Everybody's Normal till you get to know them (by John Ortberg)

(Amazon UK link)

'Everybody's Normal till you get to know them' is an encouraging and inspiring book by John Ortberg. He is an American Christian author I whom only started reading within the last few months.

The idea of the book is in the title: that people are all flawed. There is no such thing as 'normality' - and we have no right to expect it in this fallen world. We are bound to hit difficulties and communication problems when we try to get close to each other; this itself is 'normal'.

He goes on to talk about building community. He explains deep friendships work, and what we can do to help develop them. There are chapters on breaking down barriers, forgiveness, and true friendship, all based on Scriptural examples and frequently seasoned with anecdotes from more recent times.

Ortberg sometimes tells stories that show him as an all-too-flawed human, and points out how we relate to people better when they make mistakes. As such, we miss the mark if we try to make people think we're better than we are.

The book is well written and very thought-provoking, with a thread of humour interspersed here and there.

Very readable, and highly recommended.