "Radical," and Francis Chan's, "Forgotten God," this book invokes self-reflection, a...more
Reminiscent of David Platt's, "Radical," and Francis Chan's, "Forgotten God," this book invokes self-reflection, a...more
This book was quite a mixed bag for me. While I admire Hatmaker's heart and her decision to drastically simplify her lifestyle, the chummy/overly self-deprecating/oh-little-ol'-me? tone of her authorial voice really grated on my nerves. It was difficult at times not to feel like "7" was just a vanity project for Hatmaker -- many of the changes she implemented for each of her 7 focused months (i.e. eating only 7 foods, unplugging from all media) were simply unsustainable over the longterm or did...more
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I finished it this morning and felt like I had just had a really long weekend with a best friend. First of all, she's hilarious. I started following her on twitter which is equally hilarious, btw. I laughed several times out loud reading this...and sometimes I cried. Often, it was on the same page. What I loved the most is that this is her experience, not her preaching. She wrote in a kind of blog format, taking you with her through everyday of this experiment. Some days were deep and brooding a...more
This is a part of the book description on Goodreads: "Food. Clothes. Spending. Media. Possessions. Waste. Stress. They would spend thirty days on each topic, boiling it down to the number seven. Only eat seven foods, wear seven articles of clothing, and spend money in seven places. Eliminate use of seven media types, give away seven things each day for one month, adopt seven green habits, and observe “seven sacred pauses.” So, what’s the payoff from living a deeply reduced life? It’s the discove...more
In "7" you journey with Jen Hatmaker as she fasts for seven months from seven different excesses in her life: clothes, shopping, waste, food, possessions, media and stress. Each month she focuses a new excess and extremely pears down her intake of that excess. I found this book to be a delightful read; humor is often expressed throughout the book, but it is not all fun and games. As Hatmaker journeys through her seven months of fasting she grows in these different areas and shares her reflection...more
As the clock ticked past midnight, I was finishing up the last chapter of "Seven- an experimental mutiny against excess". I read the whole book yesterday and found it inspiring and a good way to start my 36th year. I'm thinking about the different categories that she fasted in: food- 7 foods for a month, clothes: 7 items of clothing for a month, Possessions: giving away 7 items everyday, Media: most of it except email, phone calls and some texting, Waste: begin gardening, composting, conserving...more
Sometimes a woman must make a drastic change to achieve her desired ends. Jesus didn’t advocate any less. When he saw the crowds following him, he sat down on the mountainside and taught them the differences between what they had heard and the soul-killing reality of their sinful situation. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right e...more
The book, 7, tells of the author and family’s decision to abstain from seven areas of excess in their lives; food, clothes, possessions, media, waste, spending, and stress. Each month the family decided to do with less of that item. I found the month concerned with possessions especially interesting. Family took possessions and gave them away—no change of mind later, saying, “I need that back now.”
This entertaining book is coffee with your funniest friend. The worst thing I can say about someon...more
This entertaining book is coffee with your funniest friend. The worst thing I can say about someon...more
Gulp.
Just finished this incredible book, and believe me...it's shaken me. Through this book, I have had a major change in perspective. I cringe to see my sin revealed....the sin of self-pity and feeling sorry for myself for our money struggles, all while the air conditioner cools my home to a comfy 74 degrees.
What would I be willing to give up for my children? Everything, duh. What about my sister's baby? Or my brother's children? If I knew that they were in need, hungry, unclothed, motherless...more
Just finished this incredible book, and believe me...it's shaken me. Through this book, I have had a major change in perspective. I cringe to see my sin revealed....the sin of self-pity and feeling sorry for myself for our money struggles, all while the air conditioner cools my home to a comfy 74 degrees.
What would I be willing to give up for my children? Everything, duh. What about my sister's baby? Or my brother's children? If I knew that they were in need, hungry, unclothed, motherless...more
NOTE: not so much a review as a place-to-put-the-quotes-I-don't-want-to-forget-before-I-return-this-to-the-library.
*"The careful study of the Word has a goal, which is not the careful study of the Word. The objective is to discover Jesus and allow Him to change our trajectory. Meaning, a genuine study of the Word results in believers who feed poor people and open up their guest rooms; they're adopting and sharing, mentoring and intervening. Show me a Bible teacher off mission, and I'll show you...more
*"The careful study of the Word has a goal, which is not the careful study of the Word. The objective is to discover Jesus and allow Him to change our trajectory. Meaning, a genuine study of the Word results in believers who feed poor people and open up their guest rooms; they're adopting and sharing, mentoring and intervening. Show me a Bible teacher off mission, and I'll show you...more
Oh. My. Gosh. This was a very good book. Why didn't I give it five stars? Because I'm not really into the whole Christian peptalk part of it, but, hey, the author is in women's ministry, so it's not like I wasn't expecting that.
