It’s sad, but it seems that sometimes we’re better acquainted with the lives of pop-icons, political figures, sports heroes, or our favorite musicians than we are with our own selves.  We know all about their successes, failures, personality quarks… even though most of us have never met them. But can we say the same about ourselves? Do we have a firm grasp on who we really are? Do we have even a clue as to who God’s created us to be?

I love that Mark Batterson has tackled this reality in his new book SoulPrint.

I’ve really enjoyed Mark’s other books, but I think this might be his best work yet.

There’s great liberty and freedom in being confident in who you are, and who you are not.  In SoulPrint, Batterson uses the life of King David to examine and help us look at the defining moments in our own lives as we move towards discovering our own unique soulprint; our identity in Christ.

At 154 pages, its a quick and easy to understand read.  The discussion questions at the back of the book would also make it great for small groups or book clubs.

In my opinion: definitely worth checking-out.

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

I enjoy reading books that challenge me, and that I don’t always agree with.  I was intrigued with Chris Guillebueau’s The Art of Non-Conformity: Set Your Own Rules, Live the Life You Want, and Change the World, in part, because I suspected it would be one of these types of books, and also because I’d heard a fair amount of talk about how good it was, and wanted to see if it was true.

Over all, The Art of Non-Conformity was an interesting read, however if you’ve read any of Seth Godin‘s books or The Four-Hour Work Week, many of the topics and ideas seemed like review.

Guillebeau does elaborate on some really interesting concepts:

• We’re often held back more by fears and insecurities rather than circumstances.
• The best security is your own competence, and self-directed learning is sometimes the most efficient path to expertise.
• The tension between helping yourself versus others is perhaps best resolved by finding a balance by helping yourself develop capabilities which can be used to help others.
• It’s tempting to believe that the secret to happiness is less work, but instead of giving-up work, why not find a way to make it better?
• And the basic theme of the book: You don’t have to live your life the way other people expect you to.

Truthfully, if you’re looking for a book on how to live a more meaningful life I’d suggest Don Miller‘s A Million Miles in a Thousand Years first.  But, if your looking for a slightly different take, or want to read about Chris’ interesting story (which includes a lifetime goal of traveling to every country in the world) you might enjoy checking this book out.