I was okay with this book until she started talking about evaluation and that was the end for me. ( )

Just like their other work, The Duggars: 20 and Counting, A Love that Multiplies is an autobiography of the Duggars, one of America's largest families. Some of the information is the same in both books, such as Jim Bob and Michelle's background. This book was more detailed than the previous one, giving vivid descriptions of the birth of their premature daughter, Josie. The writing switched from Jim Bob to Michelle, which made the book hard to follow at times. ( )

In this book, both Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar take turns sharing about their lives as parents to 19 children. This is a sequel to their book The Duggars: 20 and Counting! I read that book a couple of years ago when it came out. This book talks about their life in the past few years since the first book was published. In it they tell about the premature birth of their 19th child, Josie who was born 3 and a half months early, at 12 inches long, weighing 22 ounces. This was because Michelle had gallstones and kidney stones and pre-ecclampsia - life threatening high blood pressure which is an incredibly dangerous complication of pregnancy.

Michelle and Jim Bob say that they do their reality TV show (which I do not watch) and have written these books as a form of ministry to share their beliefs with other people. They believe that this is what the Lord wants them to do. I don't really remember everything that was in their first book, since I read it a few years ago, but it seems to me that this book has a lot more endorsements for other programs, books, and seminars than the first one did. I just don't remember that in the first book, but perhaps it was there.

I found some of the things that are shared in the book to be very good sounding and helpful. I substitute teach and there are about as many students in an elementary school classroom as there are children in the Duggar family and some of the principles that they use in their family apply equally to teaching in a classroom. For example, Michelle states that we need to be consistent in letting children know what behaviors are not acceptable. If we ignore the little incidents, then the children will continue with more and worse misbehaviors. If we stop them immediately at the small misbehaviors - often just by looking at them and telling them to stop, we can keep the misbehavior from escalating into something worse.

There were many things, however, in the book that sounded odd to me and a bit creepy. As I examined them, they all seem to stem from the teachings of Bill Gothard, whom they highly endorse. On their website they recommend Gothard's seminars and teachings and claim to receive no compensation from him, but when I looked as his website - their book is sold on his website. It seems like Gothardism is their religion and it affects every part of their lives. Some of these teachings include that a woman should not work, but should only stay home and take care of and homeschool her children. Children should be homeschooled and should not watch tv to protect them from the world and worldly views and they have found a way to extend this even into the college years with a homeschool college program. Women should submit to their husbands in every way and it seems that they only want their children to marry other people who also subscribe to the Gothard viewpoints and who attend his conferences. His teachings sound icky to me and I hope that people who admire the Duggars won't drink the Gothard cool-aid.

The Duggars seem to be a nice, well-meaning, and large family. Michelle is now pregnant with their 20th child. Since she is 45 years old and has had such serious issues in her last pregnancy, this is a very high risk pregnancy for her. I hope that she and the baby will be ok. ( )

