Untamed Review: December BOOK CLUB (& January’s Book Selection!)

This month, we decided to read Untamed by Glennon Doyle. Read our full Untamed review below & learn how to join our book club (if you’re not already a member).

If you skipped this month of book club and are just here for next month’s pick… Scroll down to the bottom of the article. 😉

How to Join our Book Club!

Looking back on how we announced book club last month, it was a little confusing, to say the least… So we wanted to write it out (in a way that makes sense to people besides just us 😂). So that anyone & everyone who wants to be a part of this lovely, virtual book club can EASILY do that!

How to join:

Mary & I (Erin) are both members of Book of the Month. It’s an online book subscription service that gives you 5 options for books at the beginning of every month and you choose the one that you want to read. It’s typically $15/month (which is a good deal in itself for a hardcover with free shipping). But you can join for only $10/month (for your first month) through this link!

All you do to join is go through the link, enter your email & sign up information, then pick out your first book! Then voila, you’re a member of the club (& our book club) and they’ll get to work on shipping your first book to you! It’s like a mini Christmas every month TBH. 😍

How OUR book club works:

We know what you’re thinking… Okay, so why is this month’s book selection not a part of the Book of the Month club?!? Yeah, that’s the confusing part that we wanted to jump on here & clear up.

With Book of the Month, you have the option at the beginning the month to pick between 5 books. If you happen to not like ANY of the options (which rarely happens, but did for both of us last month), you have the option to skip the month. If you skip, you’ll get a book credit that rolls over to the next month (and keeps rolling over if you keep skipping), and you won’t be charged for the next book you choose.

So last month, Mary & I just so happened to not like any of the book options. We both decided to skip the month (on Book of the Month) and order a book on Amazon instead. We will always let you guys know very early in the month what book we’re both deciding to read, so if you want to skip the month, you will easily be able to do that.

The book selections come out on Book of the Month at the beginning of the month, so we will decide the day they come out what book we’re going to read. We will announce our book selections on Instagram and let everyone who’s part of our book club know. You’ll have the option to either pick the same book as us (so you know what we’re reviewing at the end) or choose a different book that sounds better to you.

So I’ll sum up your options each month for book club:

1. Choose to read the same book as we picked from Book of the Month (or a non-BOTM book, if we both decide to skip and choose a book off Amazon).
2. Choose to read a different option from Book of the Month that neither of us picked (they give you 5 options every month, so it’s likely you will want to choose something, that we don’t, every once in a while!)
3. Skip the month entirely if none of the book options appeal to you.

You also have the option to easily cancel Book of the Month anytime, so it’s no commitment. (Which is one of the main things I look for when signing up for any sort of subscription.)

Hopefully this clears things up a bit more, but if you have ANY questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out!! You can comment below or email us at vitalityvixens@gmail.com with any questions or concerns.

Now… on to this month’s book selections!

Our December Book Club Pick(s)

For December’s book club selection, we both read Untamed by Glennon Doyle (ordered off Amazon).

Here’s the synopsis from Goodreads:

“Four years ago, Glennon Doyle, author, activist and humanitarian, wife and mother of three—was speaking at a conference when a woman entered the room. Glennon looked at her and fell instantly in love. Three words flooded her mind: There She Is. At first, Glennon assumed these words came to her from on high. Soon she realized that they came to her from within.

Glennon was finally hearing her own voice—the voice that had been silenced by decades of cultural conditioning, numbing addictions, and institutional allegiances. She vowed to never again abandon herself. She decided to build a life of her own—one based on her individual desire, intuition, and imagination. She would reclaim her true, untamed self.“

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Erin’s Review

I blew through this book. Especially the first half was incredibly inspiring. Glennon is a middle-aged woman with kids, an ex-husband, and now, a wife (the love of her life). She struggled for years to truly live the life she was called to and ended up “playing by the rules” for a good portion of her life. I think this is something that we, as women, can all relate to.

We’re not always taught, as girls, to be our true authentic selves. We’re taught that it’s better to be ladylike, more quiet/tame, have endless patience, and bend over backwards to make sure everyone else is happy. We’re supposed to act this way so that we never upset anyone else. So that eventually we can marry a man, have kids, and live our lives to make sure our husband/family are always taken care of.

While I don’t think it’s a bad goal to want to eventually get married and have kids (it’s also not a bad goal to not want those things), the reasoning behind this feels ridiculous. Why is it our job, as women, to always make sure everyone else is taken care of before ourselves?

Glennon used Untamed to dig deeper into these feelings. She, similarly to many of us, has experienced them throughout her life. Throughout the book, she explains how she’s overcome them (for the most part) and started living a life she’s truly passionate about and fulfilled by.

It wasn’t easy to outgrow this cognitive conditioning (it never is). But she leaves you feeling empowered to do the same.

Reading Untamed was empowering while helping me to dig deeper into some of my subconscious feelings (from childhood, society as a whole, or just my own self-talk). Outgrowing the way you were conditioned to think isn’t an easy task, but Glennon speaks from the other side and leaves everyone feeling like they can accomplish the same.

Rating

4/5 stars

Summary

I gave this book 4 stars because while I LOVED (and steamrolled through) the first half, I felt that it drug a bit later on. This is just my opinion and I easily get bored with books at times, so others may not feel the same way.

