Ask It by Andy Stanley (Book Review)

My daughter called me last week.

“Mom, You’ve got to read this book I’m reading for school. It’s a short read, I listened to it on Audible on 2x speed and was done in a couple of hours. Seriously. Go read it.”

“Okay, honey. Thank you for the recommendation.”

“No mom. Don’t put it on a list to read someday. Go. Now. Hang up the phone and start reading. And tell Dad to read it too.”

Now she had my attention. Anyone who knows me knows my obsessive love of books and my ongoing list(s) of books I want to read. A book that jumped to the front of the line? I was intrigued.

I read a lot of audiobooks while cleaning, coloring, driving or petting the cat. Twenty minutes into this book, I found myself scrounging for a pen and notebook. An hour later pages were filled in my notebook and my legs were numb. My cat had given up wanting to be petted and fell asleep on my legs. Counters sat unwashed, laundry tumbled periodically in the dryer. By lunch, I’d finished the book.

This is the book I’d go back and give my 20-something self. This is the book I’m glad my 40-something self got her hands on.

It’s changed the way I’ve made decisions all week. It gives a framework for making decisions from the simplest to the most life changing.

Last night I was poking around on my phone. I couldn’t put it down. I have no idea why. I just wanted to keep pushing buttons and seeing lights glow back into my eyes.

Then I remembered, the book and asked myself, “What was the wise thing I can do at this moment?”

Go to sleep, Nancy. And so I turned off my phone.

That’s just one example. I want to ramble on for a thousand more words. But I’ll stop now so you have time to go read the book for yourself. Let me end by saying that I put a reminder in my calendar to re-read this book at the beginning of 2020. It’s that good.

One comment

  1. MARY SCHURDELL

    I’m glad that both you and your daughter suggested this book. After reading this post I quickly checked at three different on-line libraries, and was pleased to find one that had the audible version of this book. I immediately borrowed it, downloaded it and started listening to it. That was just a few hours ago and I am already finished with it. It was excellent. I grabbed my journal and took notes on some of the excellent points the author made. I was interrupted by someone in the middle of listening to this book and I was able to follow the author’s advice and ask myself what was the wise thing to do in this specific situation, and then quickly went back to listening to my book. I recommend this book to anyone who would like to learn a wise way to make decisions in their life. It is a light read, a quick read and yet full of such wisdom.

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