I know only of the Duggar's from an article printed some time ago in a magazine just before their 19th child, Josie was born prematurely. Like many others I was amazed at the size of their family and curious as to how they 'make it work'. Their TV show isn't on in Australia (as far as I know) so this book is really my introduction to the family.
A Love That Multiplies begins with the premature birth of Josie and its affect on the family, but also explains the principles and faith that Michelle and JimBob rely on to raise their children. As conservative Christians, the family have strict faith based guidelines for behaviour and attitude. I was expecting an austere fundamentalist approach in child rearing, but that is not the case at all. The Duggar's enjoy a wide range of experiences and are encouraged to become part of the community. Michelle and JimBob both write about the hardships and joys involved in raising their family and share their perspectives of events. I found this alternating viewpoint difficult at times, the transition often seemed clumsy, indicated only by a bracketed name after the switch has already taken place. I couldn't always tell who was narrating.
Still, its fascinating to be privy to the details of raising such a large family. The sheer work involved in homeschooling, cooking and caring for a family of 21 is mind boggling, yet the parents cope with admirable patience. That they support themselves, while still giving to others is honorable. The family is not perfect, Michelle speaks briefly of the irritations she experiences and the strain of Josie's illness on her marriage. It's sort of glossed over but I appreciate the acknowledgement that they are not immune from worldly frustrations.
While I don't share their intense faith, I was able to look past the passionate preaching and admire their underlying principles of child rearing - consistency, respect, love, encouragement, support and joy. These basic tenets are ones I am raising my own four children with but these messages are at risk at being buried under the avalanche of scripture quotes and religious praise. The Duggars are open about their desire to spread their faith and God's word, but as an agnostic I skimmed the evangelicalism. I think it would appeal to less enthusiastic believers more if the Duggars shared more concrete descriptions of their interactions with their children as the subtitle implies.
A Love That Multiplies is an interesting peek into the Duggars life, I admire their commitment to each other and genuine wish to raise a loving and caring family. I've struggled with choosing a rating for the book though. As mentioned I feel the structure is clumsy, which did not make for an easy reading experience in the electronic ARC version I had access to. On reflection, I also feel that the book is light on practical content and provides only a glimpse of the workings of this huge family, but perhaps this is more fully detailed in their previous book and television show. I am going to go with 2 and a half stars. ( )

I have to admit, I watch the Duggars' TV show. So I was pretty interested to read this book. I tend to find the Duggars' religious beliefs a bit extreme, and there is certainly a lot of preaching in this book. It does make sense though, as their religion is their whole life. The first section of this book covers Michelle's pre-eclampsia and Josie's emergency delivery. There's not really anything new there if you have seen their TV show.

The rest of the book covers their philosophies for parenting and life in general. These are heavily influenced by Bill Gothard and his IBLP. Their beliefs fall under what I would label as (in the words of my nephew) "super mega extreme" conservatism. Once again, there is very little in here that you don't already know if you watch their TV show. A few interesting notes for me was that Michelle and Jim Bob both readily admit that they do get upset and have (in the past anyway) even raised their voices. Shocking, I know. However, it does make them seem a little more human. Perhaps the most compelling thing in the book is Michelle describing what it was like to learn her father was dying while Josie was also fighting for her life. This part was actually a very beautiful example of how her life and beliefs helped to bolster her in a very low point of her life.

There is some useful advice. For example, Michelle discusses taking care of needs and/or bad behavior when it first appears instead of letting it go and potentially become a bigger problem. However, for every useful idea, there are several things that appear not as good to me. Blanket training was a concept I took issue with. I have a 17 month old, and I find it vastly unrealistic to think that he should be able to sit on a blanket and not move for an hour or so. No way am I going to torture both of us by trying this. There's also a strange bit where they talk about training their children (even very small ones) that they have to look everyone directly in the eye, lest they come across as disrespectful. What if the child is naturally shy? Or going through a clingy stage? It seems odd to me.

The writing was just OK. It's written in the first person, but the narrator switches between Michelle and Jim Bob a lot. It got kind of annoying to find out who was talking half-way through the section. I wish that had flowed a bit better. There were also some things that seemed thrown in to quiet critics. For example, there were several recipes in the book, and almost all of them included lots of fresh veggies and fruits. Maybe that is how they really do eat, but I know they have gotten some criticism for how their diet appears on the show. They also have a section about how their daughters would be allowed to live out there dreams and even go to college (even though Bill Gothard seems anti anything that takes women out of the house and authority of a male). Whether this is true or not remains to be seen.

Overall, this book is pretty good. If you watch their show, there is not much new to be gleaned from this book (unless you want to memorize Duggar approved Bible verses). It is a fairly quick read. Be prepared to get products (especially those from places like IBLP and Vision Forum) heavily endorsed. There is quite a bit of that in the book. If you really love the Duggars, then you will probably enjoy this book. Otherwise, most the book will probably leave you shaking your head.

Galley provided by publisher for review. ( )