Reese's Book Club | April '20: Untamed
Untamed by Glennon Doyle is the Reese's Book Club x Hello Sunshine pick for April 2020! Here is how Amazon describes it: “Soulful and uproarious, forceful and tender, Untamed is both an intimate memoir and a galvanizing wake-up call. It is the story of how one woman learned that a responsible mother is not one who slowly dies for her children, but one who shows them how to fully live.”
For more information about the Author, Reese’s Book Club, or my SPOILER FILLED thoughts on the book - scroll down!
my rating:
Here are some links to purchase the book and/or learn more about Glennon Doyle:
Book: amazon.com
Audiobook: audible.com
Glennon Doyle’s Website: momastery.com
Glennon Doyle’s Instagram: @glennondoyle
If you would like to find out more about Reese's Book Club and/or follow along as well, here are some helpful links!
Reese's Book Club x Hello Sunshine Website: hello-sunshine.com/book-club
Complete List of Monthly Picks: hello-sunshine.com/post/reeses-book-club-all-picks
Instagram: @reesesbookclub
Goodreads: goodreads.com
*** spoiler alert ***
my thoughts on the book below
WHAT. A. BOOK!!!! Wow, wow, wow. I had no idea what to expect from this amazing memoir because I had no idea who Glennon Doyle was. I’m SOO glad it was picked as a Reese Book Club pick because I may have never read it otherwise, and this is definitely the kind of book I will go back and re-read and highlight many, many times.
You know what is funny - when Glennon was first explaining how she saw Abby for the first time, I thought, “Wow, sounds like Abby Wambach”…and I literally laughed out loud (in a good way) when she revealed it was her! I truly knew nothing about Glennon or this book before reading it, so it was just a really fun surprise that she married one of the coolest soccer players on the planet.
One of the themes that I loved in this book was that life it hard because it’s supposed to be. Not the usual “life is hard so suck it up”, or “life is hard but doesn’t have to be”. No, I love that she touches on the fact that, yes, you’re going to have to do hard things and uncomfortable things, but that is not only a part of life, but a part of life that you’ll be grateful for once you survive it…because you will survive and be better for it, because we can do hard things. I loved this quote from the book, “If you are uncomfortable — in deep pain, angry, yearning, confused — you don't have a problem, you have a life. Being human is not hard because you're doing it wrong, it's hard because you're doing it right. You will never change the fact that being human is hard, so you must change your idea that it was ever supposed to be easy.” How great is that? We shouldn’t run from the hard things or the hard emotions, and I love that she reminds us to feel those emotions, not suppress or repress them. I, myself, am someone who always touts the benefits of learnings from the hard or disappointing things in life - but I’m not always the best at feeling those emotions that come with it. I suck it up because I am a badass, but in the end, it catches up to me one way or the other.
Another quote I really loved from the book was, “The braver I am, the luckier I get”. How true is that? When we take risks, when we practice bravery, we increase the chances to get what we want. Not trying at all will get us nowhere. Doesn’t that all loop back around to “you can do hard things”? Isn’t that what bravery is - a combination of courage, hope, and a disregard for the fears that would normally hold us back?
Continuing on with this quote thing I have going on, I absolutely loved when she talked about joy. “I think we are only bitter about other people’s joy in direct proportion to our commitment to keep joy from ourselves. The more often I do things I want to do, the less bitter I am at people for doing what they want to do.” YES. YES. YES. How often so we see bitterness and resentment from those we expect to uplift us? How often do we do the same? We feel held back in some way to achieve something we want, and we feel bitter towards those who live or act openly in ways that we wish we could? Ugh, what an amazing reminder. Seriously, so many parts of this book spoke to me and I am beyond impressed with Glennon’s ability to articulate her journey the way she has.
Honestly, I could go on and on about the different themes that touched my heart, but Glennon is the novelist, not me. What part of the book spoke to you the most? Let me know in the comments below or email me so we can talk about it deeper!