101 More Conversation Starters for Couples – Book Review
3 March, 20153 Min Read
When Moody Publishers gave me a list of books to review, I chose 101 More Conversation Starters for Couples by Gary D. Chapman and Ramon L. Presson, mainly because I am a big fan of Chapman’s Love Language book series, and I had previously read and reviewed 101 Conversation Starters for Couples. The OCD bookworm in me just couldn’t resist reading the second book in the Conversation Starters series!
Also, one of my husband’s primary love languages is Quality Time, and I figured, what better way to spend some time together than to peruse a list of questions and possibly learn something new about one another!
About the Book
Book description from Amazon.com:
Your spouse is a unique person, filled with amazing insights, thoughts, feelings, and experiences. Communication is key to really knowing and fully loving that person.
Bestselling author and marriage counselor Gary Chapman has developed this handy tabletop resource to get you and your spouse talking. With 101 probing questions, couples will find their relationship enhanced, their intimacy deepened, and their romance ignited. 101 More Conversation Starters for Couples is the perfect companion to the bestselling book, The 5 Love Languages. It also makes an excellent Valentines Day, wedding, and anniversary gift. It helps you and your spouse get the conversation flowing.
My Thoughts on the Book
The questions had a little bit more depth to them than your typical “List of Questions for Couples”, but to my disappointment, they were not much too different from the questions in the first book. In fact, most of the questions were identical, just worded slightly different. Even so, my husband and I read through these questions when we were renovating our entryway, it was a great way to keep the conversation flowing and interesting while we worked and painted and bent over our projects.
Some sample questions include: What famous person (living) would you like to meet? What is something humorous you recall about your first weeks or months of dating? If you could free someone of a burden, who would that be?
While the questions are fun and creative, I found that they were all topics Jonathan and I exhausted early on into our dating relationship. I honestly can’t say that we learned anything new or exciting about the other, but it was fun to casually rehash old topics while keeping busy.
I’d say this book would be a great communication booster for couples who are just getting started in their relationship, or perhaps a good prompt for marriages that are experiencing a lull in communication. The questions are all grounded in Scripture, and cover a good variety of light-hearted chit chat to heavier self-reflection.
I’d recommend this book to newer couples and newlyweds, but if you’re an established couple (my husband and I have been together for six years now), then I would just skip it, unless expanding communication is your goal.
[Disclaimer: There are no affiliate links in this review. I am an independent product reviewer. I only review products I am truly interested in. I don’t accept payment for reviews. The products I take the time to jabber on about are either items I have personally purchased, or the product has been provided for review after me incessantly nagging for a sample. All of my reviews are unbiased regardless of how the item was obtained.]
This sounds like an interesting book, shame that it’s so similar to the first. My husband and I met through FB and had long distance relationship for more than a year before finally meeting up in person so there was TONS of Skype conversation between us and I think we asked and spoke about everything under the sun and the moon. LOL!
I’ll be keeping this in mind as a gift, I think a few of my friends would treasure it.
When my husband and I first started dating, he lived in Southern California and I lived in Central California, so we had a lot of long, late night phone calls and Skype calls and such as well! Maybe relationships that had / have an element of long distance to them have a communication edge?? hehe!
Thank you for your honest review, this book sounds interesting, but I don’t think that it will suit to me and my fiance (we’ve been togehter for 8 years) 🙂
I think it is great to learn more about your partner Gingi… but I have to agree with you… most relationships like yours have passed that stage early on…
What I have found is that most relationships break down because they don’t keep the conversation going… I think that is important… I know I am making it priority in any relationship I will be in…
These questions sound like they’d be great for a young college couple who was considering engagement, but after 16 years together, my husband and I would probably just laugh at the questions. Like what famous person would you like to meet? Me, none, because I’d have to put on makeup and wash my hair and leave the house! Thanks for a real book review.
LOL, yeah, my husband and I both had a similar answer to that question. Every person we could think of, we’d already “met” from book signings.. as geeky as we are, we don’t really nerd out over meeting famous people, haha. I prefer to meet people who are as excited to meet me as I am to meet them! lol
I think what is important is making effort in the communication sense. Sometimes we get so caught up in daily life, we forget to talk about things that really matter to us…with people that really matter to us.
I think the two of us are beyond these kind of question as well, as we have been together for seven years…but I will use this as idea to make my own questions…and perhaps set some time apart for such little talks. Thank you for sharing your review and speaking of books the rest one I’ve read was Paradise by Toni Morrison and I highly recommend it. It’s a bit heavy but worth it in the end…
Does sound like a fun book to me and a friend of ours has been dating a girl for about 6 months now seriously might suggest this to them. So, thanks so much Gingi!! 🙂
Communication is key to a long and healthy relationship. I’ve been with my husband for 35 years, married for 25, and just when I think I know everything I could possibly know about him, he throws a curve ball at me. As we age, we change, sometimes it’s good to revisit the things you thought you knew. 🙂
My husband would probably like this book. He is a chatterbox :). We have been together for a long time so I get what you mean about it might be for newer relationships. I may see if my library has the first one. There may be some fun questions we haven’t been through before that we could use on a date night. We end up talking about the kids too much!
