capital gaines -- a book review

Chip Gaines' Capital Gaines:  Smart Things I Learned Doing Stupid Stuff gives us a glimpse into Chip Gaines' life -- the man mostly known as half of the popular show, Fixer Upper.  Gaines shares his successes and his failures.  He's incredibly and characteristically honest about his shortcomings and shares times when things could have gone significantly different than they did.

The book shares a variety of lessons from life -- from the origin of his wishbone scare on his forehead to the significant people who taught him those invaluable lessons.

Gaines highlights some of the differences between him and his wife, Joanna.  His love for her and his family is especially evident throughout Capital Gaines.  In fact, towards the end of the book, he shares that he and Joanna are calling it quits with their show, Fixer Upper, after the fifth season.  They want to spend more time devoted to their family -- something those of us who've followed the show will certainly understand.  What's probably a bit harder for readers to grasp:  The class clown on the show is here, on every page, a man of deep wisdom, too.

Considering the political climate of the United States, Gaines' chapter  (Chapter 14) on creating a team of rivals should be required for anyone who runs for political office, who posts on social media, and who basically has any kind of interaction with another human being on a regular basis.  He vies for working side by side rather than limiting our conversations to Twitter and other social media, for it's there that we get to know each other and understand each other better.  He shares that, "There is no chance for any of us to see eye to eye if we are unwilling to even look in each other’s direction".  He goes so far as to say that the broad and oversimplified strokes with which we paint perfect stranger is just plain ignorant.  If people could stop and take to heart most of what he's written here, I think we'd be a whole lot better off.

In the end, this book only took a couple of hours to read, but it's filled with such humble wisdom that it will not leave you when you put it down.  Read it and share it. 
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers <http://booklookbloggers.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”