For the first half, I felt like I was bookmarking every other page and that each message was life-changing. I wanted to go back and reread each chapter, immediately, because I felt like I needed to truly soak in the wisdom.

There were sections in the second half that I felt this way about too, but I think my expectations were sky high after how much I loved the first half. It was nearly impossible to keep them there throughout the book.

Overall, I would recommend that every woman give this a read. Whether you’re in your 20s (like Mary & I) or in your teens, 30s, 50s, 80s… It doesn’t matter. This book would be a positive influence on all women who are looking to overcome subconscious biases and thought patterns they’ve built up throughout their lives. (Which everyone should do from time to time.)

This book left me feeling like I can do anything I put my heart/mind to. I am not tied down to any idea of what my life is “supposed to” look like. Throughout life, I know I will change and my goals/dreams will too. After reading this, I feel like that is perfectly okay.

It’s normal to want one thing in your 20s and then completely change your path when you’re 45. We’re human and we’re built to grow and evolve throughout our lives. It’s important to stay tuned in to our inner voice, actually listen to what she’s saying, and act on that (instead of acting on what we think others want from us).

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Mary’s Review

“For every woman resurrecting herself. For the girls who will never be buried.” What a strong and empowering quote to start off the first page of this novel.

I found her book very inspiring, eye-opening, and relatable to the struggles past and present in my life. I even did what all classic book readers hate….I cornered the pages of the book I found most responsive to. May have also highlighted/underlined as well. Sue me. I wanted to remember some of her best points!

“It is easier to call us broken and dismiss us than to consider that we are responding appropriately to a broken world.” This is the first phrase that moved me to highlight to remember. It was spoken in response to her daughter questioning her teacher in school about polar bears becoming extinct and it being our fault.

It is true when we question things happening around us, we often get dismissed or side-stepped just because our opinion is more emotionally based than others. Trust that feeling. We are hardly ever wrong…modestly spoken.

Which leads to the next point she makes that I absolutely love. FEEL IT ALL. What a freaking true statement. Everyone has a story that involves some sort of pain and suffering. Pain is magic and suffering is tragic if we avoid becoming something from the pain itself.

She teaches that you MUST have faith in yourself to BECOME something from your pain. Trust that you’re strong enough to handle the pain that is necessary to becomIng something great. So stop abandoning yourself gosh dang it!!

Lastly, she discusses what true bravery looks like and how you should be treated with it. Glennon states that being brave may mean to live inside out. Trusting yourself in the most uncertain times, turning inward, feeling for your true knowing, nad speaking aloud and proud against everyone else.

Brave is having the confidence to ignore the crowd and walk in the opposite direction. Brave is letting the crowd think you’re a coward at times. Brave is allowing people to judge you before knowing you. But as long as you stay true to yourself, nothing else matters in the world.

Rating

3.5/5 stars

Summary

To conclude, I found this book inspiring and relaxing. It was a good mixture of humor, knowledge and confidence rolled into a healthy reading bundle. I gave it a 3.5/5 because this is the first autobiography I have read.

It was hard for me to stay tuned in like a thriller or mystery would. But it may have been because what she spoke about was so truthful and relatable, it is hard to stay true to something that is scary. All in all, she is an excellent role model for women.

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How to Join Our Book Club

If you’re a book lover (or would like to start reading more)… & if you’re anything like us & have always wanted to join a book club, but never actually acted on it. We would absolutely love for you to join us in reading these books every month.

At the beginning of every month, we will either choose a book from the Book of the Month club or skip the month and pick our own book from the world wide web of books. If we choose from our Book of the Month subscriptions, we’ll post the 5 book options and which one(s) we are choosing to read. If we choose to skip the month, we will let you know (in plenty of time that you can skip as well if you so desire).

If you’re part of book club, you can pick the same book as one of us or read another option. Either way, we will discuss our opinions on the books we chose at the end of the month. 🙂

Even if you haven’t been much of a reader before, we’d still absolutely love for you to join! By joining a book club and connecting with all of you over books, it makes it so much more fun & motivating to want to read instead of doing other activities (like watching TV, etc.).

If you have any questions at all on how to join, comment with them below or send us an email! We would love for anyone interested to join, so we want to answer any questions you guys have.

Join Book of the Month (& $5 Off!)

If you want to join our book club and start picking out books of the month with us… You can join Book of the Month for just $10 through our referral link.

We are not Book of the Month affiliates and this is not sponsored by them in any way. We will simply receive a free add-on if you use our referral link.

We hope you guys are into this idea and want to start reading more with us! We’re so excited about keeping up with this every month. So we can’t wait for any of you who are interested to join in on the reading fun. 🙂

January’s Pick!

For January, we both chose books from our BOTM subscriptions! We are both reading The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins (thriller). I (Erin) am also reading In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren (romance). I normally would only choose one book to read for book club, but they both sounded so dang good! & you know I couldn’t pass up a good Christmas book this time of year. 😉

So if you know what’s what, subscribe to BOTM (use our link for $5 off), get your hands on one of these phenomenal books, and keep your eyes peeled for our next review coming out in January!

While you’re at it, cozy up with one of these delicious coffee recipes (if you’re into that): vegan eggnog latte | dairy-free peppermint mocha | dairy-free pumpkin spice.

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Comment below with:

1. Did you find anything relatable from our review?
2. Your questions about joining this book club journey with us.