Aww, my husband and I have been married for 6 years too! 🙂 Like you guys, we covered a lot of this stuff in our early years of dating. We still have a fun little book that one of our mentors gave us that is chock full of questions like these. Though some of those went pretty deep. No joke, questions like: “what is your biggest secret sin?” o.o Yeah, I was 17 and Christopher was 18 when we started dating. And we actually were friends before we started dating so we answered those questions BEFORE we were officially a couple. By the time we started dating it felt so natural because we already knew all the dirt on each other. 😉 I’ll definitely keep this book in mind for newly weds! Thanks for the recommendation! 🙂
Like you guys, we were friends before we were “dating”, so we also had gone over all these questions during the friendship stage! Hehehe! I think relationships that are founded on friendship first tend to be kind of freaking awesome.. but then of course, I’m a bit biased. 😉
This was such a great, honest review, thank you. That book sounds like something I would totally want to read with my husband, and he’d do a little eye-rolling but then join in. But we’ve been together for 11 years now (married for 8–gah, I feel old!) so I don’t think we’d learn too many new things either.
Looks like an interesting book but I also am not sure whether these are the questions I haven’t discussed with my hubby. Although we met online, we quickly escalated to seeing each other in person and we talked / IM-ed for hours (and still continue talking about all kinds of things)… But still, a book to keep in mind.
Yeah… and in my experience, long distance relationships initially end up covering FAR MORE topics than others… (for instance, my hubby and I were living 300+ miles away at the beginning of our friendship / relationship, and we covered all kinds of topics over the phone and skype chats!)
Ours wasn’t a long-distance relationship (we lived in the same city), but we did meet through a Christian dating website (I still can’t believe it happened that way, considering that it later turned out we had friends in common) 🙂
My hubby and I met in the same town, but I moved away right when our friendship was blossoming into a dating relationship.. whats funny is, we were BOTH on the verge of signing up for a Christian dating website on our birthdays, and had planned on signing up for the same site (our birthdays are one month apart).. one of those “if I’m not in a relationship by this birthday, I’m trying a dating site” type thing.. I am almost positive if we didn’t meet when we did, we would have met on that site! hehe…
Hahaha! This book looks really interesting, I have seen a similar one before but this really looks great. Even as a conversation starter with other people.
I don’t think Crafty Green Boyfriend and I have ever been stuck for conversation over the past 20 years, but it sounds an interesting book for people who might struggle for interesting topics
This sounds like an interesting book, shame that it’s so similar to the first. My husband and I met through FB and had long distance relationship for more than a year before finally meeting up in person so there was TONS of Skype conversation between us and I think we asked and spoke about everything under the sun and the moon. LOL!
I’ll be keeping this in mind as a gift, I think a few of my friends would treasure it.
Shireen | Reflection of Sanity
When my husband and I first started dating, he lived in Southern California and I lived in Central California, so we had a lot of long, late night phone calls and Skype calls and such as well! Maybe relationships that had / have an element of long distance to them have a communication edge?? hehe!
This book looks great and fun. Thanks for the recommendation!
Melanie @ meandmr.com
Thank you for your honest review, this book sounds interesting, but I don’t think that it will suit to me and my fiance (we’ve been togehter for 8 years) 🙂
http://crafty-zone.blogspot.com/
I think it is great to learn more about your partner Gingi… but I have to agree with you… most relationships like yours have passed that stage early on…
What I have found is that most relationships break down because they don’t keep the conversation going… I think that is important… I know I am making it priority in any relationship I will be in…
Have a great day xox
I completely agree with you, 100%!! Lack of communication is a relationship killer in my opinion!
Looks like a good book.
Would love to read it soon.
XO
Check my new post.
http://thebandwagonchic.blogspot.ae/
Answering questions like that is so much fun. But sorry the book is so similar to the first one!
These questions sound like they’d be great for a young college couple who was considering engagement, but after 16 years together, my husband and I would probably just laugh at the questions. Like what famous person would you like to meet? Me, none, because I’d have to put on makeup and wash my hair and leave the house! Thanks for a real book review.
LOL, yeah, my husband and I both had a similar answer to that question. Every person we could think of, we’d already “met” from book signings.. as geeky as we are, we don’t really nerd out over meeting famous people, haha. I prefer to meet people who are as excited to meet me as I am to meet them! lol
I think what is important is making effort in the communication sense. Sometimes we get so caught up in daily life, we forget to talk about things that really matter to us…with people that really matter to us.
I think the two of us are beyond these kind of question as well, as we have been together for seven years…but I will use this as idea to make my own questions…and perhaps set some time apart for such little talks. Thank you for sharing your review and speaking of books the rest one I’ve read was Paradise by Toni Morrison and I highly recommend it. It’s a bit heavy but worth it in the end…
Thanks for the book recommendation! I am a HUGE bookworm, and I am always interested in reading books people suggest!! <3
We would like to red it soon.
