Proverbs for Life for Women is a gift book compiled by Lila Empson for Zondervan in 2003.
The book looks very much like a gift book. It has a puffy hardback cover, lovely pages, and a ribbon bookmark. The size is a little under 6×7″.
There are about 46 readings grouped into several categories: the Righteous Woman, Virtuous Woman, Faithful Woman, Confident Woman, etc.
Each reading contains a verse from the book of Proverbs in the Bible, a story illustrating the proverb, a conclusion, a “Try this” action suggestion, and a few other proverbs or quotes.
This book mostly uses the Good News Translation of the Bible (formerly Good News or Modern Man, now often called Today’s English Version). This is not my favorite version, for a number of reasons. It translates the thought of a passage rather than the words. It succeeds in its goal of having an easily readable text, but it sacrifices some accuracy. I think a different Bible translation would have made this book a lot stronger.
Also, I wouldn’t endorse all the people the book quotes from.
Just about the time I thought this book seemed a little lightweight in content, I’d read a section that was particularly helpful and meaningful.
So, this book has a lot of good points, more good than bad. But it could have been much better with a little tweaking.
(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)
Stray Thoughts 
I’m not fond of books that use the newer translations (that are not really translations) as their reference. Proverbs, though, has so much good stuff in it. It’s a book I want to get into more deeply. Thanks for the review.
I was reminded just recently that Liz Curtis Higgs had a book on Proverbs. I wish I had seen it while reading through Proverbs this time. I really enjoyed her books on the women of Christmas and Easter.
Ha, I’ve had a similar situation where I’ll think I’m “down” on a book, only to have a little twist of redemption here or there 🙂 I too am not a big fan of those types of Bible translations. I do like the puffy hardcovers though 🙂 Enjoyed this review!
too much “fluffing” of The Word. Authors tend to think that people can’t understand the KJV… that’s because they aren’t challenged to do so or don’t spend enough time getting to know The Word. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this one.
I read the KJV for about 25 years, then read through the NKJV, NASB, and now the ESV. I’ve been using the ESV for the past few years. It’s sad that some versions sacrifice accuracy for readability.
Thank you for your honest review of this book, Barbara. It’s what I always appreciate about your reviews. And sometimes it leads to not purchasing a book but most often it is quite capable of adding books on my TBR shelf. 🙂
I’m always glad to add to friends’ TBR lists. 🙂 This one wasn’t a bad book per se–it just could have been so much stronger.
I appreciate your honest review because I try to do a Proverbs study once a year or so.
About the time I finished Proverbs, I saw Liz Curtis Higgs had a book on them. I wish I had seen it earlier. I’ve enjoyed her books about the women of Easter and Christmas.
Thank you for the additional recommendations
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I appreciate your honesty, Barbara. I’m not a fan of Bible versions that are not actual translations. So, I tend to avoid them and I do look at the endorsements before I buy a book that I’m not familiar with.
I appreciated reading your review. I’m always leary of different translations. If I come across a reading with a translation I’m not familiar with, I look up information about it then either proceed or not proceed with discernment. There are some notable people I wouldn’t endorse also.
Thank you for much for sharing your review with Sweet Tea & Friends this month dear friend.