Jen Hatmaker is very amusing, and her smartass voice is clear in her writing. By the time I was finished with her book, I wanted to be her friend. I'll bet she'd be fun at a Bunko gathering. This is the part where I over-generalize, so here's my apology in advance. *Sorry...more
Jen Hatmaker is very amusing, and her smartass voice is clear in her writing. By the time I was finished with her book, I wanted to be her friend. I'll bet she'd be fun at a Bunko gathering. This is the part where I over-generalize, so here's my apology in advance. *Sorry...more
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I had mixed feelings about this one. While it certainly made me think, I never quite connected with the author. It was organized like a journal, and seemed somewhat unedited (especially since there were obvious misspellings—of celebrity names and such—that any second set of eyes totally would/should have caught). My main issue with this book, though, was that it felt kind of praying-on-streetcorners-y—like, "Here, watch while I fast! Look at all the noble things my friends and I do!" No doubt th...more
"7 is the true story of how Jen (along with her husband and her children to varying degrees) took seven months, identified seven areas of excess, and made seven simple choices to fight back against the modern-day diseases of greed, materialism, and overindulgence." (Amazon.com)
This description may invoke various responses in you - and I'd like to suggest that it should. This book is the story of the Hatmaker family - Jen, her husband, Brandon, and their three children to various degrees, going o...more
This description may invoke various responses in you - and I'd like to suggest that it should. This book is the story of the Hatmaker family - Jen, her husband, Brandon, and their three children to various degrees, going o...more
7 has a good big-picture message of moral and social responsibility, gratitude, intentionally simple living, and self-denial for the sake of others, plus Jen Hatmaker is funny and self-deprecating, but I got the feeling she was just doing a "crazy" project to sell another book, and was surprised that it turned out so challenging and profoundly productive. The slangy vernacular in which it was written came across as trying too hard to avoid the appearance of sanctimony, talking down to her reader...more
7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess was a very convicting read for me. Jen Hatmaker, along with her husband, kids, and group of friends (all participating in various ways) spent 7 months abstaining from areas of excess. Jen touches on the categories of food, clothes, spending, media, possessions, waste, and stress during the 7 month experiment. In her exploration, Hatmaker brings up staggering statistics relating American excess spending (makeup purchases, different luxury products, etc.) t...more
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I picked up this book. The main things I’d heard about it were that it took issue with American consumerism and that this woman only ate 7 foods for a month and only wore 7 articles of clothing for a month. I thought it might be kind of hokey, but I gave it a try.
I ended up enjoying it a lot more than I thought I might. It’s not a legalistic set of rules. It’s not a guilt trip. It only occasionally gives off the hokey vibe (and that mostly at the beginning...more
I ended up enjoying it a lot more than I thought I might. It’s not a legalistic set of rules. It’s not a guilt trip. It only occasionally gives off the hokey vibe (and that mostly at the beginning...more
I really didn't want to read this book. A member of my mission team in Africa this June recommended the book to me. But my world had already been turned upside down by the beautifully broken country called Sierra Leone, not to mention my heart had been stolen by several of it's orphans.... so I fought reading this book upon my return home. Once I realized that I would never be the same, and trying to come to terms with living in 'The States' while half my heart longs for Africa and a more simple...more
Seven: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker is a new book on Acorn's shelf. Hatmaker takes seven months to intentionally focus on seven areas of life: clothes, shopping, waste, food, possessions, media, and stress. The book reads like a blog where the author writes about her reflections about each area, how much she has been shaped by each area, and how she takes deliberate action to cut out the excess in her life. She uses this experiment to think about how the average American...more
The cliche says that book "changed my life." I disagree. You are the only one - through conscious decisions - who can change your life, but a book can surely change your thinking. 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess did just that.