Read not red 🙂
Does sound like a fun book to me and a friend of ours has been dating a girl for about 6 months now seriously might suggest this to them. So, thanks so much Gingi!! 🙂
I’d recommend the first one… the second one is kind of a waste of time IMO. 😉
Very cool review! This book looks quite fun for couples! Thanks for sharing Gingi!
XO
Jeanne
http://www.fashionmusingsdiary.com
Thanks for sharing this review! My husband loves that first book but we never did the questions so I might just have to get it. Have a good week!
http://www.kathrineeldridge1.wordpress.com
Bummer the books were similar, love the idea of these questions though.
Yeah, I’d really only recommend the first book!
Communication is key to a long and healthy relationship. I’ve been with my husband for 35 years, married for 25, and just when I think I know everything I could possibly know about him, he throws a curve ball at me. As we age, we change, sometimes it’s good to revisit the things you thought you knew. 🙂
Cool!!!!
http://shareasecretmag.com/
xoxo
Oh, even though I am not married or anything this looks like a definitely fun book to read. Great review! Have a wonderful day,
Vera
http://theflashwindow.weebly.com/
I suppose these could be questions for friends too, truth be told! lol!
Really interesting, I would like to read this book!!!
Kisses, Paola.
Expressyourself
My Facebook
Good review, Gingi! Keep it up girl!
My husband would probably like this book. He is a chatterbox :). We have been together for a long time so I get what you mean about it might be for newer relationships. I may see if my library has the first one. There may be some fun questions we haven’t been through before that we could use on a date night. We end up talking about the kids too much!
Aww, my husband and I have been married for 6 years too! 🙂 Like you guys, we covered a lot of this stuff in our early years of dating. We still have a fun little book that one of our mentors gave us that is chock full of questions like these. Though some of those went pretty deep. No joke, questions like: “what is your biggest secret sin?” o.o Yeah, I was 17 and Christopher was 18 when we started dating. And we actually were friends before we started dating so we answered those questions BEFORE we were officially a couple. By the time we started dating it felt so natural because we already knew all the dirt on each other. 😉 I’ll definitely keep this book in mind for newly weds! Thanks for the recommendation! 🙂
Like you guys, we were friends before we were “dating”, so we also had gone over all these questions during the friendship stage! Hehehe! I think relationships that are founded on friendship first tend to be kind of freaking awesome.. but then of course, I’m a bit biased. 😉
My husband and I used to read the question book for couples when we were dating – they can be great conversation starters!
This sounds like it would be great for a couple just starting to get to know one another!
This sounds like such an interesting concept, I was really curious! Glad to know it probably wouldn’t work for us. We’ve been together six years too.
Yeah.. I mean, if you find it at a second hand store for cheap or something, check it out! hehe
This was such a great, honest review, thank you. That book sounds like something I would totally want to read with my husband, and he’d do a little eye-rolling but then join in. But we’ve been together for 11 years now (married for 8–gah, I feel old!) so I don’t think we’d learn too many new things either.
Looks like an interesting book but I also am not sure whether these are the questions I haven’t discussed with my hubby. Although we met online, we quickly escalated to seeing each other in person and we talked / IM-ed for hours (and still continue talking about all kinds of things)… But still, a book to keep in mind.
Yeah… and in my experience, long distance relationships initially end up covering FAR MORE topics than others… (for instance, my hubby and I were living 300+ miles away at the beginning of our friendship / relationship, and we covered all kinds of topics over the phone and skype chats!)
Ours wasn’t a long-distance relationship (we lived in the same city), but we did meet through a Christian dating website (I still can’t believe it happened that way, considering that it later turned out we had friends in common) 🙂
My hubby and I met in the same town, but I moved away right when our friendship was blossoming into a dating relationship.. whats funny is, we were BOTH on the verge of signing up for a Christian dating website on our birthdays, and had planned on signing up for the same site (our birthdays are one month apart).. one of those “if I’m not in a relationship by this birthday, I’m trying a dating site” type thing.. I am almost positive if we didn’t meet when we did, we would have met on that site! hehe…
could be a good gift for a new couple. glad you got the chance to review it!
I love stuff like this! I am always using books like this for my Ask Away Friday questions. I think I need to buy the book!
This seems like a good read useful for new couples who need to learn how to communicate better, interesting!
Prudence
http://www.prudencepetitestyle.com
Yeah, it’s good for some couples I’m sure.. just not what my hubby and I need, lol!
Hahaha! This book looks really interesting, I have seen a similar one before but this really looks great. Even as a conversation starter with other people.
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Thanks for sharing! I appreciate your honest reviews.
I don’t think Crafty Green Boyfriend and I have ever been stuck for conversation over the past 20 years, but it sounds an interesting book for people who might struggle for interesting topics