My rating: 4 of 5 stars
After being in the hospital for nine days in February, I have read a few books this year on fulfilling dreams and making bucket lists. I realized that while I have done so many things, there are many adventures I still want to go on and many of them need to be planned. So when I had the opportunity to review More Than a Bucket List, I was excited because this is exactly the type of book I’ve enjoyed reading this year.
This is a smaller book, it’s a square hardcover and looks like a gift book. There are 278 pages but pages 272 to 278 are blank lines allowing you to make your own bucket list of 49 items. Personally, I have more than 49 items on my list, and beyond that, I like my list where I can see it, and I keep it as a file in my computer.
Unlike other books in this genre I have read, this one is decidedly Christian. It gives suggestions such as “Go to a big tent revival. Respond.” and “Hold Communion once a month in your home with your family.”
I did like the emphasis on volunteering and community. I haven’t seen that in many other books like this I have read. The one thing that disappointed me with this book was there were some suggestions repeated. I read it in two sittings so it was more noticeable than if I used this book like I expect some people would -- picking it up and flipping through it and setting it on the shelf for a while. I believe living debt free and writing a love letter to God were both repeated. Both admirable, both good, but to me the point of this book was to get ideas of things to do and accomplish, and I didn’t see the need for anything to be repeated. Also a few things depend on others. Growing old with the one you love is an example. Sometimes you can’t depend on others. What if you never find a person to grow old with? When writing my bucket list I try to avoid adding items that depend on another person. People change, circumstances change, and if you wrote in pen in this book, you could have a sad reminder of what could have been.
I did enjoy this book, especially the author’s commentary about the things she has done from creating a family cookbook to her life in Germany. The author’s comments were rare, but they were my favorite part. I also very much enjoyed her suggestion to create a “reverse bucket list” about things you have already accomplished. I want to do this myself! I’ve done some amazing things and it would be very fun to see them all in one place.
If you are creating a bucket list, this is one book you’re sure to want to check out if you are a Christian!
FTC disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a review. This in no way influenced my opinion.