I finished this book eight days after I began it. Yet, I MUST reread 7 - first, because I was so enraptured in the reading I forgot that my Kindle can highlight and type notes. I marked hardly any and there are jewels I want to absorb, and secondly, because if I wa...more
I finished this book eight days after I began it. Yet, I MUST reread 7 - first, because I was so enraptured in the reading I forgot that my Kindle can highlight and type notes. I marked hardly any and there are jewels I want to absorb, and secondly, because if I wa...more
I was challenged to rethink some of my own "idols" while reading this book and for that I am grateful. However, most of her Jen Hatmaker's challenges were far different than mine. I found myself more amazed at her lifestyle than anything else.
Jen Hatmaker’s book was recommended by my sister and I found myself wanting to love her writing. Truthfully, I there were parts of her experiment which I found challenging, but, on the whole, it was more like reading a series of Facebook postings.
Each of...more
Jen Hatmaker’s book was recommended by my sister and I found myself wanting to love her writing. Truthfully, I there were parts of her experiment which I found challenging, but, on the whole, it was more like reading a series of Facebook postings.
Each of...more
A good friend said: "Read.This.Book." and I obliged.
I am really glad I did.
Just as the cover says: It is an experimental Mutiny. Purposely restricting your life to way,way less stuff. Food, clothes, technology, ziplock baggies, splurges at Target, and much more uncomfortable stuff.
So, why would someone do this?
Not to make some self-obsessed statement to prove how much more "aware" they are.
But to get closer to the heart of Christ, by slowly tearing off deliberate strips of our calloused and fat...more
I am really glad I did.
Just as the cover says: It is an experimental Mutiny. Purposely restricting your life to way,way less stuff. Food, clothes, technology, ziplock baggies, splurges at Target, and much more uncomfortable stuff.
So, why would someone do this?
Not to make some self-obsessed statement to prove how much more "aware" they are.
But to get closer to the heart of Christ, by slowly tearing off deliberate strips of our calloused and fat...more
At first, I was like, "You only ate 7 kinds of food the first month?? I don't see how that brings you any closer to God. Perhaps you could be more intentional in your food choices...like eating locally and seasonally and not letting the food you have at home go to waste." And then the whole month of 7 pieces of clothing....say whaaaat?? Again, don't understand how it ties in, unless you want to look like a bum which maybe was the point. BUT THEN! I fell in love. This book gave me a new perspecti...more
Originally published at www.apatchworkofbooks.com.
Every once in a great while, a book comes along that change the way I view my life and how I've been living it. The latest book to do that was 7 by Jen Hatmaker. Now, I'm sure the author didn't mean for her book to leave me blubbering in tears, but she took a few thoughts and emotions that I'd been battling with for a long time and put them into actual words -- a feat that I never thought could be accomplished -- and, as a result, I'm making a f...more
Every once in a great while, a book comes along that change the way I view my life and how I've been living it. The latest book to do that was 7 by Jen Hatmaker. Now, I'm sure the author didn't mean for her book to leave me blubbering in tears, but she took a few thoughts and emotions that I'd been battling with for a long time and put them into actual words -- a feat that I never thought could be accomplished -- and, as a result, I'm making a f...more
Alisa recommended this during our girls weekend. I am loving Jen's Austin references, and am getting some great insights as well.
I am becoming a Jen Hatmaker groupie. I shared her post about being over culture wars on FB (during the Chickfila 'thing') I cried in her open letter to Trayvon's mom. I bought a skirt where she told me to buy a skirt :) Its from a company in Austin and made my refugee ladies-what's not to like there. www.theopenarmsshop.com
So I am so glad Alisa recommended this book....more
I am becoming a Jen Hatmaker groupie. I shared her post about being over culture wars on FB (during the Chickfila 'thing') I cried in her open letter to Trayvon's mom. I bought a skirt where she told me to buy a skirt :) Its from a company in Austin and made my refugee ladies-what's not to like there. www.theopenarmsshop.com
So I am so glad Alisa recommended this book....more
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Jen Hatmaker is the author of eight books and Bible studies, includingA Modern Girl's Guide to Bible Study. With a heart for the women of her generation, she speaks at retreats and conferences around the country. Jen and her husband, Brandon, reside in Texas with their three children, and lead the ministry work at Austin New Church. Find out more at www.jenhatmaker.com.
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“...when the exhaustive exegesis of God's Word doesn't create people transformed into the image of Jesus, we have missed the forest for the trees.”
—
5 people liked it
“I'm going to bed tonight grateful for warmth, an advantage so expected it barely registers. (…) I won't defile my blessings by imagining that I deserve them. Until every human receives the dignity I casually enjoy, I pray my heart aches with tension and my belly rumbles for injustice.”
—
4 people liked it
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20 de Mar 15:21