400 Creative Ways to Say I Love You

by Alice Chapin

This practical guide for married women suggests 400 fun ways to put romance back into a marriage.

Genres: Nonfiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

Reviews

[Nathan Albright · Rating 5 out of 5]

On one level, as is often the case with books that I read written by women and for women [1], it is somewhat ludicrous that I should be reading and reviewing this book, especially given that this book is written to wives on how they should love their husbands and I am single. On another level, though, this book did a good job of providing a great deal of ways that I would feel loved in a marriage as well, both in active favors a woman could cultivate and those she could actively prune and cull from her set of behavioral habits. Admittedly, as this book was published the year I was born, it is likely that this sort of advice may seem more than a little bit quaint for many, but it is still worthwhile advice, and even if I hope there would be a companion volume for husbands on how they can show love to their wives, this book is certainly a good start on showing love for many husbands, and that is something many wives could use some education in.

The contents of this book are extremely straightforward and obviously drawn from the author's experience as a pastor's wife with an evident desire to show love to her husband in a wide variety of ways. The 400 creative ways to love a husband referenced in the title take roughly 120 quarto sized pages to cover in this pocket-sized book and are contained in nine chapters. The chapters have the following relatively self-explanatory titles: things you do, things you say (or don't say), loving your in-laws, bedroom life, being beautiful inside and out, uncommon communication, when he travels, and even though you get angry. Most of these are not matters of rocket science, but are straightforward ways that women can show love and respect for husbands by being creative about providing reminders (and avoiding nagging), and a lot more that I do not wish to spoil by mentioning here. Suffice it to say that the author has an interest in love expressed in a wide variety of ways--no matter what your love language [2], there will be something here that can be applied that would be appreciated by him and not terribly difficult to acquire by any wife who truly wished to show love for her husband.

To be sure, not all of these solutions discussed in the book are ones that I would personally appreciate. The most obvious example of this is the suggestion to hug one's husband from behind, something that would likely give me a panic attack rather than causing me to feel loved. Even so, a great deal of this is still applicable more than thirty five years after the book was published, and a lot of it has likely always been true as ways that wives can love husbands, at least within given societal conditions. I happen to know a great deal of women who have been involved in broken marriages, and looking at this book, there are a lot of matters in this book where the vast majority of such women have fallen short and, without a drastic commitment to personal growth, are likely to continue to fall short in any future relationships. And, to look at this book's indirect audience, it is pretty certain that any woman who acted this way should be greatly appreciated by a husband who realized that in the face of all of the drama queens and evil women that one could get entangled with that the woman described by the behaviors in this book would be a truly wonderful wife that any man would feel fortunate to have. How many women are willing to be such a wife, though?

[1] See, for example:

http://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017/...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...

[2] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015...

[Charity Renee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very old. Not as relevant as some books. There were a few different ideas. I do t plan to reread or keep.