Secrets to a Lasting Marriage - The 4 Seasons of Marriage

No matter what stage you are in your marriage, newly married or married for years, happy or disatisfied, you can walk away from reading this book with something to improve your relationship and a better way to handle situtations that arise in a marriage as a couple

This book is awesome, whether your marriage needs work or not. In fact, all marriages can benefit from putting in an effort! I learned so much, and my precious hubby is now learning also. The love languages were fascinating. I agree that a positive attitude is essential. There was a lot of interesting explanation about how personalities interact in marriage. I liked the part where a husband wanted the dishwasher stacked neatly, but the wife just couldn't seem to do that, so Dr. Chapman's reaction was, "After all, he's married to a spontaneous woman who keeps his life exciting. It's a small price to pay for such a treasure."

Too many interviews.
Got a little boring before I was through and I never finished it to the end. Loved his book "It Happened in the Spring" however and would enjoy reading the other three season books.

Since I liked The Five Love Languages I figured I would read another book by Gary Chapman. In many ways this book was similar and he referred to the 5 love languages many times.But in many ways this book was different. In my opinion the 5 love languages book was more informative and basic and this book delved deeper into marriage and specifically touched on how to repair problems in marriages.

Chapman describes marriage in relation to the four seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall but also is careful to mention how quickly Fall can change to Winter and how easily Spring can move into Summer. His book is very detailed about what the characteristics, feelings/emotions, and actions are for each season. For example Winter marriages are usually cold, harsh, and bitter.After describing each season he gives you a quiz to help you decide which season your own marriage is in.

Next he outlines ways to enhance your marriage through seven different strategies. A few of these strategies are: dealing with past failures, learning to speak your spouse's love language, helping your spouse succeed, and having a positive influence.

He then goes onto share exactly how to put everything he has written about into practice and even has a Q and A with some really great examples. Then last but not least there is a whole study guide!

This book is filled with example after example from real life people that Chapman has worked with an interviewed. My favorite examples are when he shares both the husband and wife's viewpoints because those examples show so clearly how men and women see things differently!

This was a great book. I would especially recommend it to anyone who feels like they are in the hopeless stage of marriage or to anyone who wants to avoid that feeling in the future.

I read this book on my Kindle thanks to the great posts about free and inexpensive Christian Fiction books on ereadergirl.com.

After reading and loving The 5 Love Languages, this book was a huge disappointment. The strategies recommended in the 5 Love Languages work. And maybe these strategies do, too, but some of them are just downright toxic. I guess that doesn't really matter if your only goal is saving your marriage at any cost.

This review isn't going to win me any friends or "helpful" votes, but it's honest, so here you go. After reading this book, it is crystal clear to me why the most simple-minded people I know are content in their miserable marriages. Chapman's advice is to ignore the negative and focus on the positive. That's a whole lot easier to do the less intelligent you are. Sorry if you don't like to hear that, but it's the truth. Here's a perfect example, straight from the book. Bruce and Marilyn were in the winter season of marriage (that's bad). They got there because of Bruce's work (or, if you are to believe Chapman, because of Marilyn's nagging/whining about Bruce's work). He was away from home all the time and Marilyn was responsible for managing the household, finances, and all of the parenting, and there was limited to no communication, and so she became resentful. But here's the good news, readers! Marilyn can stop the cycle, because SHE can change HER attitude. Look at the bright side, Marilyn, Bruce has never cheated on you! Let's all give Bruce a round of applause for never sticking his d#$% in someone else while on all those business trips! Chin up, Marilyn, you're married to an exemplary man, quit your complaining! He tosses around a baseball with those boys on Sunday afternoons! And then Chapman goes on to chastise Marilyn for sabotaging the marriage with her complaining. I mean, sure, the implication in this probably made-up story is that Marilyn is a stay-at-home mom thanks to Bruce's constantly demanding job, but the book is full of stories like this where the nagging wife is the bad guy, and there wasn't any compromise offered on Bruce's behalf on how he could be doing something different. It says he takes the sons on business trips, but what about the wife? The whole book is like this. Very black and white. Very stereotypical, everyone in their respective 1960's gender roles. How about 2017 when BOTH spouses have a career, but the husband's always takes top priority because he makes more money, and then he is resentful when his wife isn't "pulling her weight?" The 5 Love Languages strategies were applicable to all times and situations. This book feels like it was written in the 1950s or 60s and never updated. But if you are into neo-Christian blogs or vloggers like that couple who did the weird YouTube video where the husband did a pregnancy test out of the toilet when his wife didn't flush, hey, you might find this book more relatable than I did. Personally I found it to be insulting.

This amazing book should be REQUIRED reading in highschool!!! It's opened my eyes to why my first two marriages failed and numerous other relationships! I also bought the audio version to keep me awake on my long drives for work. I have recommended it to my family and friends!!!

Being already familiar with Gary Chapman I wasn't blown away with the content...but that doesn't mean it's not good content. This book begins with a nice guide for thinking through what "season" your marriage is in: winter, autumn, summer, spring. Then it looks at ways to "get to spring." Though it didn't pertain to my current state, I appreciated that he gave practical ideas for what to do if your spouse wouldn't be interested in reading the book. The last part takes the theory and ideas and provides a study guide for couples to go through to begin implementing or making a plan for how to move forward.

I believe all couples would benefit from reading this book no matter which season of marriage they are in. It really helped me see things in a different perspective, and I do hope that it helps change the season of my marriage.