All About Love

Clear, valuable messages about love for self, others and even society.

A bit dated (does anyone today believe that the US was undergoing a "spiritual awakening" over the past twenty years? i don't), and with some (to me) off-putting appeals to the supernatural, it's still a good assessment of the literature on love at the time and filled with valuable and well written insights.

I read this at the end of 2023 and never finished my review. I took another look today, skimming through and dipping in at a couple of spots. I liked it much better than when I first read it, which mostly comes down to this mode of reading and my mindset. Like I say in my full review, it's probably best approached for inspiration, not as a non-fiction explainer.

First post after my redesigning my blog, btw. Looks much nicer now, I think 😊

really good tbh. reading this was nice because I liked the ideas and it inspired personal reflection. hit or miss sometimes. I may not be the best audience for this.

only 3 stars because I wasnt hooked enough for reading it not to feel like a chore :(( would love if the people in my life read this, but wouldn't beg them to

I was wondering "what is it with love and our culture ?" (A certain type of) love seems to be everywhere in the media and in social norms, and nowhere in theory and philosophy, and general social sciences. Then I picked up this book, and it helped me articulate a lot of things. For most of the book I just thought "that's it exactly!"

Essential reading.

We talk about the desire to become more loving of our neighbor in our daily life. Jesus calls us to this. But what does that really look like? How do we set about doing this?

bell hooks presents good, practical, and challenging steps.