Customer Reviews

The Life You've Always Wanted (Running Press Miniature Editions)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The book by John Ortberg is an excellent, humorous, thought-provoking call to discipleship. I strongly recommend the book. Just be certain that you buy the actual FULL SIZED version of it, not this TINY and very difficult to read version which I purchased by mistake. When a book "deal" looks too good to be true (price-wise), check into it. It probably is....
Buy the original full-sized edition, not this one.
I hope that Amazon will make it much more clear that this version for $4 is NOT the standard full-sized edition.

It is hard to understand why this miniature version of Ortberg's highly acclaimed book was ever published. Though it is clearly indicated as miniature, it is hard to imagine just how small this book is until you are actually trying to read it. The book is literally smaller than the palm of my hand. This makes for the most tedious process of trying to read it, as the pages and font are correspondingly tiny.

More frustrating than the ridiculous logistics of this book, however, is the fact that it results in the loss of most of the content of the original. Knowing that the book had been miniaturized, I anticipated that it would probably be tedious and cumbersome to read. I never imagined that it would be so small that it would be essentially reduced to a handful of bullet points, rather than meaningful prose in Ortberg's typical style.

I gave this book 2 stars because Ortberg's ideas about spiritual disciplines are worth considering, even in such an abbreviated format. However, I would suggest that any potential reader would be well-served to purchase the regular version of this book and read it instead, as I plan to do soon.

My own fault, but I didn't realize it was a miniature book that I ordered. I ended up having to purchase the full sized book in addition to the miniature one because I needed the full version for a study group.

I am very angry over this purchase. I have purchased used books many times on Amazon and have always gotten a good deal. This was NOT at all what we wanted. Our study group starts this book in 3 days and I purchased it thinking it was the big book/ the original full-sized text. Now I've spent $3.00 plus $3.00 shipping on top of that for a book as big as my hand!! We'll have to go out today and purchase the full-sized book at a regular book store so that we'll be ready for our group. We are on a very tight budget and this was a very disappointing purchase. I just hope no one else makes this mistake.

I absolutely love this book. I've read it three times now and I'm sure I will reread it several more times. It's very engaging and enjoyable, but is also full of profound insights. If you're looking for strong discipleship material or a vehicle for spiritual growth, you will be very pleased with this work. It is set up for a Bible study group as well, having a section for each chapter with discussion questions, scripture readings, and suggestions for prayer or devotional activities.

Just be careful to look at the size of the book when you order. It was published in an inexpensive but very small size, with very small print. If you have a problem reading small print, don't order the standard hardcover. Be sure to order this large print edition.